A suspect who is at the centre of a murder investigation after a man was allegedly stabbed to death in Portugal is a British drainage engineer, MailOnline can reveal.

Josh James Menkens is alleged to have been one of the organisers of a mini-festival known as the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party last weekend near a remote commune known as Libelinha Venture in central Portugal.

The festival, which was hosted at an off-grid property, descended into chaos after the body of a 35-year-old British man was found in the early hours of Sunday morning.

The victim is alleged to have been stabbed to death after getting into a row with his attacker while playing the Blue Whale suicide game – an online challenge linked to a series of deaths worldwide. 

Menkens, who is 27, was pictured today being taken from a courthouse in the city of Leiria, an hour’s drive away from the commune after being quizzed by a judge investigating the case.

His head covered by a coat, Menkens was hustled into an unmarked police car as a man believed to be his father shouted, ‘Your mother loves you son, we all love you.’

Police sources confirmed that Menkens has been named as an ‘arguido’ (suspect) in the case and will reappear before the judge tomorrow for further questioning.

It comes after a suspected murder case which shattered the tranquility of the forest valleys in Pedrogao Grande in the centre of the country.

The rambling Libelinha Venture, which includes 24-acres of wide open woodland, hills and shrubbery, is run by new-age privately educated British businessman Xavier Hancock and his Spanish partner Arantxa Atauri.

It is believed to have been hosting a festival for British and Dutch visitors called the ‘Mad Hatter’s Tea Party’, when the body of a 35-year-old British man was found less then a mile away on Sunday, September 24.

Police sources said the suspect and victim had been at a party at the couple’s ‘off-grid living community’ before moving onto woodland outside the commune. 

In 2017, it was bought by eccentric British businessman Xavier Hancock, who attended the £15,000-a-year St Edward’s school, and transformed into a peaceful oasis of communal calm outfitted by the sites distinctive white teepees.

For potential visitors, Hancock, who set up the commune with his Spanish partner Arantxa Atauri, promises the chance to ‘reconnect’ with nature ‘during a journey towards self sustainability’.

Hancock, who is believed to have hosted the 27-year-old suspect and the victim at the commune prior to the incident, has said he is fully co-operating with police investigations while they probe the circumstances around the death. 

There is no suggestion whatsoever that Hancock or Arantxa are in any way involved in the crime.

Police confirmed yesterday they were initially told the British man’s death was linked to an argument that started while he and his friends were playing the Blue Whale suicide challenge.

The online game has been linked to numerous deaths around the world and consists of initially innocuous tasks before introducing elements of self-harm.

But sources close to the investigation subsequently insisted they had found no evidence there was a Blue Whale link to the death.

Correio da Manha claimed today the suspect had only mentioned the game ‘after having confessed to the crime’ as a way of ‘explaining the situation that led to the macabre death.’

The alarm was raised around 6.30am on Sunday and the suspect reportedly admitted stabbing his alleged victim before taking police to the remote woodland spot where his body was.

The knife investigators believe was used to kill him was found alongside the body, left in a small clearing in woodland close to the village of Figueiro dos Vinhos about a 15-minute drive from the town of Pedrogao Grande in central Portugal.

Footage published by Portuguese daily Correio da Manha showed police lifting the dead man’s body on a stretcher after it was covered with a sheet and putting it into the back of a nearby van.

A waiting Red Cross ambulance took it to Coimbra after officers reached the nearest tarmacked road.

A post-mortem is thought to have taken place yesterday in the university city of Coimbra, although the results have not been made public.

Well-placed sources said both the 35-year-old victim and suspected murderer had been part of a larger group of around six British people who had been living in the ‘off-grid living community’ and were due to fly back to the UK in about a week’s time. 

One well-placed source said the suspect and other Brits questioned by police on Sunday as witnesses had been at a party at a campsite inside the community grounds before leaving to go to nearby woodland outside it where the stabbing occurred.

Another police source said: ‘A group of about half a dozen people the suspect and dead man were part of were staying at a campsite near to the place where the victim’s body was found.

‘It appears they had attended a party there earlier that night before leaving to head for the woodland where the stabbing happened.’

The group are understood to have been planning to fly back to the UK in about a week’s time.

Respected Portuguese broadcaster SIC said the group often held parties and played the Blue Whale game – but there were contradictory reports in local media about whether the group of Britons had been playing at the time of the murder.

The lethal Blue Whale ‘game’ involves 50 tasks in as many days, aimed at ‘creating psychologically traumatising situations’, ending with suicide.

Participants join a ‘group’ where the tasks are set by a group ‘administrator’ and can range from watching horror movies to waking at strange hours, and eventually progresses to self harming.

On the 50th day, the controlling manipulators behind the game, which originated in Russia in 2015, reportedly instruct the participants, who are usually teenagers, to kill themselves.

The game, which reportedly started in Russia, has caused numerous deaths around the world, including Ukraine, India and the United States.

First reports about its victims appeared in Russia in 2016, and in 2020 police in Britain issued a warning to parents to be mindful of their children’s online activities, urging them to talk about the dangers they can face.

At the time, Northants Police said: ‘We are aware of a disturbing social media challenge circulating called the ‘Blue Whale Challenge’ which encourages teenagers to take part in a series of 50 challenges that culminate in committing suicide.

‘This challenge first appeared in 2016 and tasks are given online or through text messages, instant messages or posts on Instagram and Twitter.

‘Please talk to your children about the dangers and tell them not to open any messages or challenges of this kind.’

Raise a glass to the winners of the ‘Oscars‘ of the UK hospitality industry.

At a prestigious awards ceremony hosted by the AA at Grosvenor House in London on Monday night, awards were presented in categories including ‘Hotel of the Year’, ‘Restaurant of the Year’ and ‘Chefs’ Chef of the Year’.

The 2023 AA Hospitality Awards winners were picked by the AA’s inspectors, who spent the past year feasting their way through the UK’s restaurants and laying their heads in the nation’s hotel rooms in a bid to crown the cream of the crop. Here are their verdicts…

HOTELS

The top hotel in England is Forest Side, a former mansion house that’s been transformed into a hotel – complete with a Michelin-starred restaurant – on the edge of the pretty Lake District village of Grasmere. 

‘The bedrooms have stunning views of the hills and countryside beyond,’ reveals the AA’s inspector. 

The number one hotel in London is The Lanesborough, an ‘elegant and luxurious’ hotel that ‘offers nearly 100 rooms, of which almost 50 are suites, with a personal butler service for all guests 24 hours a day’.

Reigning supreme as the best hotel in Wales, meanwhile, is Penally Abbey Hotel in Pembrokeshire. The AA Inspector was impressed by its ‘friendly team’ who show a ‘genuine concern for guest comfort and enjoyment’.

Moving up the map, Scotland’s hotel of the year is Fingal, a former support vessel for the Northern Lighthouse Board that’s been converted into a luxury hotel that’s moored permanently in Edinburgh. 

‘This is a hotel experience unlike any other that Edinburgh can offer,’ says the AA’s Inspector.

And Northern Ireland‘s hotel of the year is Killeavy Castle Estate in County Armagh, a ‘fairy-tale castle’ set in ‘a 350-acre estate made up of woods and farmlands’.

The prize for ‘spa hotel of the year’ goes to South Lodge in West Sussex. Its spa, complete with a spin studio and an outdoor hydrotherapy pool, is ‘set into the natural contours of the land and designed with sustainability in mind’, the AA’s inspector reveals.

For travellers with an affinity for foodie experiences, the awards also breaks down the nation’s top restaurants with rooms, with The New Inn in Hereford taking the top spot in England. 

Originally a 16th-century coaching lodge, the inn has been ‘delightfully refurbished’ and boasts ‘plenty of character’, the AA’s inspector notes.

In Wales, the number one restaurant with rooms is Ynyshir Restaurant and Rooms, an inn surrounded by mountains to the west of the country. 

Ynyshir’s restaurant serves ‘exceptional’ food that takes diners on a ‘relentless tasting journey that offers hit after hit’, says the AA’s inspector. 

And the gong for Scotland’s best restaurant with rooms goes to The Witchery, an inn housed in a 16th-century property beside Edinburgh Castle.

The AA’s inspector notes that it’s a ‘romantic’ destination, with suites ‘filled with antiques, opulently draped beds, large roll-top baths and a plethora of memorabilia’.

RESTAURANTS

Looking to the top restaurants of the year, in England, it’s the Old Stamp House Restaurant in the Lake District town of Ambleside that takes the crown. 

The AA’s inspector praises the ‘charming little basement’ restaurant for its ‘creatively presented’ tasting menus with ‘plenty of focus on the best of Cumbrian produce’.

London’s restaurant of the year is Chutney Mary, a ‘long-established and super stylish’ Indian restaurant in the St James district. 

‘Expect luxurious ingredients, careful presentation and well-judged spicing in a fabulously glossy dining room,’ says the AA’s Inspector.

The Jackdaw in Conwy is Wales’s top restaurant. This eatery, housed in a former cinema, offers ‘clever modern dishes and a cool Scandi vibe’. 

Scotland’s restaurant of the year, meanwhile, is Cail Bruich, a Glasgow eatery that ‘champions the finest British produce’. 

Here you can expect ‘a unique and relaxed dining experience’ and ‘modern Scottish cooking with lots of luxury ingredients’.

The AA Food Service Award goes to The Strathearn restaurant at Gleneagles in Scotland, where diners enjoy ‘slick’ service and Franco-Scottish cooking with ‘plenty of modern twists’. 

The AA Wine Award goes to Askham Hall in Cumbria, where guests are treated to a ‘notable wine list’ that includes a number of ‘vintage French stunners’.

CHEF’S CHEF OF THE YEAR

The ‘Chef’s Chef of the Year’ goes to Paul Ainsworth, who – as the name suggests – is Chef Patron of Paul Ainsworth at No. 6 in Padstow, Cornwall.

The Southampton-born chef studied catering and hospitality at his local college and went on to work with celebrated chefs that include Gary Rhodes, Gordon Ramsay and Marcus Wareing. 

The AA says: ‘After eight years in London, Paul moved to Padstow to work at No 6, and fell in love with Cornwall. Together with his wife Emma, they took over the business, relaunching it as Paul Ainsworth at No 6.’ The AA’s Inspector praises the restaurant as a ‘truly delightful place to eat’, adding that every dish on the menu is ‘underpinned by quality produce and assured technique’. 

Commenting on the awards, Simon Numphud, Managing Director at AA Media, said: ‘It’s a delight to be back at Grosvenor House as we mark the greatest hospitality celebration across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The last year has been tough on the hospitality industry as we’ve felt, like many others, the challenges facing businesses. Yet I’m so proud of the resilience, innovation and quality shown by the UK hospitality industry in response. We would like to extend a massive congratulations [to] all the winners and shortlisted establishments for their hard work, passion, and dedication.’

For more information on the winners, visit ratedtrips.com. 

Mystifying burial grounds in Korea and Viking-age fortresses in Denmark are among 41 new World Heritage sites unveiled this week.

The United Nations‘ cultural body – also known as UNESCO – has expanded its list of protected sites to more than 1,100 across the world following deliberations in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

World Heritage Sites are globally recognised buildings and areas of ‘Outstanding Universal Value’, which means they hold special importance for everyone.

As talks are still ongoing, UNESCO may even inscribe one further site today, while also expanding on the reach of existing areas like Madagascar’s Andrefana Dry Forests.

Scroll down to see their beauty for yourself, as MailOnline delves into the most stunning World Heritage Sites of 2023. 

CULTURAL SITES

Old Tea Forests of the Jingmai Mountain, China

Nestled in the Jingmai Mountain, this cultural landscape is comprised of tea plantations and villages built thousands of years ago.

Tea plants especially thrive in this area thanks to the mountain’s exposure to subtropical monsoons that can bring as much as 5ft of rain.

Local indigenous communities also monitor these plants while taking part in age-old ceremonies and nature-focused celebrations.

According to UNESCO, this primarily refers to the Tea Ancestor belief that spirits live amongst the surrounding vegetation.  

Gaya Tumuli burial mounds, South Korea

These unusual mounds are the ancient burial sites of the Gaya Confederacy that ruled over central-south Korea during the 1st to 6th century CE.

It’s believed the shape of these sites is also symbolic of the political system, where leaders existed as ‘autonomous political equals while sharing cultural commonalities’.

UNESCO added: ‘The introduction of new forms of tombs and the intensification of the spatial hierarchy in the tumuli sites reflect the structural changes experienced by Gaya society during its history.’ 

Deer stone monuments, Mongolia

These intricately decorated deer stones were once used as part of ceremonies and funerals in the Late Bronze Age (1200 to 600 BCE).

Standing at 13ft-tall, these pillars are engraved with pictures of stags and are located at a number of ‘sacrificial altars’ in Mongolia.

‘Covered with highly stylized or representational engravings of stags, deer stones are the most important surviving structures belonging to the culture of Eurasian Bronze Age nomads that evolved and then slowly disappeared between the 2nd and 1st millennia BCE,’ the UNESCO committee said.

Gedeo cultural landscape, Ethiopia

These remarkable monuments sit at the heart of sacred forests along the eastern edge of the Main Ethiopian Rift.

They are closely linked to the religion of the indigenous Gedeo community, which places high importance the natural environment.

The community also use age-old traditions to support local forest management while growing coffee and other plants. 

Prehistoric Talayotic Menorca sites, Spain 

While this unusual megalith bears an uncanny resemblance to Stonehenge, it’s actually located in Spain.

The structure is known as a ‘taylot’ and is one of many Bronze Age structures found on the island of Menorca in the western Mediterranean Sea.

Although many of these formations are thought to have been used for defensive purposes, others are not clearly understood.

Though UNESCO acknowledges that its position corresponds to ‘astronomical orientations’ which may have religious meaning. 

Koh Ker, Cambodia

At the core of the Cambodian jungle, this ancient site comprises of numerous sacred temples and sanctuaries from 928 to 944 CE.

It’s believed the site was constructed over a 23-year period and was once briefly the capital of the entire Khmer Empire. 

An array of sculptures, inscriptions and wall paintings still exist there today, demonstrating that artistic expression was central to the city. 

Viking-age fortresses, Denmark 

While these ring-shaped structures may look like UFO-esque crop circles, they are actually Viking-age fortresses.

The Vikings – also known as the Norsemen – were a group of seafaring people from Scandinavia that were known for their brutality and violence across Europe.

It’s believed they may have reached as far as North Africa and the Middle East during their voyages which spanned from 793 to 1066 CE.

Their ring-shaped fortresses in Aggersborg, Fyrkat, Nonnebakken, Trelleborg and Borgring, were strategically positioned near important land and sea routes.

The precise purpose of their ring shape remains a mystery to this day.

NATURAL SITES 

Anticosti, Canada

Situated on the largest island in Quebec, this coastline is believed to be the best preserved fossil record of Earth’s first mass extinction.

This is thought to have occurred 447million years ago due to plummeting oxygen levels at a time when most creatures lived in oceans.

However, it should not be confused for the dinosaur’s demise which took place around 66million years ago when a giant asteroid smashed into Earth.

‘The abundance, diversity, and exquisite preservation of the fossils are exceptional and allow for world-class scientific work,’ UNESCO said. 

‘Thousands of large bedding surfaces allow the observation and study of shell and sometimes soft-bodied animals that lived on the shallow sea floor of an ancient tropical sea.’

Bale Mountains National Park, Ethiopia

UNESCO described Ethopia’s Bale Mountains as a ‘mosaic of extraordinary beauty’ thanks to its sweeping valleys, forests and countless waterfalls.

The land’s unique shape is the result of lava outpourings and glaciation that took place many years ago. 

‘The property harbours diverse and unique biodiversity at ecosystem, species and genetic levels, and five major rivers originate within the Park, estimated to supply water and support the livelihoods of millions of people in and beyond Ethiopia,’ UNESCO said. 

Evaporitic Karst and Caves of Northern Apennines, Italy

This unbelievable site in Italy is comprised of more than 900 caves within just 62miles. 

It is believed to be the first and best studied ‘evaporitic karst’ in the world, which refers to the preservation of minerals in sandstone. 

The UNESCO committee added: ‘It also includes some of the deepest gypsum caves in existence, reaching 265 meters below the surface.’

By Laura Sharman

Published: 09:02 EDT, 20 September 2023 | Updated: 11:18 EDT, 20 September 2023

The Voice Australia’s top four revealed ahead of grand finale

By Caleb Taylor For Daily Mail Australia

Published: 09:13 EDT, 24 September 2023 | Updated: 09:16 EDT, 24 September 2023

• Aussie boxing champ Michael Zerafa impressed by NRL star
• Both happen to train at the same Melbourne gym
• Asofa Solomona will make his debut in the ring on October 7
• Fighting fellow NRL star Jarrod Wallace in Townsville
• Part of the Battle On The Reef fight night

By Andrew Prentice For Daily Mail Australia

Published: 21:42 EDT, 22 September 2023 | Updated: 21:42 EDT, 22 September 2023

More than half of A&E attendees at the worst-performing hospitals have had to wait more than four hours for care in the last year, official figures show.

NHS data revealed 54 per cent of sick Brits showing up to Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust in the year to March 2023 waited at least this long.

Under decade-old guidelines, 95 per cent of casualty patients should be admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours of being seen.

But overall, only 71 per cent of patients in England were seen within this timeframe, according to latest NHS data for 2022/23, plummeting from 77 per cent in the previous year.

Health leaders warned that difficulties getting GP appointments, strikes by NHS medics and the record 7.68million backlog is piling pressure on emergency units. 

Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust recorded the worst four-hour A&E performance in the country last year.

More than half of patients (54 per cent) had to wait too long to been at the Trust’s A&E facilities — 66,159 patients in total.

University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust was the second worst in the country with only 48 per cent of patients being seen within the four-hour target, meaning 181,451 had to wait too long.

This was followed by East Cheshire NHS Trust, where 46 per cent patients weren’t seen within guidelines. 

University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust and Royal Surrey County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust each recorded that 45 per cent of patients weren’t seen within four hours.

Wye Valley NHS Trust and The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust in Essex reported that around 44 per cent of patients waiting in excess of four hours. 

Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust rounded off the list of 10 worst NHS trusts for four-hour A&E waits, with around 43 per cent of patients forced to wait this long.   

Responding to the figures, Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said: ‘A&Es have been under enormous pressure for years, with people naturally gravitating towards ‘where the lights are on’ and where they know they will be seen in a relatively short time frame.

‘But it’s not just A&Es that are under pressure and that is the problem. 

‘With general practice and primary care also facing huge demand, we know that patients may turn towards urgent and emergency care should they struggle to get a GP appointment at a time suitable to them.’

He added: ‘The data for last year shows the scale of the effects ever growing demand is having on A&E and on patients, with over 410,000 people waiting over half a day for admission, up from 98,000 the previous year, and this isn’t even from time of arrival, so a patient could’ve been waiting much longer. 

‘But with too few staff, beds, or capacity and availability in alternative services, health leaders can only do so much.

‘This level of demand is unsustainable, so we need to see a greater focus on prevention and resourcing for community care to help relieve some pressure, keep patients healthy and out of hospital, and enable them to get care closer to home.  

Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) president, Dr Adrian Boyle, said the figures showed how ‘dire’ both last winter, and last year in general had been for patients, some of whom had paid the ultimate price for care delays.  

‘Record attendances met with the significant shortfall of staff and beds meant huge numbers of patients faced severe delays for care that we know are associated with increased harm and even deaths,’ he said. 

‘We know that it is the elderly, the sickest and most vulnerable, and those experiencing a mental health crisis that face the longest waits for a bed.’

He added that the RCEM added that despite ministers pledging to improve A&E waits, data for this year showed no significant improvement.

‘Since the Government published their urgent and emergency care delivery plan in January 2023 we have not seen sufficient progress on reducing long stays for patients who need to be admitted to hospital,’ he said.

Dr Boyle said this winter was likely to be another difficult one for A&E services and urged the Government to take further action.  

‘The emergency care system is under severe pressure. Resuscitating it is a necessity,’ he said. 

Louise Ansari, chief executive of Healthwatch England, the patient watchdog, said: ‘People continue to wait many hours for care, often in crowded waiting rooms, with little or no information on when they will be seen.’

She added: ‘Undoubtedly, urgent and emergency services have been under unprecedented pressure for the last few years amid the pandemic, industrial action, record waiting times for hospital treatment and struggles to access GP care.

‘People will go to A&E if there is nowhere else to go, leading to increased treatment and care because they couldn’t get help sooner.’

Professor Julian Redhead, NHS England’s National Clinical Director for Urgent and Emergency Care, said: ‘These latest figures demonstrate the incredible pressure NHS staff are facing, and on top of this record year we know that we have also just experienced the busiest summer ever in A&E, with more than 6.5million attendances between June and August.’

However, he insisted efforts to slash A&E waits are now paying off.

‘Despite this pressure, the measures in our urgent and emergency recovery plan are beginning to deliver real improvements with 73 per cent of patients seen within four hours in August, up from 69 per cent in December,’ Professor Redhead added.

A Department of Health spokesperson insisted that Government efforts to boost A&E performance were working.   

‘No one should be waiting longer than necessary for urgent and emergency care and we are taking immediate action to improve access – with improvements made in both A&E waits and ambulance response times compared to last year,’ they said. 

‘Our Urgent and Emergency Care Recovery Plan aims to deliver one of the fastest and longest sustained improvements in waiting times in the NHS’s history, including creating 5,000 permanent staffed hospital beds – with the NHS on track to deliver this by winter.

‘The NHS has already rolled out over 9,800 virtual ward beds to care for patients in their own homes and ease pressure on hospitals, and is on track to reach 10,000 ahead of winter.’

The new analysis of NHS data comes as latest monthly A&E waiting time figures, released last week, showed 2.1million sick Brits showed up to A&E departments in August.

Of those, only 73 per cent were treated within four hours, compared to around 83 per cent pre-pandemic.

All of the Trusts named as low performers for four-hour waits to be seen in A&E were contacted for comment. 

A spokesperson for Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, said: ‘Like other hospitals around the country, our emergency department at Hull Royal Infirmary is under intense pressure. 

‘We apologise to patients waiting too long to be seen and those facing delays in admission to our wards because of this pressure.’

The spokesperson said while staff are working hard to address pressures the Trust was trying to combat issues with bed-blockers.

‘Each day, we have up to 200 people who have completed their treatment but have to remain in our beds until a suitable place in the community can be found,’ they said. 

‘That causes longer waiting times in our emergency department while we wait for beds to become available.’

They added the Trust had a number of projects underway to boost A&E performance including a new facility to discharge medically fit patients to free up beds and a new urgent treatment centre to reduce pressure on the emergency department. 

A Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust spokesperson said: ‘Like hospital trusts across the country we are seeing an increasing demand for services, with a growing number of patients with an acute need for treatment, which has led to patients waiting longer than we would like within our Emergency Department.’

The spokesperson added the Trust had recently expanded its A&E staffing and physically expand the emergency department itself in an effort to reduce waits. 

‘We have seen improvements in our four-hour performance in recent months and anticipate seeing further improvements going forward,’ they said. 

A Wye Valley NHS Trust spokesperson told MailOnline that their poor A&E performance figures were partly due to a lack of walk in centres for patients. 

However, they added the Trust understood the ‘frustration of patients waiting for treatment’ and is working hard to reduce waits.

The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust’s chief operating officer Stephanie Lawton said: ‘We continue to experience an extremely high demand for our emergency department services, and across our hospital. 

‘We recognise this has an impact on the time that patients are waiting to be seen and our dedicated teams continue to work hard to assess, treat and admit patients and ensure that those who are well enough can leave hospital and return home as soon as possible. 

‘We have ongoing work with our local health and social care partners to support patients with the right care, in the right place, at the right time.’

North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust chief operating officer Michelle Cady said: ‘We recognise the challenges we face in achieving the four-hour A&E access performance standard mainly for our Peterborough site. 

‘A board approved improvement program is in place and whilst it is still early days, we have seen significant improvements in ambulance handover times, improved journey times through the department and improvement of our time-to-initial-assessment performance.’

‘As a result, the Trust’s overall performance against the 4-hour standard in accident and emergency continue to maintain over 60% this year.’

MailOnline recently revealed that no NHS Trust in England with a major A&E department has hit goal of seeing 95 per cent of patients within four hours between January and July 2023.

Record breaking NHS staff strikes, which have delayed or cancelled almost 1million appointments or procedures, adding to the 7.6billion waiting list for elective treatment, have been partly blamed for the crisis.

Some experts have also pointed to Britain’s GPs as part of the problem, warning A&Es are overwhelmed by people left with nowhere else to turn as they can’t get an appointment with their family doctor.

For their part, GPs themselves report being overwhelmed with some family doctors now responsible for up 2,600 patients each in some areas, up from an average 1,900 in 2016.

Bed-blockers — patients trapped in hospital unable to safely be discharged due to a lack of support in the community — is another factor.

About 11,895 NHS beds were taken up by patients ‘no longer meeting the criteria to reside’ in any given day in August this year, the latest data available. 

NHS staff shortages are also contributing, with the latest data for June suggesting there are just over 125,500 full-time-equivalent vacancies in the health service, meaning roughly one in 10 NHS roles is unfilled. 

The A&E crisis is so bad the NHS effectively abandoned the 95 per cent of patients seen within four hours at the end of 2022.

Instead, trusts have been told to focus on an ‘interim goal’ of getting 76 per cent of patients seen within four hours by March next year.

But for some patients a wait of even four hours to be seen by a medic is a luxury. 

NHS data shows that in some hospitals almost one in five A&E patients had to wait over 12 hours to be seen in August. 

Nationally this figure was almost 9 per cent.  

Holidaymakers often assume that Airbnbs and Vrbo rentals are cheaper than hotels – but that’s generally not the case, Which? has found.

The watchdog compared the cost of thousands of hotels – excluding five-star hotels – with 300,000 one-bed listings on Airbnb and Vrbo around the world, from San Francisco to Southwold, and found the price for rentals outstripped the average cost of a hotel in 38 of 50 destinations. 

Private rentals are almost a fifth (19 per cent) more expensive on average – £120 ($148) a night compared to £101 ($125) for hotel rooms.

In some destinations, holidaymakers could be spending an extra £80 per night by choosing to stay in a private rental over a hotel, the consumer champion reveals. This could set travellers back hundreds of pounds more for a rental over a week-long stay, even before accounting for Airbnb and Vrbo’s service charges, which were not included in the watchdog’s price analysis.

The biggest price difference could be found in Santorini, where a one-bed rental on Airbnb and Vrbo is £203 a night on average, 71 per cent (£84) more than a hotel stay (£119). Over the course of a week, the savings for hotel guests could be substantial, with holidaymakers cutting their costs by as much as £588 on average, Which? notes.

In the Portuguese town of Almancil, meanwhile, travellers could save as much as £81 per night by choosing a hotel (£63) over a private rental (£144) – making it the second-biggest price gap in the study.

The third biggest saving to be had is in the picturesque seaside town of Southwold in Suffolk, which draws thousands of visitors every year. 

At an average of £155, the cost of a hotel room in Southwold is among the priciest the consumer champion found in the UK. However, this is still significantly cheaper than the average cost of a listing on Vrbo or Airbnb in the town, which sits at a hefty £223 per night, an increase of 44 per cent (£68). Over the course of a week-long stay, holidaymakers could stand to save as much as £476 by opting to stay in a hotel.

The fourth biggest price gap is in Amsterdam, where one-bed Airbnb and Vrbo listings are 58 per cent more expensive per night on average at £183, compared with £116 a night for a hotel. That means travellers could pay as much as £496 more on average over a seven-night stay (£67 per night).

In the U.S, the biggest price gap is in San Francisco, where hotels are £53 ($65) per night and private rentals are £163 ($202) – making a hotel stay £36 ($44) cheaper.

And the most significant discrepancy in Australia is in Sydney. There, private rentals are priced at £121 per night, whereas a hotel stay is £87 – a saving of £34.

Hotels work out cheaper on average in all four of the UK’s capital cities. In Greater London, an Airbnb or Vrbo stay costs almost 59 per cent more (£60 per night) at £162, than the average hotel stay (£102).

In Edinburgh, meanwhile, holidaymakers could save £22 per night, with the average cost of a hotel stay coming to £104, compared to £126 for an Airbnb or Vrbo rental.

In Cardiff and Belfast, savings are more modest, but could still see holidaymakers make savings over the course of a week, with hotel rooms costing £5 less on average in Belfast (£99 versus £104), and £11 less in Cardiff per night (£108 versus £119).

Which? found that hotel rates in many Asian cities are also comparatively cheap when contrasted with listings on Airbnb and Vrbo. In Hong Kong for example, one-bed listings are 85 per cent (£45) more expensive on average, setting travellers back £98 per night, compared with just £53 for a hotel room, with similar findings in Singapore and Dubai.

That said, hotels aren’t cheaper everywhere. For instance, in France, which has one of the largest supplies of private rentals in the world (the number of listings for France is second only to the U.S, Which? notes), Airbnb and Vrbo listings are cheaper or the same price as hotels in five of the seven destinations researchers looked at. A one-bedroom rental typically cost less than a hotel room in Antibes, Biarritz, La Rochelle and Avignon, while they are the same price in Nice. However, rental listings in Bordeaux and Paris are more expensive on average, the watchdog adds.

Which? notes that holiday lets rose in popularity during the pandemic, and continued demand has likely played a role in rising prices.

It says that although a hotel stay may be more cost-effective than a room rental in many destinations, hotels have also seen their prices rise rapidly, with UK room rates up 11 per cent on average last year when compared with 2019, and U.S rates up 14 per cent, according to hospitality analyst CoStar.

The watchdog notes that private rentals can still offer good value, however – and larger groups are more likely to save when compared to booking into a hotel.

Rory Boland, Editor of Which? Travel, said: ‘Many holidaymakers may be surprised to discover that the average cost of hotels in many destinations is cheaper than one-bedroom holiday lets, which are often promoted as a popular option for travellers trying to save money.

‘When planning your next trip, don’t assume a hotel will cost more, but instead check rates across different platforms. For larger groups that need more rooms and space, private rentals are still likely to beat hotels on price.’

The inaugural boss of NASA‘s newly-created UFO research division has been named as a former meteorologist and liaison to the Pentagon.

Mark McInerney will become the US space agency’s director of research into unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAPs), more commonly known as unidentified flying objects.

NASA officials initially refused to reveal McInerney’s identity amid fears he would be harassed, before later backtracking on the decision.

Speaking about the new UFO boss following the release of the agency’s highly-anticipated study into more than 800 UAP sightings, NASA’s associate administrator Nicola Fox told reporters: ‘They have been working there a while now, during the study, to help be a point of contact.’

But when directly asked whether she could name the official, Fox replied: ‘We will not give his name out.’

All changed hours later, however, when NASA sent out a press release that included McInerney’s name and revealed he previously worked as the agency’s liaison to the Pentagon.

There has been no explanation as to why McInerney’s identity was revealed when NASA initially declined to do so.

However, it emerged at last night’s briefing that several members of the independent study group had received threats, hate mail and been ridiculed on social media.  

Some were even apparently told to stay away from researching UFOs because it could damage their scientific credibility. 

‘That’s in part why we are not splashing the name of our new director out there, because science needs to be free,’ Dan Evans, the NASA official in charge of the study, originally said.

‘Some of [the incidents] rose to actual threats.’

The newly-formed UFO research division will continue studying UAPs, even though the space agency yesterday ruled out that aliens were to blame for some 800 such sightings over almost three decades.

These are defined as objects ‘that cannot be identified as aircraft or known natural phenomena from a scientific perspective’. 

In a landmark report commissioned by NASA last year and published on Thursday, an independent panel of 16 experts stressed that there was ‘no reason to conclude’ that any of the sightings they analysed were extraterrestrial in origin. 

However, the team did warn that mysterious flying objects were a ‘self-evident’ threat to American airspace. 

Even though they poured cold water on the extraterrestrial hypothesis, NASA’s experts did not deny the possibility of a ‘potential unknown alien technology operating in Earth’s atmosphere.’ 

Their 33-page report called for NASA to utilise its technological might to continue studying UFOs because many cases remain unsolved — and researchers still have no idea what some of these sightings are.

NASA chief Bill Nelson announced that a new director for UFO research would help implement the panel’s recommendations. 

Following a news briefing setting out the findings, he said: ‘I want to thank the independent study team for providing insight on how NASA can better study and analyse UAP in the future. 

‘NASA’s new Director of UAP Research will develop and oversee the implementation of NASA’s scientific vision for UAP research, including using NASA’s expertise to work with other agencies to analyse UAP and applying artificial intelligence and machine learning to search the skies for anomalies. 

‘NASA will do this work transparently for the benefit of humanity.’

McInerney’s new role will see him ‘centralise communications, resources, and data analytical capabilities to establish a robust database for the evaluation of future UAP’, NASA said.

‘He also will leverage NASA’s expertise in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and space-based observation tools to support and enhance the broader government initiative on UAP,’ the space agency added.

Since 1996, McInerney has worked in various positions, spending time at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, the National Hurricane Center and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The NASA advisory panel’s new report analysed hundreds of potential UFO sightings, albeit with a budget of just $100,000 (£80,500) and just nine months to conduct their work.

The panel noted that, to date, most UAPs are recorded with sensors and other equipment intended for nonscientific purposes, under accidental or ‘serendipitous’ circumstances that are far from ideal.

Evidence from nearly all UFO cases, in other words, was not collected with enough scientific rigour for experts to reach reliable conclusions in the panel’s view.  

‘Coupled with incomplete data archiving and curation,’ the NASA panel wrote, ‘this means that the origin of numerous UAP [UFOs] remain uncertain.’

They concluded that in their scientific view, the bar for proof of extraterrestrial visitors to our planet must be kept high. 

‘In the search for life beyond Earth, extraterrestrial life itself must be the hypothesis of last resort,’ the panel wrote, ‘the answer we turn to only after ruling out all other possibilities.’ 

‘As Sherlock Holmes said, “Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth”.’ 

Back in May, NASA’s independent study team shared their preliminary observations — that up to 98 per cent of reported UAP sightings can be explained away.

Just 2 to 5 percent are considered ‘possibly really anomalous’, the panel added, but a lack of high-quality data is hampering researchers’ ability to apply ‘rigorous scientific scrutiny’ to the mystery-solving. 

NASA’s study is separate from the Pentagon’s investigation into UAPs, which saw US lawmakers hear first-hand accounts of UFO sightings from former members of the military earlier this year.

That Pentagon study, led by the Defense Department’s new All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) and directed by Pentagon physicist Dr. Sean Kirkpatrick, has received 350 reports of UFOs in the past two years. 

Almost half, or precisely 171 of those UFO cases, remain unexplained. 

Although their is cross-collaboration, the US space agency’s panel is focused on the civilian, unclassified side of this effort, while AARO leads the charge on examining UAPs in coordination with the intelligence and military communities.

By Sami Mokbel and Chris Wheeler for the Daily Mail

Published: 15:11 EDT, 14 September 2023 | Updated: 03:18 EDT, 15 September 2023