South Sudan’s Government has postponed the 2024 election by two years until 2026. The country has not held national elections since it gained independence from Sudan in 2011. President Salva Kiir who has five vice presidents has ruled the country since 2011. South Sudan gained independence in 2011 after a referendum in which its people […]
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KIERAN Trippier caused a stir after being filmed wrapping his arms around a blonde woman during a night out.
Someone who has found themselves caught up in this drama is Newcastle woman, Frankie Carmichael.
Frankie Carmichael is a 27-year-old call centre worker.
She is known for being a regular at all the hotspots in Newcastle.
The Geordie lass, who lives in the city, is known for having a large tattoo on her left arm.
In September 2024, Frankie found herself caught up in Premier League ace Kieran Trippier’s marriage riddle.
A video emerged of the Newcastle defender lifting up a blonde girl around the waist in a packed city karaoke bar in May 2023.
The girl in the video also had a large inking on her left arm.
In the clip, Trippier is seen wrapping his arms around the woman and holding her bottom.
The video was recorded during a night out with his Newcastle team-mates in Cosy Joes.
Trippier’s wife Charlotte, who he has three children with, was in Madrid at the time the video was recorded.
After speculation about who the blonde in the video could be, Frankie was named on X/Twitter.
A source said: “Frankie is friends with a pal of Kieran’s.
“She’s well known on the Toon and loves a night out in the city.”
Trippier has had a turbulent time on and off the pitch, with speculation his marriage is on the rocks.
In September 2023, he delayed training with the England squad due to a “personal commitment”.
This was followed in November 2024, by him pulling out of the Euro qualifier against North Macedonia, again citing a “personal matter”.
Further speculation his eight-year marriage to Charlotte could be on the rocks ramped up more when she didn’t attend the 2024 Euros.
The Sun on Sunday later exclusively revealed that the couple also went on separate holidays.
Trippier stayed at the same Turkish resort as England team-mate Kyle Walker.
While he was in Turkey, Charlotte went to Santorini, Greece with her sister.
The family’s £3.8million six-bed mansion in Morpeth, Northumberland, has also been put up for sale.
In August 2024, Trippier put in a transfer request from Newcastle and announced his retirement from international football.
iPhone 16 Pricing + Launch date in South Africa
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VANESSA Feltz has been rushed to hospital for emergency surgery after being doubled over in agony.
The broadcaster, 62, shocked her fan when she shared a message from her hospital bed this morning.
She wrote: “Gosh! Hello from hospital. 2pm I was fine. Had just made lunch and was playing with AJ 5 and Cecily nearly two. 3pm I was doubled over in agony.
“Scan showed big kidney stone. OMG! Astoundingly painful. Rushed into theatre. Very grateful thanks to my daughters nurses porters anaesthetist and wonderful surgeon. Thank you so much.”
Her celeb friends were quick to send their support with Love Island‘s Chloe Burrows writing: “Omg!!! Sending you loads of love xxxxx.”
Lisa Snowdon said: “Oh bloody hell V! Super ouch and thank goodness you’re ok. Big love honey,”
Kate Thornton posted: “Ouch! Thank goodness you’re in the right place. Feel better and sending my love x.”
Holly Willoughby‘s sister Kelly shared: “Oh Vanessa!!!!! You poor thing. Sending you love and healing darling.”
Kidney stones are masses made of salt and minerals, and can be anywhere between a grain of salt and a golf ball in size.
There are several different types, calcium stones, struvite stones, uric acid stones and cystine stones.
The stones have potential to cause severe pain, and while most pass on their own through the ureter – the tube between the kidney and the bladder – some require to be medically removed with surgery.
Kidney stones are a common and usually very painful condition.
They usually affect people between the ages of 30 to 60, the NHS says.
It adds: “They can be extremely painful, and can lead to kidney infections or the kidney not working properly if left untreated.”
How can you tell if you have a kidney stone?
Call NHS 111 or a GP if you have severe pain, a high temperature, an episode of shivering or shaking or blood in the urine.
Kidney stones form from chemicals in the urine.
Some are as small as a grain of sand and are passed in the urine without you noticing. Others can be as large as a pebble.
Causes of kidney stones are:
Many kidney stones can be treated at home by drinking lots of water, using pain relief and waiting for the stones to pass.
Large kidney stones need to be removed by surgery, in which various methods are used to break the kidney stone into smaller pieces so that they can pass in the urine.
Some surgeries are done under anaesthetic while others are not.
THOUSANDS of Brits are receiving a State Pension totalling £21,000 a year or more – almost twice the ‘full’ amount.
The full rate of the new State Pension is £221.20 a week, giving pensioners £11,502 a year.
But according to the Department for Work and Pensions, around 3% of pensioner households in Britain receive a State Pension amount in excess of £400 a week.
This brings their annual total to at least £20,800 a year – almost twice as much as the full rate of the new State Pension.
Here’s what’s going on – and how you can top up your State Pension.
Pensioners receive different amounts of State Pension because of the complex way the system works, and based on their years of National Insurance contributions.
There are actually two systems, the ‘old’ State Pension and the ‘new’ State Pension. Under both systems, the amount people receive varies.
Most pensioners in the UK are on the old State Pension system because they reached pension age before 6th April 2016, when the new system was introduced.
The old system had two main parts – a ‘basic’ pension worth up to £169.50 per week for those with 30 years of National Insurance contributions, and an earnings-related ‘additional’ pension, also known as SERPS.
The basic State Pension is worth up to £8,814 a year, £2,688 less than the full new State Pension.
But the additional pension, or SERPS, can provide retirees with a lot extra.
Steve Webb, former pensions minister and now partner at pension consultants LCP, explains: “Under SERPS the amount received depends on your earnings and whether you were paying in only to the state scheme, or also into what is known as a ‘contracted out’ workplace pension.”
There is no maximum limit on a person’s additional State Pension based on their own National Insurance record and earnings.
Where a person inherits additional State Pension from a deceased spouse or civil partner the overall amount of their additional State Pension is capped at £218.39 per week.
Yes. Under the old system, each year that you delayed taking your State Pension could add an extra 10.4 per cent to your eventual entitlement.
By deferring the basic State Pension for 52 weeks, a whole year, a person could receive £17.62 per week more (equal to 10.4 per cent of £169.50) when they finally took their pension.
This is equivalent to an extra £918.75 for every year of deferral.
As Webb explains, “the old system rules for deferral were very generous and so someone with an average lifespan would generally end up in profit by deferring”.
“So someone with a full basic pension, very good SERPS (additional pension) and delaying taking their pension could easily get £20,000 a year in state pension”.
Under the new state pension it’s harder to get these very large amounts.
The flat rate of the new state pension is £221.20 per week, but there’s no standard amount on top of this – and deferring only earns you 5.8 per cent per year under the new system.
By deferring for 52 weeks, you’ll get an extra £12.82 a week.
Rachel Vahey, AJ Bell head of public policy, says it’s important to think carefully before deferring.
“Whether this offers a good deal for the individual depends partly on how long they expect to live for,” she points out.
“Very broadly, if someone is in poor health then it may be better to take the state pension, but if they are in good health and think they may live beyond 17 years then it could be worth considering.”
The one exception is that people who already had a big pension under the old rules by 2016 – as in a good basic pension plus a large additional (SERPS) pension – can get that figure as their pension, even if this exceeds the new full flat rate.
However, as Webb points out, “that figure is then locked in and post-2016 contributions generally cannot improve it”.
“This means with every passing year, people will have less and less of their working life in the pre-2016 period and therefore less chance to build up a really big pension,” he says.
If your National Insurance record started before April 2016, you may have been contracted out – where you or your employer paid more into your workplace or private pension and less into your State Pension.
In cases where you were contracted out, you will usually need more than 35 qualifying years to get the full rate of new State Pension.
Those who did contract out would have benefited from a private pension, which could have given them a higher payout in retirement than they would have got had they stayed within the additional State Pension (SERPS).
If your National Insurance record started after April 2016 you will need 35 qualifying years to get the full rate of the new State Pension.
You can pay additional National Insurance Contributions to plug any gaps in your records. You can usually pay voluntary contributions for the past six years.
HUNDREDS of thousands of pensioners are missing out on Pension Credit.
The Sun’s Assistant Consumer Editor Lana Clements explains why it’s imperative to apply for the benefit..
Pension Credit is designed to top up the income of the UK’s poorest pensioners.
In itself the payment is a vital lifeline for older people with little income.
It will take weekly income up to to £218.15 if you’re single or joint income to £332.95.
Yet, an estimated 800,000 don’t claim this support. Not only are they missing on this cash, but far more extra support that is unlocked when claiming Pension Credit.
With the winter fuel payment – worth up to £300 now being restricted to pensioners claiming Pension Credit – it’s more important than ever to claim the benefit if you can.
Pension Credit also opens up help with housing costs, council tax or heating bills and even a free TV licence if you are 75 or older.
All this extra support can make a huge difference to the quality of life for a struggling pensioner.
It’s not difficult to apply for Pension Credit, you can do it up to four months before you reach state pension age through the government website or by calling 0800 99 1234.
You’ll just need your National Insurance number, as well as information about income, savings and investments.
If your weekly income is less than £218.15 – or your joint weekly income is less than £332.95 if you have a partner – will likely be entitled to Pension Credit which will top you up to that amount.
If your income is higher, you might still be eligible for Pension Credit if you have a disability, you care for someone, or you have housing costs.
You can get Pension Credit even if you have other income, savings or own your own home.
Claiming it will also unlock your entitlement to other benefits like Housing Benefit, a council tax discount, free TV licence and help with dental treatment costs.
Vahey says: “Many people don’t claim their entitlement to Pension Credit meaning they are surviving on a lower state pension than they are entitled to. Pension Credit can top up their income and can make a significant difference to quality of living.”
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