By Stacy Liberatore For Dailymail.com

Published: 10:11 EDT, 19 September 2023 | Updated: 12:17 EDT, 19 September 2023

• Consultation considers minimum service levels that covering urgent care 
• Junior doctors have so far held 19 days of industrial action in hospitals this year 

By Shaun Wooler Health Editor

Published: 19:01 EDT, 18 September 2023 | Updated: 02:34 EDT, 19 September 2023

When Meghan Markle stepped out in a $1,600 wool coat, Hermes scarf and Chanel flats last month, it wasn’t her outfit that caught attention. 

Her most talked-about accessory was a small blue sticker on her left wrist – an anti-stress NuCalm patch that has become popular among wellness gurus and biohackers and promises to provide ‘resonance and frequencies’. 

As a person with a high baseline stress level, I was immediately intrigued – and was prepared to pay the $80 for a pack of 20 NuCalm stickers (plus the $30-a-month for the company’s companion app).

If it is good enough to keep the Duchess of Sussex calm,  I figured it would be an easy counter to my daily stressors.

When I went to NuCalm’s website to learn what I was in for, I was met with jargon that only a Ph.D. student could understand.

The site said the sticker works by ‘tapping into the body’s Pericardium Meridian with particular electromagnetic frequencies of inhibitory neurotransmitters to interrupt the HPA axis and downregulate sympathetic tone.’ 

Come again? 

I couldn’t help but feel the jargon was intentional to mask the fact the sticker is based on traditional Chinese medicine techniques rather than sound science.

For 10 days straight, I wore the sticker on the ‘pericardium-6 acupuncture point’, which is a fancy way of saying the inside of my left wrist.

In traditional Chinese medicine, that pressure point is said to be part of the ‘Pericardium meridian energy pathway’ which, when stimulated through acupressure, can influence the flow of vital energy or ‘qi’ and blood along that pathway. 

If you rolled your eyes while reading that description, you’re like me. But for the first two days of my trial, I was surprised by how much I felt the reduction in general stress.

Whether it was a placebo effect or sheer optimism about a possible anxiety treatment that’s not a pill made by big pharma, I’m still not quite sure.

When you wear the sticker, you get a mild sense of pressure on your wrist which took a bit of getting used to.

After around day three, and I started to forget the sticker was there, the stress and anxiety came back – which makes me confident there’s something psychosomatic going on when it comes to NuCalm’s anti-anxiety effects.

There were long periods throughout the test where I noticed that my breathing felt smooth and more consistent than usual – but again, was I just hypersensitive to my body? I’m still undecided.

As the week went on, I would feel bouts of uneasiness creep back in – waiting on the claustrophobic subway platform during rush hour or holding my breath on the phone as the dial tone buzzed hoping my source on the other end would pick up. 

But periodically, when I spotted the sticker on the inside of my wrist again, my breathing would ease up, my thoughts would slow to a normal pace, and my muscles would loosen.

It was as if the sticker were a reminder rather than an actual medical device. 

I attempted to dig up some scientific research that could offer an answer to my question – was it all in my head? 

But the answer eluded me, even after following up with the NuCalm website’s repeated claims to be ‘clinically proven’. 

I found no such clinical trial or research on any sort of wearable bio-signaling disc.

When it comes to sleep quality, I did feel  marginally more rested over the 10 days. 

The NuCalm Deep Sleep channel on the app features music that can run for hours, though it’s not the actual music that lulls you sleep.

The frequencies from the music are said to synchronize brain waves to other frequencies associated with different states of being – alpha and theta, which mimic the body’s natural communication processes to initiate sleep.

The difference after a night of wearing the disc and listening to hours of low frequencies was marginal, though I noticed myself hitting the snooze button fewer times, suggesting the quality of my sleep was improved. 

Given the spotty science and tepid reviews from neuroscientists, it’s worth dissecting the company’s claims. 

The company likens the small disc inside each sticker to a battery holding a charge. 

When the sticker is pressed against a pressure point, the body pulls frequencies of energy from it that activate the part of the nervous system that modulates our responses to stress. 

The question of what exactly is inside this disc to prompt the sort of communication between neurons the company is so proud of remains a bit murky. 

The company credits frequency tuning and sound resonance to make its discs work but elsewhere on the site it says that the discs include ‘a proprietary blend of inhibitory neurotransmitters, primarily GABA.’ 

But elsewhere, NuCalm’s CEO Jim Poole has said the discs each contain a tiny Tesla coil to emit frequencies. 

The technology was developed over a period of 20 years by the late neuroscientist Dr Blake Holloway.

But Mr Poole is not himself a scientist, rather he was a business major from Babson College in Massachusetts.

Sophie Summers, a blogger on the Fitness Junkie Blog, said of her experience with a 30-minute session of meditation through the app coupled with the sticker on her wrist: ‘As the beautiful sounds swirled around me I could feel my whole body relax.

‘It was as though I could feel my entire body as once but also parts of it individually. My whole body, but especially my arms and chest became very heavy.

‘The thought of moving my arms seemed like an impossible task. But the feeling was so wonderful that I wouldn’t dare even try for the fear of losing the deep relaxation.

‘I was calm, relaxed, grounded.’

The price tag likely will not deter people who pride themselves on being attuned to their personal health, nor will its lofty promises deter so-called wellness gurus who have successfully monetized the quest for self-improvement.

YouTuber Tiago Eugenio dies after 80 days in a coma following car crash: Portuguese star’s mother pays tribute to her ‘great warrior’

• The Portuguese star, 28, suffered serious injuries following car crash in Algarve 

By Rachael Bunyan

Published: 02:52 EDT, 15 September 2023 | Updated: 04:25 EDT, 15 September 2023

There are a limited number of legislative days left for Congress to pass a stopgap funding bill or the government will plunge into a shutdown.

An easy deal isn’t likely amid GOP infighting about sending more aid to Ukraine and regarding timing for opening an impeachment inquiry into President Biden, which is poised to derail negotiations.

There are 12 annual government spending bills that must be passed by both the House and Senate before funding runs out at midnight on Sept. 30. 

However, to give lawmakers more time to push through the longer term 2024 spending bills, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is working on pushing a stopgap measure known as a ‘continuing resolution’ likely through the end of November or early December to stave off a shutdown. 

The CR is supported by Senate Leader Chuck Schumer who called it the way to ‘work this out,’ last month.

But there are only a total of 11 legislative days left on the calendar for Congress to pass the stopgap bill to keep the government temporarily funded. 

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said last week in Kentucky that he believes there will be a ‘short-term congressional resolution’ that will likely go into December ‘as we struggle to figure out exactly what the government’s spending level is going to be.’ 

A bill funding military construction and Veterans Affairs projects passed the House before the body left for a month-long hiatus, leaving 11 more bills to move along. 

All spending bills originate in the House and then are moved over to the Senate. 

House lawmakers are returning from their August recess on Tuesday and are expected to first take up the massive $886 billion defense spending bill. 

The issue of sending more aid to Ukraine will be at the center of negotiations.

President Biden has requested Congress approve an additional $40 billion – including $13 billion in emergency defense aid, $8 billion for humanitarian aid to Ukraine, $12 billion in disaster relief and $4 billion for the border to combat fentanyl smuggling.

The White House is urging Congress to pass the stopgap measure in order to avoid a shutdown while negotiations on passing the larger 12 longer term spending bills continue. 

But Ukraine aid is a sticking point that is shaking up the process. 

McCarthy has reportedly indicated that the House will attach disaster aid to the stopgap bill, but will not include additional funding for Ukraine.

However, the Senate has strong bipartisan support for sending more funds to the war torn country, and is likely to put pressure on the House to include more aid.

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, told Punchbowl News this week that he ‘understands’ that McCarthy needs to pass a bill, but the Senate will send back any piece of legislation without Ukraine aid.

‘We’re going to have to work that out,’ the Senate leader said this week. 

In addition, the House Freedom Caucus members said in August that they will oppose any spending bill that gives Ukraine a ‘blank check’ in U.S. taxpayer-funded aid.

They say they will also vote against a measure that doesn’t include provisions to address DOJ ‘weaponization’ and targeting of political opponents and the Pentagon’s ‘woke policies.’

And they want major billion dollar cuts to the appropriations bills because they are still disgruntled at the debt ceiling bill, which did not curb spending to their satisfaction.

McCarthy cannot afford to lose more than four votes from Republicans in his slim GOP majority, so he must strike a deal with the Freedom Caucus, which isn’t afraid to shut down the government.

Rep. Chris Stewart, R-Utah, is stepping down from Congress at the end of the week to due to family concerns. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., is battling bone cancer and not expected to return to the Hill for a few months. In addition, Rep. Frank Lucas, R-Okla., had hip surgery recently and Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., is dealing with a handful of legal issues. 

Even if the government shuts down, around 85 percent will still be in operation. For the employees not considered ‘essential,’ they will be paid once the government reopens. 

The longest shutdown – lasting over a month – occurred during Trump’s presidency due to disagreement on border wall funding.  

Another issue at play is some farther right House conservatives that say they will not support any government funding measure without an impeachment inquiry into President Biden and his connections to his family’s business dealings.

That is ruffling the feathers of more moderate Republicans who say they shouldn’t be tied together.

‘They’re totally separate issues and should be considered separately,’ said Rep. Bob Good of Virginia this week.

Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., has threatened to remove McCarthy from his speakership position if an impeachment inquiry into Biden isn’t launched. 

The lawmaker urged his GOP colleagues to ‘seize the initiative’ in investigating the 80-year-old president when they return to Washington next week.

He also said McCarthy ‘may not have the job long’ if he ‘stands in the way’ of pushing for a Congressional trial into Biden’s links to his son Hunter’s foreign business deals.

Firebrand Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia also promised to vote against funding the government if impeaching proceedings had not begun.

And House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., said last week that an impeachment inquiry is ‘imminent.’ 

McCarthy has said an impeachment inquiry into Joe’s connections to Hunter’s foreign dealings is on the table.

He said if the Biden administration continue to ‘withhold’ documents, Republicans will ‘move forward with impeachment inquiry when we come back into session.’

The White House has rejected every suggestion Joe was involved in his son Hunter’s business deals and insists the Biden impeachment push is politically motivated. 

But a new poll released this week showed that 61 percent of Americans believe then-Vice President Joe was involved at some level in his son’s dealings. 

BOOK OF THE WEEK  

Before the light fades: a memoir of grief and resistance

by Natasha Walter (Virago £18.99, 256pp)

Natasha Walter had heard her mother say, ‘When the time comes, I will kill myself’ so many times that she’d stopped listening.

It seemed inconceivable that Ruth Oppenheim, a cheerful old lady in her 70s, who lived life to the full and adored her children and grandchildren, could ever carry out such a clinically final act. But Ruth meant it.

In 2017, she gathered the whole family to lunch at her house in Watford, Hertfordshire, not letting on a thing. 

A few days later, she met up with Natasha beside the canal at King’s Cross in London for a normal, chatty lunch in an Indian restaurant.

Natasha had no idea this would be the last time she would ever see her mother. Four days later, Ruth took her own life.

She left a note for her daughters to circulate among her friends, explaining: ‘I decided to do so [kill herself] this year while I am still happy but very aware of my fading memory and health.’

Thus Natasha found herself in a state of profound grief mixed with crushing guilt.

Yes, she had noticed her mother was becoming a bit more frail, nervous and forgetful, but she’d cheerfully batted away her fears.

‘If I’d been a better daughter all my life,’ she writes, ‘less ready to push away her concerns, maybe she would not have felt so alone that she decided to die alone.’

In this succinct and deeply serious memoir, Natasha relives the days and weeks after her mother’s death.

At first, she tried to carry on as usual, doing her emotionally demanding job of running a charity for refugees.

But she felt ‘unshelled, a little scuttling mollusc without armour’. She broke down and had to take six weeks off, during which she tried yoga, running, swimming and gardening to smother her guilt and depression. None of them worked.

The yoga did not clear her mind. The running hurt her knees. With the swimming, she found she was just ‘dragging her misery up and down the pool’.

To have any hope of getting to the bottom of her mother’s mindset and coming to terms with her death, she needed to dig into Ruth’s life story. And that’s the essence of this compelling book.

Ruth’s German parents, Eva and Georg Oppenheim, were Jewish refugees. Eva, a promising young pianist, had escaped from anti-Semitic Hamburg in 1933 by getting a job as a housemaid to a bossy couple in London’s Blackheath.

Georg, a Nazi-resisting young Communist lawyer, had been imprisoned by the German regime and kept in solitary confinement for a year. 

Released in 1936, he’d smuggled himself into Poland on a coal train and managed to get papers to travel to England just before war broke out.

In London, he met and married Eva. After being interned for a year, separated from each other on the Isle of Man, the couple lived in poverty in a flat in North London, where Ruth was born in 1942.

What this book demonstrates fascinatingly is how children react against their parents. 

Eva and Georg, by now sick of rebellion and resistance, turned themselves into a conventional suburban family, living in a dull, tidy house.

The father who’d once bravely stood up to the Nazis was furious with his daughter when she was arrested aged 19 during a protest against nuclear weapons.

Many years later, Ruth would watch her parents die of Alzheimer’s and cancer, her mother screaming in hospital. 

That didn’t endear her to the prospect of allowing the British medical system to determine the manner of her own eventual death.

Natasha’s evocations of the 1960s Ban The Bomb marches Ruth went on bring back the fervour of those early years of non-violent resistance: the fledgling campaigners for nuclear disarmament did things like expose the government’s secret underground nuclear bunker, from where they intended to carry on running the country after the nuclear apocalypse. 

Ruth was, by her own admission, ‘bloody-minded’ in her persistence. She knew from her own Jewish background, Natasha writes, ‘that the journey from normality to apocalypse can be fast’.

Ruth met her future husband on one of those marches; he would spend time in prison after interrupting a church service in Brighton during the Labour Party conference of 1967.

Dressed in anorak and sandals, with no make-up or bra, Ruth seemed quite an embarrassing parent for young Natasha growing up.

There was a sign on the family fridge saying: ‘Boring women have clean houses.’ Natasha rebelled against this in turn, getting a job at Vogue and briefly luxuriating in the world of high fashion.

When she came home with a coveted pair of Eau De Nil slingbacks, her mother’s reaction was: ‘But you have shoes’ — one pair was quite enough. 

But the strong strain of radicalism in the family passed from one generation to the other and Natasha soon left Vogue.

It wasn’t long after her mother’s death that Natasha took part in her first Extinction Rebellion sit-down protest, blocking a street near Trafalgar Square, linking arms in a metal pipe with another protester.

She describes the euphoria and exhilaration of that day (not mentioning the members of the public who might have been trying to get to hospital or their own mother’s funeral).

A policeman cut the metal piping and carried her off to a police cell. ‘But in order to be myself, to live a more honest life, I need to do the little I can do,’ she writes. She has given up her car.

The more Natasha contemplates her mother’s life, the more her death makes sense.

‘I could see that she was someone who could confront when others shied away.

‘Someone who hated denial. Someone who wanted to live an honest and uncompromised life . . . and in the end, that desire extended even to the manner of her death, so that the way she chose to die was somehow of a piece with the way she chose to live.’

Tori Spelling reveals she’s been hospitalized for four days amid split from husband Dean McDermott: ‘I’m missing my kiddos so much’

By Alesia Stanford For Dailymail.Com

Published: 18:31 EDT, 20 August 2023 | Updated: 18:33 EDT, 20 August 2023

Hailey Bieber looked like a total vixen as she enjoyed a girls’ night out in Santa Monica on Tuesday night.

The model, 26, strolled up to Giorgio Baldi restaurant in a skintight black vinyl minidress that flaunted her endless legs.

The strapless number coordinated with the shiny faux leather purse tucked under her arm.

The wife of Justin Bieber had her cellphone pressed to her ear and strolled the sidewalk in sky-high heels.

Hailey and her close pals Justine Skye, Winnie Harlow and Lori Harvey gathered to attend a private party at the celeb-loved eatery.

Hailey’s dirty blonde hair was styled in her signature, sleek bun and she accessorized with gold jewelry.

She had a radiant, rosy flush and her lips were topped with a nude lip gloss.

Though she typically strays from eye makeup, Hailey wore a light wash of brown eyeshadow and a few coats of mascara.

Justin was missing from the action but Hailey had plenty of familiar faces to mingle with.

Winnie looked ready for the beach as she arrived wear a pair of vibrant orange bikini bottoms and rainbow crochet sarong.

The runway maven carried a bright yellow Chanel handbag that retails for upwards of $3,500.

Her long brunette hair flowed out from under a colorful crochet bucket hat and she completed the look with a plain white tank top.

Justine left little to the imagination by going braless under a sheer off-the-shoulder dress.

The singer slipped her feet into silver sandals and carried her essentials in a green designer purse.

Lori Harvey rolled up to the star-studded function with her hunky boyfriend Damson Idris in a skimpy black minidress and heels.

Earlier in the day, Hailey put a sexy spin on the classic T-shirt and blue jeans combo as she posed for a new slideshow of Instagram shots on Tuesday.

She looked tanned and toned while rocking a tiny white crop top styled with a pair of trendy high-waisted Levi’s jeans.

For one sexy shot, she threw her head back and tugged at her front belt loop to expose her chiseled midriff.

Her top stopped just below her perky bust and she accessorized with a pair of sparkly gold hoops.

Hailey — who ventured to Beverly Hills earlier this week — flaunted her natural, flawless complexion by opting for little to no makeup.

Instead of heavy eyeshadow, lipstick or contouring products, Hailey rocked a soft pink flush and doused her lips with a brown gloss.

She used a blank white wall as her back drop and often posed with her head over her shoulder, smiling. 

As for her hair, Hailey swept her dirty blonde, jaw-length tresses to one side for a voluminous look.

She gave her millions of fans a closer look at her makeup in a brief clip she shared to TikTok.

Set to the tune of No Doubt’s Just A Girl, Hailey effortlessly moved from pose to pose and played with her cropped hair.

Along with her diffused blush and glossy lip, the daughter of Stephen Baldwin had perfectly groomed eyebrows and faux freckles across the bridge of her nose.

This particular makeup look of Hailey’s has gone viral in recent days — with many referring to it as ‘strawberry girl makeup.’

Hailey often uses products from her beauty line Rhode to achieve her flawless, sun-kissed looks.

Rhode was launched last June and marked her first business venture in the beauty space.

The brand touts itself as a vegan, cruelty-free, gluten-free and dermatologist-developed line of skincare with each product priced under $30.

In Hailey’s own words from the ‘About Us’ section of the Rhode skincare website, she writes: My journey towards healthier skin inspired me to develop products that really work, in a way that’s accessible to everyone.’

Her business recently hired Melanie Bender, the previous founding president of Versed, as Rhode’s CEO.

Though she’s often busy running her business and jet-setting around the globe with her pop star husband, Hailey recently enjoyed some rare downtime. 

Over the weekend, she confessed to her over 50million followers that she’s watching the beloved HBO series Sex And The City ‘for the first time ever.’

Her friends and fans were shocked that she’d only just now seen the show, with Kim Kardashian writing: ‘Are u ok???? This is wild.’

But Hailey’s BFF Lori Harvey commented that she’s also a new SATC viewer.

Along with her caption, she included a random dump of photos, including a selfie rocking a necklace with a diamond-covered capital ‘B’ pendant for ‘Bieber.’

The influencer also included a closeup snapshot of herself modeling a plunging red halter neck top as well as a mirror selfie in a pale yellow minidress.

British scientists are leading the charge to create a vaccine to halt the next deadly pandemic within 100 days of it breaking out.

Experts are working on a high-security project at Porton Down, the top-secret government laboratory, to develop prototype vaccines to tackle ‘Disease X’ when it hits.

The ambitious target would smash the 362 days it took to develop a Covid jab, potentially stopping crippling lockdowns in future. 

Scientists agree it is only a matter of time until the next pandemic, with a recent government report putting it among the biggest threats to life this year.

The new super-lab, to which the Mail was invited last week, is geared to work with the world’s deadliest live viruses, with more specialist ‘high-containment’ labs than anywhere in Europe. 

Working alongside academics and industry, it is the only site in the UK equipped to create a vaccine from start to finish.

Dr Jenny Harries, head of the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), said Britain is already primed to launch a ‘very slick and rapid response’ to the next global threat.

Speaking at the launch of the Vaccine Development and Evaluation Centre, she said it signalled a ‘step change in terms of pandemic response’, adding: ‘The risk [of another pandemic] is growing. 

‘The 100-day mission is to identify a pathogen of pandemic potential and within 100 days, you have vaccines to try and manage that.

‘This is shifting from being super ready to respond to actually trying to stop [pandemics] happening.

‘For previous vaccines it would have been five to ten years. For Covid it was 362 days, so to get to 100 days is really stretching the ambition. But if we’re going to prevent pandemics then that’s exactly what we need to do.’

Adjoining the Ministry of Defence site in Salisbury, Wiltshire, the 3,000 square metres of laboratory space is a positive ‘legacy’ of the pandemic. 

Metal hangars were erected, and wings converted from old storage and office space into state-of-the-art labs when Covid struck, running vital tests to determine government policy such as which vaccines to buy.

Its creation has seen capacity ramped up so scientists can run tests against a range of diseases on 3,000 samples each week, compared to 100 before Covid struck.

It means that in future, the science will be available to influence policymakers much faster, reducing the threat of the country grinding to a standstill. Even now, experts here are keeping tabs on new Covid variants, running tests to see how effective vaccines are and how long protection lasts.

But its remit goes way beyond Covid, with more than 200 scientists working on upwards of 100 projects. These include surveillance and potential vaccine development for diseases including HN51 bird flu, which kills close to 50 per cent of those it infects. 

Others are targeting tuberculosis and Clostridium difficile, a bacterial infection common in hospitals that can be deadly to the elderly.

Scientists say global migration is leading to rising threats as people and animals move closer together. Global warming is also creating risks of pathogens carried by vectors such as mosquitoes and ticks appearing in previously unheard-of places, including the UK.

Early clinical trials are taking place for what could be a world-first vaccine against Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever, a virus spread by tick bites, recently found in the nearby New Forest.

Professor Isabel Oliver, chief scientific officer at UKHSA, said: ‘We have seen a very large number of new infectious diseases in recent decades. There’s no doubt there will be new pandemics in the not-too-distant future. 

‘We know that through scientific advancement, we could detect and control these threats before they have the impact Covid-19 had on our lives.’

Health Secretary Steve Barclay said the centre ‘cements the UK’s global position spearheading pandemic preparedness, vaccine development and scientific discovery’. 

He added: ‘Hundreds of the world’s leading scientists are already in the centre working on vaccines… to save lives across the world.’

Euphoria star Angus Cloud was filmed laughing and smiling with friends on a night out, just three days before his shock death on Monday aged 25. 

The actor, who starred as the drug dealer Fezco O’Neill in the popular HBO series, was found dead at his family’s home in Oakland on Monday, with reports claiming he had struggled with ‘severe suicidal thoughts’ following the passing of his dad.

Angus had been surrounded by friends when he attended the album launch party of MacArthur Maze, a rap group, near his family home in California on Friday.

He was out with the band’s photographer, Josh Kennedy, who he had been a close friend of for years.

According to The Sun, his friends said he attended the party ‘for a few hours and did not show any sign of a personal struggle.’

Josh told the publication: ‘We grew up together. It’s been tough today. Friday, that was the last day I saw him, he came to our record release party.

‘He was happy, very happy to be home. He was in Ireland for a while, we spoke about his dad recently, he was sad about it, but he seemed to be doing okay.

‘I don’t even think he drank [at the event], I didn’t see him drinking, but I don’t know, I was working taking photographs.’

Josh told the site that the evening seemed to be normal and Angus was posing for photographs and was fooling around. 

The photographer admitted he ‘felt sick’ to learn of his friend’s passing and said it’s all ‘so new to him’.

He added that he feels ‘terrible’ for Angus’ mother Lisa Cloud Mclaughlin , who has lost her son and husband in a matter of weeks, 

Angus had paid tribute to his late father on Instagram in one of his final social media posts just two weeks before his tragic death yesterday.

Oakland PD and Fire Department responded to a 911 call made by Cloud’s mother, who reported a ‘possible overdose’ at around 11:30am yesterday, TMZ reported. 

She also said that Cloud did not have a pulse, with the actor pronounced dead on the scene when responders arrived.

Cloud’s father, Conor Hickey, passed away in his native Ireland in May. An obituary written by members of a rugby club with which he was associated claimed he died ‘after a short illness’, without providing further details. 

Lisa and Angus’ late father Conor, were both university professors. They were originally from Ireland, but they relocated to California in the 80s.

The couple shared three children, their eldest Angus, followed by twin daughters Molly and Fiona Hickey.

Angus, just last week returned stateside from Ireland where he laid his father to rest, with sources indicating he holed up with his family in Oakland to try and cope with the grief. 

One of Cloud’s final Instagram posts came on July 14, in which he shared a touching image of his smiling father in a red hoodie and red sweats, stating in the caption, ‘miss u breh.’

Angus’s family confirmed his death in a statement on Monday afternoon.

‘It is with the heaviest heart that we had to say goodbye to an incredible human today. As an artist, a friend, a brother and a son, Angus was special to all of us in so many ways.

‘Last week he buried his father and intensely struggled with this loss. The only comfort we have is knowing Angus is now reunited with his dad, who was his best friend,’ the statement continued. 

‘Angus was open about his battle with mental health and we hope that his passing can be a reminder to others that they are not alone and should not fight this on their own in silence.

‘We hope the world remembers him for his humor, laughter and love for everyone. We ask for privacy at this time as we are still processing this devastating loss,’ the statement concluded. 

Tributes quickly flooded in for the actor from Euphoria producers, castmates and fellow actors. 

HBO said in a statement: ‘We are incredibly saddened to learn of the passing of Angus Cloud.

‘He was immensely talented and a beloved part of the HBO and Euphoria family. 

‘We extend our deepest condolences to his friends and family during this difficult time.’

Cloud was one of the breakout stars of Euphoria, appearing in both series of the Sam Levinson-directed drama alongside Zendaya, Sydney Sweeney and Jacob Elordi.

He was most often in scenes alongside his partner in crime Ashtray, played by Javon Walton.

Sharing a picture of the pair on Instagram, Walton wrote: ‘Rest easy brother’ and later ‘forever family.’

Meanwhile, Kathrine Narducci, who played Cloud’s on-screen grandmother Marie O’Neill in Euphoria, described him as a ‘gentle beautiful soul’ who ‘exited to soon’ on Twitter.

Storm Reid, who plays Zendaya’s on-screen younger sister Gia Bennett, shared a clip of Cloud laughing on the show to her Instagram Story, captioning it: ‘The tears just won’t stop.’

Euphoria director Levinson said: ‘There was no-one quite like Angus. He was too special, too talented and way too young to leave us so soon.

‘He also struggled, like many of us, with addiction and depression. I hope he knew how many hearts he touched.

‘I loved him. I always will. Rest in peace and God Bless his family.’

Rapper Drake, a producer of Euphoria, shared a photo of Angus from March of 2022 at the Revolve Social Club in LA, writing, ‘Good soul,’ and adding a tearful emoji and a dove.

Kerry Washington shared a photo of Cloud at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party from March 2022, writing, ‘You will be deeply missed’ and ‘Rest in Power.’

Over on Threads, Kerry also urged her followers to reach out for help if needed in the wake of Angus’ death. ‘To whoever needs to hear this. You are not alone,’ she wrote, while sharing a link to 988lifeline.org. 

Sydney Martin, the model who was rumored to be in an on–off relationship with Cloud, also shared what appeared to be a brief tribute to Cloud.

The model, who briefly appeared on a second-season episode of Euphoria, shared a somber message in her Instagram Stories after the news broke.

However, she didn’t reference the late actor, or even include any text at all.

Instead, Martin shared a black background to her Instagram Stories and and placed a set of seven red broken-hearted emojis in a row.

Sydney’s post went live just minutes after Cloud was reported to have died.

Around the time that she shared her broken hearts, she also deleted some more upbeat Instagram Stories posts, according to In Touch. 

Martin was featured in the season two premiere of Euphoria, titled Trying To Get To Heaven Before They Close The Door.

She was credited in the episode simply as ‘bikini girl,’ according to her IMDb page.

Her other acting work includes an uncredited role as a restaurant patron on the FX series Snowfall, as well as another uncredited character simply described as Hot Pocket on the Netflix coming-of-age comedy Never Have I Ever. 

The gossip blog DeuxMoi had previously claimed via anonymous reports that Cloud and Martin were dating. 

Although they had not confirmed their relationship, Sydney shared mirror selfies of herself and Angus beaming while she put a hand around his neck on January 7, 2022, which she captioned, ‘Euphoria is out in 2 days.’

One photo also showed her giving her rumored boyfriend a sweet kiss on the cheek. 

Months before Cloud’s death yesterday, a man who claims to have worked for the actor said he was struggling in his battle with addiction after completing rehab two years ago.

The Twitter thread from a man named Diomi Cordero came in April, Page Six reported, more than three months before Cloud’s passing.

Cordero said he initially crossed paths at a rehab clinic where Cloud was being treated and that he reconvened with the actor July 4, 2021, when Cloud hosted a party at his house, Page Six reported.

Cordero said Cloud was freshly out of rehab at the time, but exhibited signs of being under the influence of drugs.

Cloud was born and raised in Oakland, California, attending the School of Production Design at the Oakland School for the Arts alongside her future castmate Zendaya.

He was discovered by Euphoria casting director Jennifer Venditti while working as a waiter in Brooklyn, which lead to him making his acting debut on the HBO series as the drug dealer Fezco.

He would go on to star in movies such as North Hollywood with Vince Vaughn and Miranda Cosgrove and The Line with Alex Wolff and Halle Bailey, with three more films either filming or in post-production.

Thoughts are with Angus’s mother Lisa who has lost her husband and son in just weeks of one another. 

After losing her husband in May, Lisa wrote: ‘Thanks to all of you for your messages about Conor’s passing.

‘He would have been so honored that so many young people came to express how much they appreciated their support from him.

‘Our home welcomed all our kids “homies”.’

Around 100 people turned up to pay tribute to Conor and she said: ‘My fella lived large and loud! His cancer moved quickly which was devastating to all who loved him, but there is comfort in the fact that his pain wasn’t prolonged.

‘He is the love of my life. He was an incredible father to his three children, and a great support to many many others as well.’