Aziz Ziriat: Family 'heartbroken' after his body is found in Dolomites

The family of a London hiker who died on an Italian mountain range have said they are "heartbroken" after his body was discovered on Saturday.Aziz Ziriat, 36, went missing while hiking in the Dolomites with his friend Sam Harris on New Year's Day.His remains were found by a specialist search team lying in a rocky crevice about 400m (1,300ft) below where Mr Harris's body was discovered almost five months ago.Mr Ziriat's family said: "Whilst we are relieved to have finally found him, there are no words to describe how heartbroken we are to lose our beloved Aziz."
The family said the past few months had been "incredibly difficult for everyone who knew and loved him"."But we have been comforted by the overwhelming love we have received - we will be eternally grateful for everyone's support," they added.
They also expressed "heartfelt thanks and deepest gratitude" to the alpine rescue team, the firefighters, police and volunteers who had "all worked tirelessly, in challenging and dangerous conditions" to find his body.The family added: "Being with Aziz was to witness his deep connection with and appreciation of life. "He lived every moment with optimism, good humour and humility; he was, and still is, loved by so many."
'An incredible person'
Mr Harris's body was discovered on 8 January. The friends had not been heard from since 1 January and they did not check in for their flight home on 6 January.Their last known location was near a mountain hut called Casina Dosson, close to the town of Tione Di Trento, near Riva Del Garda on Lake Garda.Mr Ziriat's body was found on Saturday in the Passo di Conca area by specialist search teams including a canine unit, Trentino Alpine and Speleological Rescue confirmed.A spokesman said the rescuers "lowered themselves down the wall below the base of the slope, where the dog finally signalled the missing man's body in a rocky crevice, where it had been covered by snow".The Palace for Life Foundation - the official charity of Crystal Palace Football Club where Mr Ziriat worked - said they were "deeply saddened" by the news. In a statement the charity said: "Aziz was an incredible person with an infectious love for life. Throughout his time here Aziz formed close friendships throughout the local community. "He was a compassionate, kind and generous individual who brought warmth and positivity to everybody met. He is deeply missed by all of us here at Palace."

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Telegraph

32 minutes ago

• Telegraph

Destination weddings have never been more popular – here's how to navigate them

How do you feel about going on holiday to a glamorous sunshine destination? Happy? Now, how do you feel about the prospect if I tell you the holiday is not in a destination or on a date of your choosing and that you will have to spend three days of your getaway in a sweaty suit or heels making small talk with a dull uncle you've never met? Oh, and it will cost you about £1,000 for the privilege. Cancelled during Covid, and scaled back in the early years of the cost-of-living crisis, destination weddings are now back with a bang. According to Google Trends, the search term 'destination wedding' is more popular than at any time since 2016, and research published in May by financial company American Express finds that 40 per cent of British wedding guests are heading overseas to weddings they are attending in 2025. But as inflation pushes costs up – according to 2024 research from Aviva, guests now spend an average of £978 a head attending an overseas wedding – and as destination wedding schedules sometimes sprawl over a week of 'bonding' activities, photo ops and Prosecco toasts, not everyone is happy about some couples' sun-kissed connubial dreams. A series of recent spats on social media capture the mood of the moment. 'For the love of God stop having destination weddings!!!!' ran one explosive viral post on the Reddit r/weddings posted by a mother of the bride. 'They cost a small fortune and PTO [personal time off] is so limited these days, And ESPECIALLY no kids destination weddings. No one wants to go. Just stop.' In another case in February, a bride-to-be went viral after complaining that only nine guests out of 150 invitees had RSVPd to her glamorous destination wedding in Thailand, and upon switching the locale to Hawaii, only seven people confirmed they would be in attendance. One best man shared his personal tale of wedding-induced financial woe. 'One of my best friends is getting married in Costa Rica next July and I'm honoured to have been asked to be a groomsman. I like him and his fiancée very much, and I'm genuinely excited to share this big moment with them. But the invitations just went out and the resort they have chosen is $1,200 [£890] per night for a couple!' Tina Reading, editor of Beautiful Weddings UK, explained that even expensive destination weddings can be an 'attractive proposition' for couples as they are typically half the cost of a similar bash at home. 'Yet for guests, these lavish invites can feel like a double-edged sword: on one hand, they promise an unforgettable trip; on the other, they can quietly hijack your annual holiday budget.' The real costs of nuptials abroad Cost is a thorny issue for many destination wedding guests. Gemma Watts, 31, a hairdresser from south London, told Travel that for Britons like her at 'peak first wedding age' (from around age 27 to 35), the costs of friends' bashes can quickly stack up. 'I've been invited to three pricey weddings this summer, one of them in Dordogne and one in Ibiza,' she says. 'I'm trying to save up with my boyfriend for a house deposit so it's all coming at the worst possible time as we can barely afford a weekend on a campsite right now.' Tough-talking financial advisor Dave Ramsey advises anyone without a healthy bank balance to think twice about booking that ticket to Zanzibar. 'A destination wedding is an excuse for a vacation,' he said. 'It can be a wonderful thing – for people who have money. But when broke people go to a destination wedding, you know what you call that? More debt. I can promise you, 25 years from now, there's about a 90 per cent chance that you'll have zero relationship with these people.' Even celebrity couples are thinking twice about the exorbitant cost of overseas dos. Geordie Shore star Vicky Pattison, 37, tied the knot with husband Ercan Ramadan last September at a destination wedding in Puglia. Pattison, who wore four wedding dresses and had 13 bridesmaids on her big day, said she was shocked that her 'dream day' cost 'the same price as a house'. 'I knew weddings were big business, and it's not my first rodeo, but everything's just got more and more expensive,' she told a wedding magazine, noting that she scaled back her bash at 16th-century Castello Monaci in Salento, which features a swim up bar and 'fairytale' suites, cancelling some thousand pound flower installations. The RSVP question For all of the out-of-pocket and annual leave costs, one in two Britons are willing to sign up for destination wedding dos. A June 2025 survey by holiday company Holiday Extras revealed that 46 per cent would be willing to travel 'anywhere in the world' to attend a loved one's wedding, however only two per cent, according to the same report, are happy to travel overseas for a hen or stag do. Tina Reading said, on a bright note, it's acceptable for guests to weigh up the location, their relationship with the couple and their own priorities before saying yes to a lavish destination bash. 'There's a growing awareness that saying 'no' doesn't mean you don't care,' she said. 'Couples understand polite declines these days, particularly if guests are honest about financial or logistical limits.' The dos and don'ts of destination weddings Do: RSVP Promptly Destination weddings require complex planning and headcounts for travel, accommodation and meals. Be a good guest and RSVP within a couple of weeks of receipt of the invitation. If you are going to turn the invitation down, it's best to be prompt, concise and kind. Don't: Treat the marrying couple like a concierge Be self-sufficient. Take care of your own logistics unless explicitly offered help (with flight and room bookings, transfers, etc). Do: Book early Secure your travel and accommodation well in advance, especially if the couple has reserved room blocks or suggested travel windows. Can't afford the accommodation that's been blocked? Make plans well in advance to stay nearby, especially if you are keen to make the most of all-inclusive flight and accommodation packages (which often shaves hundreds off the cost). Don't: Ignore the itinerary There's nothing worse than guests who go rogue and ignore the marrying couple's schedule to do their own thing. Stick to the couple's schedule (welcome dinner, group excursions, ceremony timing), show up on time and be present. If you have an issue with any of the activities, ask if you can opt out as soon as you see the schedule. Do: Pack thoughtfully Bring appropriate outfits for each event bearing in mind the climate and any cultural sensitivities, along with essentials for the location (sun cream, mosquito spray, adapter, etc). You don't want to be the guest with the luminous sunburnt face in the wedding snaps. Don't: Invite a plus-one without asking Only bring a guest, or a plus-one, if they are specifically invited. Don't assume (or hide your lover in the bouganvillea bushes). Do: Bring a small gift Even if travel is costly, it's customary to send a small, less expensive gift to a marrying couple, unless the couple has clearly stated 'no gifts'. To cut down on baggage, you can plan to send a gift to them directly when they get back to the UK, or you can offer to contribute towards a set cost on their big day. Don't: Complain about costs If the destination is beyond your budget, it's okay to decline. But don't attend and then guilt the couple about the impact to your wallet, or grumble to other guests. Do: Contribute to the 'group vibe' Yes, it can be wearing to have to perform the conga through the coconut palms with Fred the bore, but that's the whole point of weddings: be sociable, inclusive and avoid clinging to cliques – doubly important with destinations where solo travellers might know few of the attendees. Don't: Post on social media before the couple They might not have sold rights to Hello mag for a cool million, but this is the no-no of the 2020s. Wait for the newlyweds to share online before uploading your photos, especially of the ceremony itself. How to turn a destination wedding invite into a holiday you actually want to take Getting that gilt-edged invitation can be a mixed blessing. Yes, you're flattered to be included but no, you didn't exactly dream of spending your annual leave on a clifftop in Santorini with the bride's uni mates. But if you think of the wedding as an 'anchor' and not the whole show, you can turn the trip into a getaway that works for you. If you are invited to a destination wedding and say you'll attend, says Reading, make the most of it. 'Share accommodation, extend your stay for a proper holiday and look for flight deals early,' she advises. 'With a bit of planning, it can be both a celebration and a smart use of your travel time.' Start by looking at the wedding location creatively. According to American Express, France is the most popular destination for destination nuptials (26 per cent of overseas weddings), followed by Spain, the USA, Italy and Canada. If the wedding is in Cancun but you're not a resort person, tack on a few days in Mérida or Tulum. Friends getting married in Mallorca? Spend a few nights in Palma's old town, then head to the Tramuntana mountains for hiking and slow travel, or fly on to Seville for flamenco, food and Moorish architecture. Heading to a Lake Como affair? Swing through Milan for galleries and aperitivo culture before the Prosecco frenzy begins. Bali wedding? Add a few days in Ubud or hop to Komodo. You can also consider changing hotels. It's rare you are obliged to bunk down in the official guest block if you'd rather have an adults-only boutique or a quiet Airbnb nearby; just be clear and polite about this in your RSVP. Also, consider stopovers and 'mini detours'. Look for layovers in major airport hubs such as Amsterdam, Singapore or Istanbul to explore a city that excites you. Heading to Tuscany, for example? Detour via Rome or the Amalfi Coast. Websites like Opodo and offer multi-city flight search options. Most importantly, always extend the trip. Weddings are short and intense. Adding a few decompressing days can turn a social chore into a holiday of a lifetime.

The Guardian

34 minutes ago

• The Guardian

I was diagnosed with PCOS – and was soon drowning in misinformation

I suspected I had polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) long before it was confirmed. The signs were there: the acne scars that littered my back, the irregular periods, the hair in places on my body that I didn't see on many of my friends. I suspected it from the moment that one of my best friends, who as a girl taught me about bleaching my body hair and waxing my legs, was diagnosed with it as a teenager. Admitting all this publicly feels like an unburdening, but also an invitation to more shame. But I write this because my experience is far from unique. As many as one in 10 women have PCOS, a condition associated with hormonal disturbances that can range from weight gain, 'unwanted' body hair and hair loss, to irregular periods and struggles to conceive children (including an increased risk of miscarriage). It can leave women more likely to develop high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes and heart disease. It is not clear what causes PCOS, but it is known to be passed down generational lines and can be influenced by lifestyle. I was finally diagnosed with PCOS last year, at 30, and have been on a journey to understand what that means ever since. The thing that leaped out at me early on (and has since been uncovered by the BBC) is just how much information, and misinformation, exists around the condition. My Instagram feed is filled with medically unqualified influencers. Sorting through all that to figure out which nutritionists and health professionals to pay attention to, in the absence of adequate support from the doctors and nurses who gave me that initial assessment and diagnosis, has been a battle. I've been encouraged to adopt unrealistic diets (so-called 'PCOS nutritionists' often suggest cutting out gluten, dairy and carbohydrates, despite a lack of evidence to show this is sustainable or useful for the condition); take unregulated supplements that can have significant side-effects; and sign up to expensive health plans and apps. I've been told to stop doing cardio and focus instead on weights and walking, because of the misguided idea that high-intensity exercise will cause my cortisol levels to rise to the degree that it will worsen my symptoms. In reality, all types of exercise can be beneficial. Medical misogyny has been well documented, and women's healthcare is rarely taken seriously. I first asked my GP about symptoms during the pandemic, when, after a blood test, I was told that my hormone levels were normal and I didn't have the condition. Later, having an ultrasound for an unrelated matter, I was unceremoniously told that I had lots of follicles on my ovaries and probably had PCOS. When I mentioned the earlier blood test, the sonographer told me that this is not a good way to diagnose the condition, especially if you are using hormonal birth control. Confusingly, PCOS does not cause cysts on the ovaries. 'They're not actual true cysts,' says Helena Teede, an Australian endocrinologist and expert in PCOS at Monash University in Melbourne. 'They're follicles or eggs that are just developing along a pathway, but they stop developing normally because they don't like the hormones that they're floating around in.' There has long been chatter about renaming PCOS to something that is more representative of the breadth of symptoms it causes. The current name, Teede says, 'completely misses the fact that this is a hormonal condition; that it has long-term impacts; that it is psychological, dermatological, metabolic, reproductive and, beyond fertility, it goes into many other reproductive features. And it really has an impact on quality of life.' She says it's likely that the process to give it a new name will be completed this year – her organisation has opened a survey for anyone who wants to contribute. Another myth is that women with the condition have a significant 'excess' of testosterone. And PCOS does open up some interesting questions about gender. But, says Teede, the idea that testosterone is an exclusively male hormone is false. Plus, women with PCOS do not typically have elevated levels of testosterone; it's more that our bodies are not very good at dealing with it. We have much less of the hormone than most men. After my diagnosis at the ultrasound, I had a follow-up call with a nurse practitioner, where I was told simply that I should put up with my symptoms but come back when I wanted to get pregnant; because, of course, that is the only thing that young women aspire to. When I pushed, I was offered a drug named metformin, which is used to treat insulin resistance and diabetes. It wasn't explained to me how this drug works and why it would be useful for my specific case. But, I have since learned, insulin resistance – when your body struggles to regulate your blood sugar levels – is one of the hallmark symptoms of PCOS and triggers a lot of the other issues that people with the condition face. Teede, however, points out that 'every woman has a different problem and a different life stage that's most important to them, and it's about their interpretation'. Doctors should think holistically about treatment plans for women with PCOS and listen to their concerns. My own contrasting experience, though, is much more common, says Rachel Morman, the chair of the UK PCOS charity Verity: 'After 20 years of doing this work, I'm like: 'Why is this still happening?'' She had a similar conversation with doctors after she was diagnosed in the early 00s, with the added shock of being told that she wouldn't be able to have children at all. While it is true that about 70% of women with PCOS experience fertility struggles, after intervention that number drops significantly; the vast majority of women with the condition are able to get pregnant. Morman has three children now. It's also important for women to know that a lot of the risks associated with PCOS in pregnancy (such as miscarriage, gestational diabetes and pre-eclampsia) are preventable. Before they start trying for a baby, women with the condition should have a full diabetes test and get their blood pressure checked, as well as aim for a healthy diet and active lifestyle. But when doctors tell us that PCOS is something we should be concerned about only if we want to get pregnant, that is extremely frustrating, considering the wide range of effects it has on our bodies. Morman says that while there is a lot more information available now than when she was diagnosed, some treatment options have become worse: hair removal treatments used to be offered on the NHS for women diagnosed with PCOS, but not any more. As Teede acknowledges: 'One of the reasons why people go to alternative sources of information is because they're not satisfied with what they get from the health practitioners.' Misinformation about PCOS abounds, and much of it is repeated by medical professionals. To help counteract this, Teede helped to develop the extensively researched international evidence-based guidelines for PCOS in 2023, which I now regard as the holy grail of information about the condition. Her team has also created an app called AskPCOS, which can help women to find the right treatment pathways. It doesn't cover everything, but it is thorough, uses up-to-date research and doesn't make bold claims about 'curing' PCOS, as some people do on social media. 'There are a whole lot of individual practitioners, most of whom are not actually practitioners, who are there for financial gain,' says Teede. 'The biggest challenge I have is the misinformation, and then associated with that, the harm that's done by denigrating actual evidence-based strategies. Which, in the end, does a disservice for women with the condition.' She is not wholly against what she terms 'complementary therapies' (ie supplements and diets), as long as women undertake them clear-eyed and unswayed by false claims. But she does not believe people will stop looking to these types of practitioners for support until there are more trustworthy medical repositories, alongside legal liability for people who provide misinformation. Having researched PCOS over the past year (though there's still much to learn), here's what I've tried: in terms of monitoring the metabolic symptoms, I've checked my blood pressure and had screenings for diabetes and high cholesterol. My levels were fine. I've come off my birth control (some types of pill can help with the symptoms of PCOS; this one didn't) and started taking a well-researched supplement called myo-inositol, which may help with insulin resistance. But I've since come off it because it made me dizzy, a known side-effect for some people. I get periods most months, though I did so before I was put on the pill in my teens, so this may not have affected my ovulation. In terms of cosmetic treatments, I have moved away from laser hair removal, which can cause women with PCOS to experience paradoxical hypertrichosis – the regrowth of darker hairs, seemingly stimulated by the laser. Instead, I have begun electrolysis, the only way to permanently remove hairs. I'm on a break from it as the treatment has been slow and moderately painful, causing breakouts that take weeks to heal. Thankfully, the acne on my face has never been severe, but I have got topical treatment for it from an online dermatologist and benzoyl peroxide from my GP. My body acne has taken longer to get under control; I had a private online consultation with a dermatologist, which cost me £100, and have found reasonably priced skincare products that mostly work for me (shout out to Cerave). The reason I am sharing this is not so that others with PCOS can attempt to mirror my journey. Everyone is different. For example, some women are comfortable with having visible facial hair. It is not inherently shameful and I hate that it is considered to be so. Instead, I am sharing because it shows how much time and energy I have had to put into dealing with PCOS. As it stands, all women with the condition need to go on a journey of evidence-based self-education, because it is unlikely that their primary care doctors will be able to adequately direct them, and there are very few accessible specialists. We have to test out treatments and cosmetic procedures – many unregulated – for ourselves, working through trial and error. Perhaps one of the biggest learnings I've taken from this year has been around mental expenditure. While we undoubtedly have to demand better treatment from our doctors, and ask them to seek out research, those of us with chronic conditions have personal choices to make. Even in an ideal system, where I could be supported on and off medication with all the necessary tests, I would still have to make a judgment call about how much time and energy to invest in 'managing' my PCOS. It is lifelong and incurable, and, for me at least, learning to live with it has become just as important as tackling some of the issues that it causes. That is not to say people with PCOS should give up – learn to embrace their facial hair or uncomfortable acne, or the more serious difficulties related to heart health or diabetes – but it does move it in my mind from a space of hopelessness to one of pragmatism. And it has allowed me to give myself a mental break. 'You do need to have at least four periods a year, because otherwise it's a higher risk of getting cancer of the womb, for example,' says Teede. She says that people with PCOS must go for an annual checkup, including blood pressure tests. 'But you don't need to carry that around permanently,' she adds. The other brilliant news is that, in the background, things are changing. A new study shows that awareness of the syndrome has grown massively in the past eight years. In the UK, there is collaborative work happening to make sure that the syndrome becomes a research priority, including an all-party parliamentary group. 'We'll actually have proper pathways for PCOS treatment, so hopefully that should improve standard of care,' says Morman. For me, I had my foray into the land of misinformation and I battled my way out of it. I have sought out community with other women who have the condition, and I'm taking steps to mitigate its potential effect on my fertility in the future. Most of all, I feel incredibly thankful that I have been diagnosed in an era where there are women like Teede and Morman who are fighting for the recognition and evidence-based treatment of PCOS. We are not at a loss. We are at the bright beginning.

The Independent

an hour ago

• The Independent

Flights from London to Doha and Dubai cancelled after US strikes Iran

Flights from London to Dubai and Doha have been cancelled after Donald Trump ordered a US attack on Iran's nuclear sites. It comes after a British Airways (BA) flight from London Heathrow to Dubai was diverted to Zurich on Saturday night. The BA109 flight departed from the UK at 9.53pm on Saturday and reached Saudi Arabia before the Boeing 787 Dreamliner changed its course, landing in Switzerland, according to flight-tracking website Flightradar24. All of the airline's flights to Dubai and Doha that were scheduled to depart from Heathrow on Sunday have been cancelled, including return flights, the company said. Israel announced on Sunday that it had closed its airspace to both inbound and outbound flights in the wake of the US attacks. The US struck three nuclear test sites in Iran overnight prompting Tehran to launch a retaliatory ballistic missile barrage against Israel. In a statement, British Airways said: 'As a result of recent events, we have adjusted our flight schedule to ensure the safety of our customers and crew, which is always our top priority. 'We are contacting our customers to advise them of their options while we work through this developing situation.' BA is offering a flexible booking policy for customers already booked onto flights to Dubai and Doha between Sunday and Tuesday who wish to change their dates of travel.