A million US deaths could be averted each year if mortality rates in America were on par with those in other rich countries, a damning report has found.

Researchers looked at the rate of all-cause mortality per population size since the 1930s in nearly two dozen peer nations, including the UK, Canada, Japan, Australia and 17 European countries. 

They found that despite the US being the richest, it has suffered more deaths per capita than any of the 21 other nations since around 1980, which have reached ‘unprecedented levels’ in recent years.

The study noted the opioid and fentanyl epidemic, gun violence, and obesity-related deaths, which have all been exacerbated by the Covid pandemic, are the reason America is an outlier.

The study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Nexus, found that by 2019, around 600,000 deaths could have been prevented if the US had similar mortality rates to its peer nations.

But in 2020 and 2021, this rose to 1.1million.  

Steffie Woolhandler, senior author and professor at the School of Urban Public Health at Hunter College, blamed America’s healthcare system, insurers, corporate greed and politicians for the avoidable deaths the country has seen.

‘We waste hundreds of billions each year on health insurers’ profits and paperwork, while tens of millions can’t afford medical care, healthy food, or a decent place to live,’ Woolhandler said.

‘Americans die younger than their counterparts elsewhere because when corporate profits conflict with health, our politicians side with the corporations,’ she added.

The United States was only one of a handful of countries on the list that does not provide universal healthcare coverage to its residents. 

Despite the number of excess deaths peaking in 2020 and 2021, the team from Boston University School of Public Health, University of Pennsylvania, Harvard Chan School of Public Health and Hunter College found America’s excess death rate had been worsening since the 1980s.

During World War II and thereafter, America had a lower mortality rate than peer countries. 

In the 1960s and 70s, the rate was similar to other wealthy countries. 

However, in the 1980s, the number of excess deaths began to rise, climbing to approximately 622,500 in 2019. 

Deaths then spiked in 2020 and 2021 during the pandemic. Those years saw approximately one million excess deaths.

In the years between 1980 and 2021, there were 13.1 million ‘missing Americans’. 

Study lead and corresponding author Jacob Bor, an associate professor of global health and epidemiology at Boston University, called the number of missing Americans ‘unprecedented in modern times.’

Nearly half of the missing Americans died prior to age 65 in 2020 and 2021, a level of excess deaths Bor said was particularly stark. 

‘Think of people you know who have passed away before reaching age 65. Statistically, half of them would still be alive if the US had the mortality rates of our peers. The US is experiencing a crisis of early death that is unique among wealthy nations,’ Bor said. 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported life expectancy in 2020 was 77 years old, a decline of nearly two years from 2019. In 2021, life expectancy declined again to 76.4 years. 

In 2020, nine of the 10 leading causes of death were the same as in 2019, though five causes switched ranks. 

However, heart disease and cancer remained the top two, while Covid was newly added and took the third slot. 

Unintentional injuries moved to fourth place and stroke moved to fifth place.

In 2021, nine of the 10 leading causes of death remained unchanged from the year prior and heart disease, cancer and Covid were the top three again.

Unintentional injury and stroke remained the fourth and fifth top causes of death in 2021, respectively. 

During both 2020 and 2021, deaths among all ages increased year-over-year, except those among one- to four-year-olds, which declined slightly only in 2020. 

‘Living in the US is a risk factor for early death that is common across many US racial and ethnic groups,’ Bor said. 

‘Whereas most health disparities studies assess differences between US racial/ethnic groups, such an approach renders the poor health of Whites invisible and grossly underestimates the health shortfall of minoritized groups. 

‘By using an international benchmark, we show that Americans of all races and ethnicities are adversely affected by the US policy environment, which places a low priority on public health and social protections, particularly for low-income people.’ 

Accounting for the future years lost due to someone dying prematurely, researchers estimate that in 2021, excess deaths translated to 26.4 million years of life lost when compared to peer countries. 

Based on the study results and the trend of excess deaths in the US, Mr Bor is not optimistic mortality rates will rebound in the near future, even as Covid deaths fall to some of their lowest numbers. 

‘The US was already experiencing more than 600,000 missing Americans annually before the pandemic began, and that number was increasing each year. There have been no significant policy changes since then to change this trajectory.

‘While COVID-19 brought new attention to public health, the backlash unleashed during the pandemic has undermined trust in government and support for expansive policies to improve population health.

‘This could be the most harmful long-term impact of the pandemic, because expansion of public policy to support health is exactly how our peer countries have attained higher life expectancy and better health outcomes.’

• Cancer mortality rates peaked in the 1980s and have since fallen by 24 per cent 

By Kate Pickles Health Editor For The Daily Mail

Updated: 19:16 EDT, 31 August 2023

Japan started dumping more than 1.3 million tons of radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean Thursday – and an expert has warned it ‘has the potential to cause mutations as seen in Chernobyl.’

The wastewater is currently being held in the nation’s Fukushima nuclear plant, which is set to be decommissioned and must be cleaned to prevent accidental leaks

The contaminated water has been filtered to remove isotopes, leaving only tritium and carbon-14, which are radioactive isotopes of hydrogen and carbon that cannot be easily removed from water

Timothy Mousseau, a researcher at the University of South Carolina, told DailyMai.com: Tritium and carbon-14, along with the other radionuclides [that cause cancer] to be released, all have the potential to cause mutations, cancers and developmental deformities, as seen in Chernobyl.’

In March 2011, the Fukushima power plant was wrecked after an earthquake and tsunami destroyed the plant’s cooling systems, causing three reactors to melt – the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in 1986.

Chernobyl a power station on the outskirts of Pripyat, suffered a massive accident in which one of the reactors caught fire and exploded, spreading radioactive material into the surroundings.

Since then, animals exposed have developed deformities and genetic changes, and residents have been stricken with cancer. 

Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) said when Fukushima experienced its meltdown, the organization collected the contaminated water as it cooled the wrecked reactors, along with groundwater and rain seeped in. 

The Japanese government began using the Advanced Liquid Processing System (ALPS) 2013 to filter out the most harmful substances.

ALPS removes nearly all of the toxic elements in the water, but it is unable to filter out tritium.

TEPCO considers tritium to be harmless, but it increases the risk of cancer when consumed in large quantities.

Moussea said: ‘There is no doubt that there will be some injury to the exposed organisms.’

To release the wastewater into the ocean, TEPOC has constructed a mile-long undersea tunnel that extends out from the base of the nuclear power plant.

TEPCO pushed the release button on the tanks Thursday to start the dumping process, which is set to take up to 40 years. 

The filtering process will remove strontium-90 and iodine-129, and the concentration of carbon-14 in the contaminated water is far lower than its regulatory standard for discharge, according to TEPCO and Japanese government documents. 

MAP NEEDS CAPTION ^^  

However, that still leaves levels of tritium in the water. CONFUSED STILL! 

‘Unfortunately, at present, there is no process that would allow for industrial-scale removal of tritium from contaminated water,’ Mousseau said.

‘The only alternatives to dumping are to a) keep storing it until natural radioactive decay reduces concentrations to very low levels (50-100 years) or b) to fix it in a substrate (e.g. concrete) so that it can not accumulate in the ecosystem.’

Tritium is a colorless, odorless gas with a half-life of about 12 years. 

And the form of hydrogen has been produced in large quantities by the nuclear military program.

It can enter the body through inhalation, ingestion or absorption through the skin, and it increases the risk of cancer if consumed in extremely large quantities, 

‘Based on our review of the literature, we have found that if ingested, absorbed or inhaled, tritium in any form can cause genetic damage (i.e. increased mutation rates), cancer, developmental defects, reduced fertility or even sterility, and reduced longevity,’ Mousseau said.

‘At high doses, tritium can lead to mortality. At low doses, such effects are likely to escape detection because of the technical challenges of studying this isotope, but at higher doses, such as might arise as a result of biomagnification, effects could be considerable and of significant concern for top predators (e.g. humans).’

The Japanese plan was greenlighted by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), part of the United Nations, following a two-year-long safety review that concluded in July.

IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said in a foreword of the report: ‘Based on its comprehensive assessment, the IAEA has concluded that the approach and activities to the discharge of ALPS treated water taken by Japan are consistent with relevant international safety standards.

‘Furthermore, the IAEA notes the controlled, gradual discharges of the treated water to the sea, as currently planned and assessed by TEPCO, would have a negligible radiological impact on people and the environment.’

Greenpeace said on Tuesday that the radiological risks had not been fully assessed and that the biological impacts of tritium, carbon-14, strontium-90 and iodine-129 – to be released with the water – ‘have been ignored.’

DailyMail.com has contacted IAEA and Greenpeace for comment. 

TEPCO plans to release 8,598 tons of wastewater in the first round of the project, which will carry on for 17 days.

The organization claims 34,392 tons should be released by March 2024, an equivalent of 10 tanks.

‘It is impossible to predict the long-term consequences of the dumping without further scientific study,’ said Mousseau.

Similar uncertainties existed for the effects of pesticides (e.g. DDT), chlorofluorocarbons (i.e. effects on the ozone layer), plastics and even CO2 (effects on climate change). 

The lack of sufficient study in these other situations led to the near extinction of many animals (e.g. DDT effects on birds). 

‘Luckily, we have largely recovered from the effects of pesticides and CFCs but are still dealing with the long-term effects of plastics and greenhouse gasses. The long-term impacts of tritium releases are, at present, completely unknown but should be of great concern to all.’

Despite Japan insisting that the water discharge is completely safe following assessments from foreign experts and the IAEA, the plan has enraged neighboring countries.

China has since banned Japanese seafood and criticized the country as ‘extremely selfish and irresponsible.’ 

The Chinese Communist Party’s flagship newspaper, The Global Times, then wrote that it could open ‘Pandora’s box’ and trigger fears of a ‘real-life Godzilla,’ about the reptile monster that first appeared in Japanese cinema in 1954. 

Beijing’s foreign ministry said in a statement: ‘The ocean is the common property of all humanity, and forcibly starting the discharge of Fukushima’s nuclear wastewater into the ocean is an extremely selfish and irresponsible act that ignores international public interests.’ 

South Korean protestors also attempted to enter the Japanese embassy in Seoul carrying banners that read ‘The sea is not Japan’s trash bin.’ 

Butlin’s new SkyPark, a playground so amped up it feels as if it’s landed from the future, has plunged me right back into a forgotten parenting phase.

Under an arching, almost blue Skegness sky, I am a human coat-stand on the periphery of the fun, being served shady terms on a ‘Just one more go, please Mum’ deal.

It’s not a toddler I’m negotiating with though, it’s a tween. Belle, 11, is already a little too gangly and definitely too cool to be in any other sort of playground, but this £2.5 million extravaganza is so sparky she can’t resist. Bar a brief return for a slug of water, I haven’t seen her sister, Cleo, nine, for an hour.

Unveiled this spring, SkyPark is an inventive, creative and inclusive take on a centuries-old blueprint, introduced at its entrance by giant Hollywood-esque letters.

From a trio of soaring rocket towers — with gleaming light-up-inside metal tube slides — to the UK’s longest seesaw (at 24 metres!), it’s all deeply hypnotic to the under-12 age group.

Many UK attractions for children are still frustratingly ableist, but SkyPark comes with calmer zones, clever sensory elements and wheelchair-friendly access.

After dark — it’s open until 10pm in the school holidays — SkyPark is flooded with colourful light; streams of neon fire around the attractions, blending in perfectly with Lincolnshire’s mini-Vegas seaside skyline just beyond it.

Butlin’s three UK sites, Skegness, Minehead and Bognor Regis, now firmly rival Center Parcs for the UK holiday park dollar, thanks to investment in recent years, keeping founder Sir Billy Butlin’s original vision buoyant in the 21st century.

In 2019, a new £40 million Art Deco-style Splash pool complex opened in Bognor, and household names including ITV’s Stephen Mulhern are on the bill this summer and next.

Butlin’s Skegness, opened in 1936 and our modern-day accommodation, a two-bed, self-catering apartment, tips its hat to vintage kiss-me-quick humour and the weekend passes in a whirl of activity. We hurtle down Vortex, a 60ft winding slide in the 3,000 sq metre Splash Waterworld that lands you in a giant bowl.

The kids grab their way up the climbing wall, paint pottery, part with hundreds (of 2p pieces) in the arcades and we’re all hooked on the traditional fairground with its pretty carousel, dodgems and, new for this summer, 15m-high drop ride, Orbiter.

A happy exhaustion descends as the drive home looms — Butlin’s does many things but relaxation really isn’t one of them.

More than 3.5 million people lost their ‘dollar millionaire’ status in 2022 during the first fall in global wealth since the 2008 financial crisis, a study has found.

The number of adults with assets totalling more than $1m (£790,000) dropped from 62.9 million at the end of 2021 to 59.4 million at the end of last year, according to the Global Wealth Report launched by Credit Suisse and UBS.

The number of millionaires in the US fell by 1.8 million to 22.7 million, but there are still far more than in any other nation, while in the UK the number dropped by 440,000 to 2.6 million, the third largest globally.

The world’s privately held wealth fell 2.4 per cent to $454.4 trillion at the end of last year, as $11.3 trillion was stripped from the value of personal assets by high inflation and weaker currencies.

The invasion of Ukraine for was blamed for causing the lift in inflation in 2022.

According to separate research for the Bloomberg billionaires index, the richest 500 people in the world lost a total of $1.4 trillion in 2022.

The report from Credit Suisse and UBS shows that, measured in current nominal USD, wealth per adult also declined by $3,198 to reach $84,718 per adult. 

Much of this decline comes from the appreciation of the US dollar against many other currencies. 

Financial assets contributed most to wealth declines in 2022, while non-financial assets (mostly real estate) stayed resilient, despite rapidly rising interest rates.

Regionally, the report shows the loss of global wealth was heavily concentrated in wealthier regions such as North America and Europe, which together shed $10.9 trillion.

Asia Pacific recorded losses of $2.1 trillion.

Latin America experienced a total wealth increase of $2.4 trillion, helped by an average 6 per cent currency appreciation against the US dollar.

In terms of losses in market terms in 2022, the United States headed the list, followed by Japan, China, Canada and Australia.

The largest wealth increases at the other end were recorded for Russia, Mexico, India and Brazil.

In terms of wealth per adult, Switzerland has stayed at the top of the list followed by the USA, Hong Kong SAR, Australia and Denmark despite sizeable reductions in mean wealth versus 2021.

Along with the decline in aggregate wealth, overall wealth inequality also fell in 2022, with the wealth share of the global top 1 per cent falling to 44.5 per cent.

Global wealth will increase by 38 per cent to $629 trillion by 2027, according to the report’s projections. 

Growth by middle-income markets will be the primary driver of global trends.

The number of millionaires will rise to 86 million by 2027, according to the estimates. 

Nannette Hechler-Fayd’herbe, Chief Investment Officer for the EMEA region and Global Head of Economics & Research at Credit Suisse, said: ‘Wealth evolution proved resilient during the COVID-19 era and grew at a record pace during 2021. But inflation, rising interest rates and currency depreciation caused a reversal in 2022.’

Anthony Shorrocks, economist and report author, said: ‘Much of the decline in wealth in 2022 was driven by high inflation and the appreciation of the US dollar against many other currencies. If exchange rates were held constant at 2021 rates, then total wealth would have increased by 3.4% and wealth per adult by 2.2% during 2022. 

‘This is still the slowest increase of wealth at constant exchange rates since 2008. Keeping exchange rates constant but counting the effects of inflation results in a real wealth loss of –2.6% in 2022. 

‘Similarly, financial assets contributed most to wealth declines while non-financial assets (mostly real estate) stayed resilient, despite rapidly rising interest rates. But the relative contributions of financial and non-financial assets may reverse in 2023 if house prices decline in response to higher interest rates.’

House Democratic campaign arm raises $41m in last quarter with mass shootings helping propel them ahead of GOP fundraisers in June – as Raphael Warnock nearly triples Herschel Walker with his own $17m haul

• The DCCC raised $40.7 million the second quarter of FY2022 
• Party also raised the RNCC by just $500,000 in June despite claims there will be a Democratic bloodbath in November’s midterm
• The fundraising haul came after a series of mass shootings and the Supreme Court overturn of Roe v. Wade last month 
• Georgia is a good example of Democrats out raising Republicans in the midterms
• Democrat incumbent Senator Raphael Warnock raised $17.2M from April-June compared to his Republican rival Herschel Walker, who brought in $6.2M

By Katelyn Caralle, U.S. Political Reporter For Dailymail.com

Published: 15:13 EDT, 13 July 2022 | Updated: 20:01 EDT, 13 July 2022

EPHRAIM HARDCASTLE: Freddie Mercury’s girlfriend Mary Austin asks for £1.2 million for the handwritten lyrics of Bohemian Rhapsody… but did the Queen singer actually bequeath the iconic scribble to his last boyfriend Jim Hutton?

By Ephraim Hardcastle for the Daily Mail

Updated: 02:06 EDT, 4 August 2023

Robots could free up a million NHS days by completing pesky admin tasks, Health Service suggests

• ‘Robotic process automation’ could handle admin ten times faster than humans

By Claire Ellicott

Updated: 20:06 EDT, 1 July 2023

The Supreme Court has struck down President Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan.

The justices ruled 6-3 that the administration overstepped its authority with the program to wipe out more than $400 million in student debt. 

The program was challenged by six Republican states and two borrowers who argued Biden should have sought approval from Congress for a plan using substantial taxpayer funds. 

On June 30, Biden condemned the ruling as he promised to provide alternative support. ‘Today’s decision has closed one path. Now we’re going to start another,’ he told reporters.

But what will happen to the 16 million people already approved for forgiveness? 

What does the decision mean for you? 

For the 26 million people who applied for the program, more than half of whom were approved, the ruling will dash their hopes of taking advantage of having up to $20,000 cut from their debt. 

If no other plans are put in place before then, this means that borrowers will have to return to making full repayments in October when they resume after more than three years this fall.   

Estimates from the Congressional Budget Office said the plan would have cost taxpayers roughly $400 billion, which has now been saved – in welcome news to those who opposed the program.   

Some argued the forgiveness would be unfair to those who either paid their way through college, repaid their loans already, or never attended college in the first place due to the high cost of education.

What was the student loan forgiveness policy? 

The Biden Administration announced its student loan forgiveness program in August 2022. 

The plan intended to cancel up to $20,000 of debt for eligible borrowers – which could have wiped away an estimated $430 billion of the total $1.6 trillion in borrowed cash.

People who earn less than $125,000 a year, or $250,000 per household, could get up to $10,000 in debt cancelation. 

Students who received a Pell Grant – a needs-based federal grant for lower-income families – during their education, stood to receive up to $20,000 in forgiveness. 

Some 26 million people applied for the program, according to the Department of Education – more than half of the 46 million eligible borrowers. 

Of the applications, 16 million were provisionally approved to have their debt forgiven, but the program was paused in November before any funds had been given out. 

Why was the program paused?

The program was halted, and funds were blocked from being disbursed, because of two Supreme Court lawsuits arguing the Biden Administration overstepped its authority in approving the debt erasure.

Biden v. Nebraska was brought by Republican attorneys in six states – Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and South Carolina – in September 2022, and argued that the program could harm tax revenues.

In October last year, the Job Creators Network Foundation filed a separate lawsuit in Texas on behalf of two student borrowers Myra Brown and Alexander Taylor.

The Biden Administration, however, argued the plan fell under the 2003 Higher Education Relief Opportunities for Students Act, otherwise known as the HEROES Act, which was created to ensure loan relief after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

The Supreme Court struck down the program in the case brought by Republican-controlled states. 

Although it ruled that the case brought by two student borrowers did not have the standing to challenge the program, this ruling was irrelevant given the outcome in the Biden v. Nebraska case. 

When will student loan repayments resume? 

The White House paused student loan repayments during the Covid-19 pandemic – in a separate policy to the student loan forgiveness program.

The Government argued the pandemic was a national emergency, which gave it the authority to cancel debt under the HEROES Act.    

But student loan payments are set to resume after more than three years this fall, after a deal was reached between the White House and Congress on raising the debt ceiling formally abolished the pause.

Interest will start accruing on September 1, according to the Department of Education, and borrowers will need to start making payments on federal student debt again in October.  

According to a new report from Wells Fargo, the average monthly payment will be between $210 and $314 once repayments resume. 

What support is Biden planning instead? 

On June 30, Biden vowed to work on a new program under the Higher Education Act to begin a new program to ease borrowers’s threat of a default if they fall behind on payments.

So far details on this support are scant.

When it comes to the art of air travel, this frequent flyer knows a thing or two.  

Tom Stuker, 69, from New Jersey, holds the title for being the world’s most frequent flyer, with 23 million miles under his seatbelt. 

The married father-of-two got the travel bug after purchasing a lifetime pass with United for $290,000 in 1990 and he has been jet setting around the world in seat 1B – his favorite – ever since. 

The pass, which is no longer available, enabled holders unlimited first class travel on any of the carrier’s flights worldwide and Stuker deemed it the ‘best investment of my life.’

In a bid to help others navigate the skies, Stuker has revealed some of his insider secrets including how to increase your chances of an upgrade and why you should never check a bag.

Speaking to The Washington Post, he says he always pretends to know the first flight attendant he sees when he boards the plane. 

He explains that that person will likely be the head attendant and the best person to befriend if you want some VIP treatment. 

Revealing his plane spiel, he said: ‘I always say, “I remember you! You gave us such great service last time. I wanted to thank you again.”‘

Even if he has never met them, Stuker says this greeting is a guaranteed way of getting ‘all kinds of free stuff.’ 

When it comes to where you’re sat on the plane, if you can’t book a particular seat, Stucker recommends checking the seat map app as you are boarding. 

If a booked seat suddenly becomes free and it’s better than the one you have been allocated, he says the cabin crew ‘won’t care’ if you take it. 

Addressing plane etiquette, Stuker says one of his biggest pet hates is people who use cell phones without wearing headphones.

If someone takes a long business call on speaker, Stuker says his response is always: ‘Hey, next time you’re going to have all of us to your business meeting, bring doughnuts.’

On the luggage side of things, his absolute no-no is checking a bag as traveling with cabin baggage only with save you precious time. 

He highlights that ‘every town has laundromats… and stores,’ so you can reuse clothing and purchase anything you might have forgotten. 

Stuker isn’t a big social media user, but he occasionally posts to Instagram where he uses the handle @ua1flyer.

In one post he touches on plane food. 

He writes in a photo caption: ‘As you can imagine, I eat a lot of my meals on airplanes. I’m often asked which my favorite is, and hands down it’s the lobster mac-n-cheese!’

In another post he reveals that the United Polaris Lounges, which are available to premium cabin travelers, have a great selection of cocktails with his favorite being the Paper Airplane, the Lavender Lift, and Mai Tai. 

On a less savory note, Stuker says he has seen it all on planes – including four deaths from heart attacks.

He recalled: ‘I’d met a couple of them, too. Just died right in their seats. The last guy was up in business with me, Chicago to Narita (Tokyo). 

‘They covered him with a blanket and put the seat belt back on. What else could they do? I guarantee somebody in business was thinking, “Hey, if he’s not gonna eat his chocolate sundae, would you mind…?”‘

When he’s not up in the air, Stuker is the co-founder of Automotive Training Network, a successful international car sales consultancy with outlets in the US, Europe, Asia and Australia.

However now that he is semi-retired he has even more time for jet-setting. 

Over the years, some of his travel milestones include hitting the 10-million mark in 2011, which prompted United to name a 747 after him.

Then, in 2019, there were more celebrations including mid-air champagne toast and a welcome reception in Los Angeles when he became the first passenger to fly 20 million miles with United.

He said that was also his best year overall and he hopped on 373 flights that totaled 1.46 million miles. 

In cash, he revealed that these journeys would have collectively cost him $2.44 million.

For years, he has been a member of the airline’s secretive Global Services club, which travelers are invited to join once they have notched up four million flying miles. 

He has his own special check-in station, with a back door to the front of the security queue, as well as VIP airport lounges, which provide free fine dining, spa treatments and even sleeping quarters.

Stuker could even have somebody to carry his bags if he wanted, but says that makes him feel like an invalid.

He has a special phone number to contact the airline if anything goes wrong, but they monitor his journeys anyway. Sometimes, he is picked up or dropped off on the runway in a luxury, chauffeured car so that he doesn’t miss flights.

His all-black, titanium frequent-flyer card is unique, but he rarely has to show it as everyone tends to know who he is. 

Some wives might have something to say about a husband and father who chooses to spend so much time away – indeed, he has been attacked by airline ‘trolls.’

They are just ‘jealous,’ he previously said. 

‘I would put my relationship with my wife against any couple in the world – totally in love,’ the 69-year-old added.

Stuker gets away with it because his schoolteacher wife, Darlene, adores flying almost as much as he does. 

They have flown millions of miles together and they once zipped over to London for a weekend to celebrate their wedding anniversary.

Summing up what travel means to him, Stuker said on his flight celebrating the 20-million-mile mark: ‘At the end of the day, it’s not about the places I go, it’s about the people I meet.’