Rabies warning as UK grandmother dies after scratch by dog in Morocco

A British grandmother has died from rabies four months after being scratched “very slightly” by a puppy in Morocco.

Yvonne Ford came into contact with the dog in February but gradually became more unwell over the past two weeks, first developing a headache, before she was left unable to walk, talk, sleep or swallow.

Her family have now appealed to holidaymakers to protect themselves against the disease.

Her daughter, Robyn Thomson, said: “We never thought something like this could happen to someone we love. Please take animal bites seriously, vaccinate your pets, and educate those around you.”

Ford, 59, from Barnsley, South Yorkshire, thought nothing of it when she was scratched on a trip to north Africa, Ms Thomson said.

She wrote on Facebook: “Our family is still processing this unimaginable loss, but we are choosing to speak up in the hope of preventing this from happening to others.

“Yvonne Ford, Ron Ford’s wife and our Mum, died of rabies. She was scratched very slightly by a puppy in Morocco in February. At the time, she did not think any harm would come of it and didn’t think much of it.

“Two weeks ago she became ill, starting with a headache and resulted in her losing her ability to walk, talk, sleep, swallow. Resulting in her passing.”

Ford died in Sheffield last Wednesday, according to Sheffield Coroner’s Court, where an inquest was opened and adjourned a week later.

Ms Thomson wrote that her mother was “the heart of our family – strong, loving and endlessly supportive”.

She added: “No words can fully capture the depth of our loss or the impact she had on all of us. We are heartbroken, but also grateful for every moment we had with her.”

And she warned: “Even a minor scratch or bite from an infected animal – wild or domestic – can transmit the virus. If you are ever bitten or scratched, seek medical attention immediately. Post-exposure prophylaxis vaccines can save your life.”

Ford was diagnosed with rabies at Barnsley Hospital, and government officials said health workers and people who had close contact with her were being assessed as a precautionary measure and being offered vaccinations where necessary.

Her daughter said she was sharing information about rabies to raise awareness, especially how it is preventable through prompt medical care after exposure.

Rabies is passed on through bites and scratches from an infected animal, or if an infected animal licks a person’s eyes, nose, mouth or a wound.

It is nearly always fatal, but post-exposure treatment is very effective at preventing disease if given promptly after exposure to the virus, health chiefs say.

Ford is the first person in the UK to die from rabies contracted overseas since 2018. The last victim was bitten by a cat while on holiday in Morocco.

Before that, the last reported case of rabies in the UK was in 2012, when a British grandmother died after being bitten by a dog during a holiday to India.

Katherine Russell, head of emerging infections and zoonotic diseases at the UK Health and Security Agency (UKHSA), said: “I would like to extend my condolences to this individual’s family.

“If you are bitten, scratched or licked by an animal in a country where rabies is found, you should wash the wound or site of exposure with plenty of soap and water and seek medical advice without delay in order to get post-exposure treatment to prevent rabies.

“There is no risk to the wider public in relation to this case. Human cases of rabies are extremely rare in the UK, and worldwide there are no documented instances of direct human-to-human transmission.”

Over the past 25 years, there have been just seven UK cases of human rabies linked with animal exposures abroad, all of whom died.

Once a person begins showing signs and symptoms, it’s nearly always fatal.

The first symptoms are similar to flu, while later symptoms include fever, headache, nausea, vomiting, agitation, anxiety, difficulty swallowing and excessive saliva.

Information on rabies and bites – both animal and human – were among the top of the list for NHS advice being sought at Christmas 2023.

A UKHSA spokesperson said: “What’s happened is incredibly tragic so we want to make sure people are aware of the risks before they travel.

“There is a vaccine you can have before you go but even if you’ve been vaccinated, if you are bitten or scratched you should still wash the wound and seek medical attention as soon as possible.”

According to the World Health Organisation, rabies is estimated to kill around 59,000 people a year in more than 150 countries, with 95 per cent of cases in Africa and Asia.

However, the UN health agency states that this is likely to be a vast underestimate, and notes that poorer rural populations are particularly affected, while around half of all cases occur in children below the age of 15.

There were an average of 18 reported deaths linked to rabies each year in Morocco over the decade to 2022, WHO data suggests.

Lottery adviser reveals how jackpot winners spend their millions

Those lucky enough to win the jackpot on the lottery will know from the moment their numbers were called; their lives were never the same again.

One ticket holder from Ireland scooped a record-breaking €250m (£208m) in the Euromillions Lottery jackpot on Tuesday, after nobody won the jackpot in the draw last week.

Most of us have planned what we would do in the dream situation of winning millions in the lottery, from exotic holidays to retiring early.

But what actually happens after the adrenaline rush of realising you’ve picked the lucky numbers?

People have spent their money in the past taking their pets on private jets or having a celebrity chef to come and cook Christmas lunch, says Andy Carter Winner’s Adviser at Allwyn, the operator of The National Lottery in the UK.

Mr Carter is the main point of contact for those who have won the big bucks in the lottery in the UK.

He goes visits winners, validates their claim, organises payment and talks them through their next steps to make sure they have the support and advice they need.

But the first piece of advice Mr Carter gives winners is to take some time away, take a holiday and let it sink in. He explained the winnings are paid in one lump sum- meaning it can be very overwhelming.

“It’s a huge amount of money, it’s a big shock for people and they just need to sort of take their time on it,” he told the Independent.

“You went to bed with your life as it was, and you’ve woken up and won £200m. That amount of money is beyond questions of whether or not you at work, or whether you pay the mortgage or not.

“That is about generational wealth,” he added.

“The people who won this money will be able to help out their great grandchildren and great, great grandchildren who haven’t even been born yet.”

In the weeks after winning life-changing amounts of money, Mr Carter makes sure winners have access to legal advice, financial advice and well-being advice.

“We make sure they have access to other lottery winners as well. If you’ve won all this money, the best thing you can do is go and have a cup of tea with someone else who’s won because they’re the people that will truly understand,” he said.

Less than 20 people in the UK have won lottery prizes of more than £100 million, Mr Carter explained.

Financial advice is vital for people who have never had to handle this extortionate amount of money.

Most people spend their lives making financial decisions on paying off the mortgage, retiring or buying a house.

But lottery winners are suddenly burdened with making huge financial decisions.

“Everything you’ve ever known about money has changed,” Mr Carter said.

“People sit around in pubs across the country thinking what they would do if they won. But when you do win it becomes slightly more serious, and people do probably more conservative things than they perhaps thought they would do,” he added.

But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t advise people to enjoy their winnings, celebrate and tick off bucket list items.

Allwyn partners with a concierge service that can arrange bucket list items for winners. They can arrange meetings with celebrities, grand proposals, holidays and arranging private jets.

“You don’t want to look back on it in years to come, and I didn’t make the most of it,” he said.

Eurostar passengers see dozens of train services cancelled or delayed

Eurostar passengers saw up to two dozen services between Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam and London cancelled or delayed on Wednesday.

As some trains ground to a halt, a passenger on a train in France claimed the electricity had been cut off, leaving travellers with no air conditioning for more than half an hour.

One passenger said, according to The Telegraph: “Eurostar train stuck for over half an hour now. Ventilation cut off, no communication for a quarter of an hour… it’s starting to get hot, passengers are getting impatient.

“‘We’re waiting for information from our driver. ‘We apologise for the inconvenience’ – but still no ventilation. It’s getting hotter and hotter.”

A Eurostar spokesperson told The Independent: “Eurostar services between London and Paris were delayed by one to two hours following an incident on the LGV Nord high-speed line this morning, where a person was struck by a TGV train.

“We are working closely with the French authorities and infrastructure teams to manage the impact and keep services moving. Customers were contacted directly with updates and options and asked not to arrive at the station early to help ease congestion.”

They added that the air conditioning issue affected a single train travelling from Brussels to Paris.

“Due to a technical fault, the train was stationed for 30 minutes, during which air conditioning was temporarily unavailable in half of the carriages,” the spokesperson said. “To ensure passenger comfort during this time, our team promptly provided bottled water to customers during the wait.”

Eurostar’s travel updates page displayed a list of delays and cancellations starting around 7am, although problems had started on Monday.

The website gave a host of different reasons for the disruption, including a death, temporary speed restrictions, “operational issues”, and over-running maintenance work.

Some services on Thursday and in August were also displayed as already being cancelled.

Other services missed out stops, such as the 7.26pm Brussels to London St Pancras, which did not stop at Lille.

Eurostar’s website added that national strike action on the Dutch network had hit both international and domestic trains to Amsterdam.

Millions more to get £150 winter energy discount after rule change

Around two million more people will receive an automatic discount on their energy bills this winter as Labour confirms the expansion of an annual scheme.

Around six million people in total will now receive the Warm Home Discount, taking £150 directly off their energy bills.

This includes 900,000 families with children and 1.8 million households in fuel poverty, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) said.

The government’s Warm Home Discount scheme was introduced in 2011 and delivers a £150 cut to domestic energy bills for qualifying recipients. The one-off discount is applied automatically to an energy bill between October and March.

To be eligible for the payment in England and Wales, the bill payer must either receive the guarantee credit element of pension credit or be on a low income.

Before the announcement, those in the latter category were also required to have a home with “high energy costs”, as assessed by DESNZ. This critera has now been removed, unlocking the discount for millions more.

The payment does not need to be applied for, as energy providers are obligated to pass on the discount to their eligible customers automatically.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said: “I know families are still struggling with the cost of living, and I know the fear that comes with not being able to afford your next bill.

“Providing security and peace of mind for working people is deeply personal to me as prime minister and foundational for the Plan for Change. I have no doubt that, like rolling out free school meals, breakfast clubs and childcare support, extending this £150 energy bills support to millions more families will make a real difference.”

The positive news for households comes before energy regulator Ofgem drops its energy price cap for July to September by 7 per cent. The average annual bill will decrease from £1,849 to £1,720.

In May, ministers decided to partially reverse changes made to the Winter Fuel Payment for pensioners last year. Separate to the Warm Home Discount, this payment is made to eligible pensioners to help towards energy bills.

In previous years, it was paid to all pensioners, but restricted to just the very poorest in 2024. It will now be paid to all pensioners below a taxable income threshold of £35,000 following the latest changes.

Real Madrid wilt in heat as Al-Hilal steal thunder from Trent’s debut

Real Madrid laboured to a 1-1 draw against Al-Hilal in their Club World Cup opener as the spirited Saudis stole thunder away from Trent Alexander-Arnold’s debut.

After a back and forth first half saw the sides enter the break level, Federico Valverde’s 90th-minute penalty miss meant Xabi Alonso did not get off to a dream winning start as Real boss.

Dean Huijsen also made his debut alongside Alexander-Arnold, who unlike the ex-Liverpool man completed the full game.

Alonso’s first game in charge of the 15-time European champions delivered only flashes of promise in searing Miami heat at a patchy Hard Rock Stadium.

Gonzalo Garcia, stepping in for the fever-stricken Kylian Mbappe, gave Real an early lead with a composed finish, but Ruben Neves levelled from the spot before half-time as Simone Inzaghi’s men showed defensive grit and enough attacking intent to rattle their illustrious opponents.

After a mixed debut outing up against live wire Salem Al-Dawsari, Alexander-Arnold was hooked in the 65th minute as Real searched for a winner.

Al-Hilal were good value for the scoreline and looked on course for a deserved draw, only for Real to be awarded a 90th-minute penalty after Fran Garcia was caught in the face by a flailing arm from Mohammed Al-Qahtani – a harsh decision given the accidental nature of the foul.

However, Valverde blew the chance to snatch a winner as his spot-kick was saved by Bono, ensuring a statement result for the Saudi club.

RB Salzburg and Pachuca meet in the other Group H fixture later on Wednesday. Real will next face the Mexican side on Sunday, while Al-Hilal will take on Salzburg in what could prove a decisive clash for qualification to the knockout stage.

Additional reporting from Reuters.

What’s the secret to a truly stress-free holiday?

High-end cruising has entered a new era. Today’s luxury travellers aren’t looking for big flashy experiences. They want slow-paced, intimate travel and authentic cultural immersion. More than anything else, they’re looking for ease: that feeling of being genuinely cared for, safe in the knowledge that they’re experiencing the best of the best.

That means excellent quality food and drink, of course – it’s got to be restaurant standard and cater to all tastes – but also onboard enrichment experiences of the highest calibre. The great beauty of cruising has always been that not a second is wasted. Savvy travellers get to explore a rich and rewarding variety of exotic, off-the-beaten track locations, but instead of spending half their holiday stuck in motorway traffic, they’re honing their swing in the golf net, or sipping on a cocktail on the upper deck as they travel from destination to destination.

When they’re onshore they want genuinely immersive experiences that get them under the hood of a destination: think cellar tours of local vineyards or speedboat cruises to hidden beaches. Done right, a high-end all-inclusive cruise is the ideal form of slow travel, offering a perfect balance of adventure and indulgence, proper pampering and a thrilling sense of discovery.

The world’s most luxurious fleet

First among equals when it comes to the new era of luxury cruising is Regent Seven Seas Cruises, which offers more than 170 different itineraries visiting over 550 ports of call worldwide. Each of the six ships in their fleet is opulently appointed with beautifully designed communal areas and a huge array of amenities, but none of them has a capacity of more than 746 guests, ensuring space and freedom for all aboard.

The all-suite accommodation means that the private spaces are similarly roomy, each having a private balcony and marble bathroom. And service is always impeccable with a crew-to-guest ratio that’s nearly one-to-one, meaning that the team can always go that mile extra for all travellers.

Across the ships, the food is uniformly excellent. As well as Regent’s signature Compass Rose restaurant, with its daily changing menu of bistro classics like lobster bisque and New Zealand lamb chops, the different ships also feature a range of speciality dining venues. These include Prime 7, a New York-style steakhouse, Pacific Rim with its pan-Asian menu (be sure to try the miso black cod), and fine-dining destination, Chartreuse, where the chefs turn out sophisticated plates of upscale French cooking like Beef Tenderloin Rossini and Seared Foie Gras.

With a number of long cruises on their roster, Regent has made sure that each of its ships is akin to an ultra-luxury, boutique floating hotel with an incredible variety of things to do during the day and top-level entertainment at night. There are courts for paddle tennis and bocce, and the onboard spa offers a range of exclusive bespoke treatments. The ships host talks by experts in their field and cooking lessons are also available on some of the ships at the culinary arts kitchens where visiting chefs guide guests in how to make wow-factor dishes that relate to the ports of call. In the evening, the Constellation Theatre hosts lavishly staged productions from a team of Broadway choreographers and artists.

Destinations that match the onboard luxury

Of course, none of this onboard luxury would mean much if the destinations weren’t up to scratch, but Regent’s superbly curated itineraries are up there with the very best. Its week-long trips include culture-packed European tours like Glories of Iberia which sails from Barcelona to Lisbon, and thrilling frontier explorations such as the Great Alaskan Adventure from Whittier to Vancouver.

Longer trips include four-week Legendary Journeys from Athens to Montreal, and fully immersive explorations of the Arctic. Long or short, these itineraries are all underpinned by a commitment to taking guests right to the heart of a destination with the kind of bespoke onshore activities and expert-led insights that mean on a Regent Seven Seas Cruises voyage, adventure is guaranteed.

Visit Regent Seven Seas Cruises now to uncover the true meaning of luxury and start booking your ultimate stress-free getaway

HS2 branded an ‘appalling mess’ as government confirms major delay

Sir Keir Starmer has delayed the opening of HS2 as costs soar and a damning report exposes the “litany of failure” behind the rail line.

The prime minister’s transport secretary described the project as an “appalling mess” on Wednesday and confirmed the remaining London to Birmingham stretch of the high speed rail project will be delayed beyond its target opening date of 2033. A source told The Independent “the original target can’t be hit”.

Heidi Alexander laid out how the Tories saw the cost of HS2 soar by £37bn between its approval in 2012 and last year’s general election.

And she vowed that those who may have taken advantage of taxpayers by charging inflated prices will face consequences for doing so.

Ms Alexander told the Commons she is drawing a “line in the sand” over the beleaguered rail project, as the government attempts to reset how major infrastructure is delivered.

Ministers are hoping to learn from the mistakes of HS2 so that they do a better job when it comes to projects like Northern Powerhouse Rail and the Lower Thames Crossing.

“When it comes to HS2, in some ways, we’re a bit of a laughing stock around the world in terms of how we handle infrastructure. As a government, we’re absolutely determined to turn that around,” housing minister Matthew Pennycook said on Wednesday.

And, speaking in the Commons, Ms Alexander said: “Today I’m drawing a line in the sand, calling time on years of mismanagement, flawed reporting and ineffective oversight.

“It means this Government will get the job done between Birmingham and London. We won’t reinstate cancelled sections we can’t afford, but we will do the hard but necessary work to rebuild public trust – and we’ve not wasted any time.”

Shadow transport secretary Gareth Bacon admitted the Conservative Party made mistakes with its handling of HS2.

Mr Bacon said: “I believe there is a broad consensus in this House today on the central point which is that mistakes were made in the delivery of HS2.

“As Ms Alexander has noted, costs more than doubled, the project has been repeatedly delayed, and the pandemic completely changed travel patterns, undercutting the assumptions that guided the original plans and caused construction costs to rise sharply across the world.”

Referring to the mistakes, Mr Bacon added: ” As a country we must learn from those mistakes and we must not repeat them.”

The result of two reviews into HS2 were announced alongside the Transport Secretary’s statement.

The first was an interim report by Mark Wild, the chief executive of HS2, who was appointed late last year.

He assessed the construction of the project’s first phase from London to Birmingham.

A second, wider review into the governance and accountability of HS2, led by James Stewart, also reported back.

It set out what has gone wrong with HS2, and what ministers can learn for future infrastructure projects.

It came as Tony Berkeley branded HS2 “chaos” and insisted it should be stopped.

The Labour peer, who served as deputy chairman of a government review into HS2, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “It’s chaos, and we haven’t been told anything about it.

“Rishi Sunak, after all, cancelled it 18 months ago. That was the previous government but everybody in HS2 seems to have ignored it and the government’s ignored it by continuing to pour money down it when they should have stopped 18 months ago and they should still stop today.

“They’ve wasted billions already.

“I think that the first thing to do is to stop digging when you don’t know what you’re doing and where it’s going to end up, and I would put HS2 into administration. Let the administrators sort it out and then take a clear, simple look at what they want to achieve and get it done in a much more cost effective way.”

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander told the Commons on Wednesday that she is drawing a “line in the sand” over the beleaguered rail project.

As she addressed MPs, the transport secretary touched on allegations of fraud by contractors to HS2 which have emerged recently.

Earlier this week, it emerged HS2 Ltd reported a sub-contractor working on the rail line to HMRC following an internal probe.

During the statement, Ms Alexander also announced a new chair of HS2.

The current chair, Sir Jon Thompson, previously announced he would stand down in the spring of this year.

His replacement will be Mike Brown, Ms Alexander confirmed.

Mr Brown is the former commissioner for Transport for London, who helped to oversee the deliver of Crossrail, the transport project which became London’s Elizabeth Line.

HS2 was originally due to run between London and Birmingham, then onto Manchester and Leeds, but the second phase of project was scrapped by Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives due to spiralling costs, a decision first revealed by The Independent in September 2023.

Concerns about the costs of the stunted project have persisted, with £100 million spent on a bat tunnel aimed at mitigating the railway’s environmental impact singled out by Sir Keir for criticism.

A political blame game over HS2 failures – but who is right?

Heidi Alexander, the transport secretary, was determined to blame the Conservatives when she announced that what is left of the High Speed Two rail project will be delayed again.

“I have to be honest,” she told the Commons on Wednesday, “this is an appalling mess.” She demanded that Gareth Bacon, her mild-mannered Conservative shadow, apologise, saying that his party had promised people “the Moon on a stick” but had left a “shambles” for Labour to sort out.

She said: “Years of mismanagement and neglect have turned HS2 into a shadow of that vision put forward 15 years ago, but this government were elected on a mandate to restore trust to our politics, and that is why we will not shirk away from this challenge and why today we turn the page on infrastructure failures.”

I remember being in Andrew Adonis’s office when he was secretary of state for transport in 2009. He was his usual hyper-enthusiastic self as he showed me a map on the wall of his plan for a second high-speed railway in Britain. He was so excited about it, and only briefly crestfallen when I said that I thought it was a bad idea.

I asked why it would not simply increase the gravitational pull of London, and add to economic bias to the South East. He brushed aside such concerns, declaring that, on the contrary, HS2 would push economic development outwards from the capital and spread the benefits to the whole country – a full decade before Boris Johnson popularised the term “levelling up”.

What I should have said, I now realise, is that it was bound to cost much more than he expected, because he would be trying to put the first new rail route through England since the population had achieved modern levels of density and modern levels of litigiousness.

It could have been managed better. If only Adonis had remained in charge of it, I think it would have been managed better, despite being, in my view, fundamentally misconceived.

I am in awe of Adonis’s achievement. He was transport secretary for just 23 months at the end of a dying government, yet he managed to launch HS2 in that time with such momentum that the coalition government carried on with it.

But it never had a messianic delivery leader after the change of government, so it trundled along like a late-running stopper under the default structures of the British constitution. There were seven transport secretaries in the 14 years of Conservative-led government, while the civil service contracted out the management to HS2 Ltd, which was responsible for cost overruns, delays and even fraud.

It could be argued that Rishi Sunak did the right thing, rather late in the day, to try to curtail the excess and waste. He looked at the plans in some detail, concluded that the case for the line didn’t add up, and took the difficult decision to cut losses and cancel the northern leg.

According to the House of Commons Library, the costs for the first phase, from London to Birmingham, had already risen from an estimate in 2012 of £20.5bn (in 2019 prices) to an estimate at the beginning of last year of £56bn (still in 2019 prices).

The library commented drily: “Cost increases have been driven by high inflation, as well as scope changes, worse ground conditions than expected, and optimism bias.” It didn’t even mention bat tunnels.

Of course not, although if the delay to completion of Phase 1 is only from 2033 to 2035 that would not be too bad – 2033 was the target completion date when Adonis launched the project in 2010.

But the final part of the route in London, to Euston station, which is important to the success of the line, has not been decided yet, and will depend on private-sector investment in the property above and around the route.

One of the possible hopeful signs, however, is that Alexander has relevant experience as deputy mayor of London responsible for transport. She has worked with Mark Wild and Mike Brown, the new chief executive and chair of HS2. “Mark and Mike were part of the team, with me, that turned Crossrail into the Elizabeth line; we have done it before and we will do it again,” she told MPs.