NCTJ (GOLD STANDARD)- QUALIFIED JOURNALIST

My trip inside world Voodoo capital that’s become dark holiday hotspot for Brits

A MASKED goblin figure chases two unsuspecting tourists along the busy streets, shrouded in a long multicoloured cloak.A few feet away, a priest carries a goat, preparing to sacrifice its blood to Voodoo gods and share its meat with other believers.Welcome to the Voodoo capital of the world: Ouidah, in Benin, West Africa.Here the ‘goblin’ guardians, known as the Zangbeto, roam the streets wielding wooden swords - ready to ward off evil in both the human and spirit world.Visitors flock to the tin...

Mum wants everyone to see horror video of her on fire after drug binge

A recovered addict mum has revealed shocking footage of how she was so high she set herself on fire - while her laughing boyfriend filmed it for his mates.

Olivia Taylor says she had a 'normal middle-class upbringing' and first tried alcohol at the age of 14 when drinking at the park with friends. But when her parents divorced when she was just 18 her addiction 'spiralled' and she began drinking vodka in the morning during sixth form.

The now 30-year-old says she was drinking up to a litre of...

I binge drank while pregnant. Don't judge me until you hear why

By SADIE WHITELOCKS FOR DAILYMAIL.COM Published: 21:30, 5 June 2025 | Updated: 21:31, 5 June 2025 When Zenia Mitchell experienced bloating and extreme tiredness earlier this year she put it down to partying too hard.The 27-year-old pharmacy technician from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, had also been celebrating back-to-back birthdays — first her own, then her sister's. But when she began suddenly leaking fluid in March, Zenia became concerned enough to call her mother. The two decided to g...

Brit family 'almost died' when holiday hotel went up in flames

A Brit mum says she thought her family was going to die after their four-star hotel went up in flames - with the smoke being so strong that they were "choking on it".

Bethany Wallace, from Grays, Essex, jetted off to Marmaris in Turkey for a two-week EasyJet holiday alongside her husband and three children on April 1. The family were only three days into their vacation when they awoke to a "chemical smell" at around 5am.

The 36-year-old recalled frantically waking up her family as smoke quickl...

Mum shares heartbreaking photo of baby boy fighting for life as a warning

A TODDLER was left "coughing up black chunks" then fighting for life after swallowing a button battery from a remote control. The tiny disc got lodged in 16-month-old Asa Allen's throat while he was playing outside with his two siblings.Mum Kasey Allen, 32, who had travelled to visit her husband in Texas, United States, was cleaning the family campervan at the time.She found the camera remote on the floor in pieces and noticed a flushed Asa coughing and drooling 30 minutes later. Thinking he was...

Girl, 9 slices legs open in tin horror but uses Walking Dead skills to save life

A schoolgirl almost died when her leg sliced open on a tin lid as she took out the trash. But she used the first aid skills she learned from the Walking Dead to save her own life.

Navaeh Connor, nine, took out the rubbish during a blackout when a lid from a tin of peas sliced her right leg in two places. Navaeh thought it was just a scratch, but after shining a torch on her leg she saw one of the cuts was eight inches long and just one cm from the bone.

The savvy schoolgirl stemmed the heavy b...

Furious budget airline passenger abandons trip after racking up ‘ridiculous’ hidden fees: ‘I’m not getting my money’s worth’

She wasn’t going to submit to this fly-way robbery.


An incensed Ryanair passenger was so steamed over the budget carrier’s nearly $75 check-in fee that she canceled her entire vacation — and went out to dinner instead.


“What they were charging was really unfair for the job that they had to do,” Hina Muneer, 29, griped to Kennedy News Service.


The fiasco occurred on May 13 after the traveler arrived at London’s Stansted Airport in preparation to depart for a five-day solo jaunt to Lithua...

'Our TUI holiday was ruined by illness – they say we might've eaten too much'

A couple say horrific food poisoning ruined their romantic five-star holiday, but their travel company is refusing to help as the couple couldn't prove they hadn't simply over-indulged. David Lofts jetted off with wife Julia for a 10-day trip Cape Verde with TUI to celebrate his 65th birthday in January.

But the couple claim they started experiencing sickness and diarrhoea three hours after eating at one of the hotel's restaurants - and say they only ate within the hotel prior to becoming ill....

Bride reveals she hated her wedding pictures ... can you tell why?

By MARIA CHIORANDO FOR MAILONLINE Published: 10:06, 22 May 2025 | Updated: 21:41, 22 May 2025 A bride's desire for picture-perfect aisle snaps backfired when she 'ruined' them by trying not to cry – as she looked like she was 'holding in sneeze'.Leyonie Brice, from Abergavenny, Gwent, Wales, walked down the aisle in February to her favourite song, James Arthur's Falling Like The Stars, and started tearing up the moment the violin cover played.But the 'emotional' bride said because she tr...

I thought my marriage was normal but I missed signs my husband was trans

WHEN Sophie's husband told her he wanted a divorce so he could live life as a woman, she thought it was a late April Fool's joke.But her partner of 26 years was telling the truth - claiming he'd known he had always wanted to identify as female ever since the age of 19.The 41-year-old "trans widow" was left stunned by the revelation - while she says her ex never instigated sex, she believed the couple had always had a normal marriage otherwise. After breaking the news to her and moving out of the...

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