USA Update

An additional 171 activists from a Gaza Strip aid flotilla have been transported to Greece and Slovakia, Israeli officials say.

Celine Dion made a rare public appearance with her sons at Paul McCartney’s concert at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. She was spotted dancing in the VIP area as the rock legend performed his classic hits. The mom of three has made very few public appearances since her stiff-person syndrome diagnosis in 2022.

The international spotlight recently turned to crime in Egypt when a pharaoh's priceless bracelet was stolen from a Cairo museum and melted down – forever lost to history.

Celine Dion made a rare public appearance with her sons at Paul McCartney’s concert at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. She was spotted dancing in the VIP area as the rock legend performed his classic hits. The mom of three has made very few public appearances since her stiff-person syndrome diagnosis in 2022.

SHEDUER SANDERS is expected to play for the Cleveland Browns this season.

The quarter-back is getting closer to his first start with head coach Kevin Stefanski mixing things up.

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Dillon Gabriel made his first start at the weekend[/caption]

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Veteran Joe Flacco dropped to the bench against the Minnesota Vikings[/caption]

Sanders was a fifth-round pick for the Browns – their last in the Draft – but he could have a role to play this season.

Another draft pick, Dillon Gabriel, made his first start in the defeat to the Minnesota Vikings at the weekend.

Veteran Joe Flacco took a place on the bench instead of Sanders.

But that is only because the Browns trust his in-game experience, according NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.

And they did not want to throw Sanders in at the deep end in a match that was set up to suit Gabriel.

Rapoport claims Sanders will get a chance at some point this season when he is ready.

And when he does, it will be after Sanders gets a full week of practice, with the game plan made for him, rather than one designed for Gabriel.

Despite being the No.3 choice at present, Sanders thinks he has the quality of a starting QB.

Speaking to ESPN Cleveland, Sanders made it known that he thinks he is better than many of the starters in the NFL.

“I know if you see the quarterback play in the league right now, I know I’m capable of doing better than that,” he said.

“Overall, I feel like I’m doing great and doing what I need to do each and every day.

“Remaining focused and mind on the complete mission, not really get comfortable.

“I’m not comfortable being a scout team player, but honestly, that’s my situation, so I’m going to make the best of it and enjoy my moment.

“Overall, this isn’t my end goal. I’m just enjoying myself, learning, doing everything I have to do and just ready for my opportunity.”

Sanders was once considered a possible top-five draft pick, but fell all the way to No. 144 overall.

It is possible that Sanders could have been the No. 2 quarterback on another team.

However, he shot down the idea of being drafted by multiple teams.

The Baltimore Ravens reportedly had interest in taking him at No. 141, but Sanders’ camp had no interest in him being Lamar Jackson‘s backup.

“Overall, I feel like I’m doing great and doing what I need to do each and every day,” Sanders continued.

“Remaining focused and mind on the complete mission, not really get comfortable.

“I’m not comfortable being a scout team player, but honestly, that’s my situation, so I’m going to make the best of it and enjoy my moment.

JERRY Jones went viral for firing off an NSFW gesture at a New York Jets fan during the Dallas Cowboys’ win in Week 5.

The Cowboys’ owner was spotted on camera during the Cowboys’ blowout 37-22 road win at MetLife Stadium in Week 5.

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Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones’ X-rated gesture was spotted on camera during his team’s road win on Sunday[/caption]

The 82-year-old Jones witnessed the Cowboys’ onslaught of the winless Jets on Sunday.

And, during the game, Jones decided to take a victory lap.

A video posted on X showed Jones giving the middle finger to a Jets fan in the crowd.

Jones was seated in his owner’s box as fans were looking up at him from the stands.

The smiling Jones proceeded to point to a fan and briefly raise a middle finger before waving to the crowd.

Social media users flocked to react to Jones’ X-rated gesture.

“That person probably talked so much s*** to him all game lol,” one wrote.

“Wow that is so rude,” another commented.

“I would bet someone is flipping him off for no reason, and he was giving it back,” a third said.

It’s not known what prompted Jones’ gesture.

The longtime owner spoke to reporters after the game but didn’t address the moment.

Jones did compliment his team for their “big victory” over the Jets.

“This was a great win for [the] team,” Jones said.

“Not a win for an individual, or four or five All-Pros.

“This was done with a lot of guys that wouldn’t have even been dressed or been out there today.

“There are several of them.

“So, my hat’s off [to them].”

The NFL could fine Jones for the gesture based on the league’s past disciplinary actions.

But the punishment wouldn’t make a dent in the multi-billionaire’s pockets.

Jones has other things to worry about as his 2-2-1 Cowboys will travel to take on the Carolina Panthers in Week 6.

A Philadelphia Eagles Super Bowl star has been punished by the NFL after an Allen Iverson gesture.

The star was hit with the fine after his unsportsmanlike conduct against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 4.

Cooper DeJean was fined $11.5k by the NFL after making a big play and taunting Rachaad White.

The Eagles’ corner back made an open-field chop tackle on White before getting up and walking over his opponent.

This was reminiscent of the culturally significant moment when Iverson stepped over Tyronn Lue.

It is a very disrespectful move, and Tom Brady, on commentary, discussed that.

He said, “A lot of people stepped over me when they sacked me.

“And I had a lot of urges to just fire my right arm up there, where the sun doesn’t shine.”

In the end, DeJean was fined $11,593 for unsportsmanlike conduct.

The Eagles went on to win the game 31-25, but faced their first loss of the season on Sunday to slip to 4-1.

The Denver Broncos claimed an impressive 21-17 victory.

They scored 18 unanswered points in the final quarter to fight back from 17-3 down.

Bo Nix threw for 242 yards and one touchdown before getting his side within range of a field goal.

Will Lutz’s 36-yard three-pointer was good with a minute to go, and the Broncos were able to hold on.

Philadelphia selected DeJean in the second round of the 2024 NFL Draft with the 40th overall pick.

He came out of the University of Iowa, and in his final year, he was a Unanimous All-American.

He was also named the Big Ten Defensive Back of the Year and the
Big Ten Return Specialist of the Year.

In his first season in the NFL, he helped the Eagles to their first Super Bowl championship since 2017.

He was named to the PFWA All-Rookie Team.

He made 51 tackles, 0.5 sacks and one forced fumble as well as recovering three.

In the Super Bowl, he made his first NFL career interception, returning the ball 38 yards for his first score as well.

The Eagles’ next game is on TNF against the New York Giants, who are currently 1-4.

THE New York Jets were victims of an improperly-managed play on Sunday.

During their contest against the Dallas Cowboys, a little-known rule should have come into effect early in the game.

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The New York Jets were victims of an improper ruling on Sunday[/caption]

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A ball hit the Skycam during a play, and should have been ruled dead[/caption]

On third-and-goal from the seven-yard line, Justin Fields attempted to pass to running back Breece Hall on a screen play.

However, the pass hit Cowboys defensive end Dante Fowler Jr and launched into the air.

It was there that the ball hit Fox’s Skycam and hit the ground.

It was ruled an incomplete pass, leading to a Jets field goal and a 3-0 lead.

However, the incomplete pass was not the correct ruling in this case.

According to the NFL rulebook, Rule 7, Section 2, Article 1, the down should have been replayed.

“If a loose ball in play strikes a video board, guide wire, sky cam, or any other object, the ball will be dead immediately, and the down will be replayed at the previous spot,” the rulebook says.

“In the event the down is replayed, the game clock will be reset to the time remaining when the snap occurred, and the clock will start on the snap.

“All penalties will be disregarded, except for personal fouls or unsportsmanlike conduct fouls, which will be administered prior to the replaying of the down.”

The officials didn’t recognize this rule during the game, and replay assist didn’t step in either.

The Jets were capable of using a challenge for this play, but decided to settle for the field goal.

It is possible that New York was also unaware of this rule.

The three points the Jets scored on the field goal were the only points they scored until late in the third quarter.

Interestingly enough, the Jets game wasn’t the only instance of officials improperly enforcing the Skycam rules on Sunday.

In the Minnesota Vikings vs Cleveland Browns game in London, a similar mistake occurred.

Minnesota’s Will Reichard’s field goal attempt appeared to hit a Skycam wire.

However, the officials ruled it as a miss instead of giving the Vikings a chance to retry the kick.

It didn’t end up mattering though, as the Vikings won the game 21-7.

WHEN Heather Templeton came into John Mook’s life, he couldn’t have been more over the moon.

Recently divorced, the dad-of-three felt he had been given an unexpected “second bite at the cherry”.

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John Mook with his then-wife Heather[/caption]

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Heather used an antidepressant to drug John – and stop him from uncovering her deception[/caption]

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Heather was eventually jailed for 11 years[/caption]

Ross Parry

Rat poison had been stored in unusual places around the house – but when quizzed, Heather always had an excuse[/caption]

Before long, John trusted Heather with everything – his finances, his health, his life and even his elderly mother, Freda, who had moved in to live with the couple.

But after an emergency visit to hospital in January 2007, which left him fighting for his life, everything was flipped on its head.

Only just discharged and still in a daze, his daughters sat him down and broke the news about his wife of 10 years.

“Dad – she’s gone,” they said. “And she’s embezzled your mum out of all your money, and taken your money.”

Speaking to The Sun, John, now 78, says: “Obviously I was still stunned, still half drugged up. It just didn’t register at all – for quite some time afterwards.”

Heather, who was 57 at the time, hadn’t just stolen the money. In reality, she was the very reason John was in hospital in the first place.

Just minutes before her husband had collapsed, Heather had given him a set of pills, which she claimed were on doctor’s orders.

But the pills were actually a powerful antidepressant, amitriptyline, that he hadn’t been prescribed, and tests showed that this was far from the first time she’d poisoned him.

In fact, she’d been regularly drugging him with the pills and with rat poison for months – by slipping it into his dinner.

As John recovered from the horrifying experience – with one scientist explaining he was “one pill away from death” – the astonishing web of lies that underpinned his marriage began to unravel.

His apparently loving wife, who baked him cheeky birthday cakes and whisked him away on sun-kissed holidays, was in fact a serial career fraudster who had scammed victims out of millions.

Over the course of their relationship, she had stolen tens of thousands from his vulnerable mother, hiding stacks of mounting bills while treating herself to luxuries like a secret jaunt to Dubai.

Worst of all, whenever John – who was unaware his wife had been married three times previously – grew suspicious, Heather would secretly drug him into submission, nearly killing him in the process.

Such was the grip she held over him that even when she was finally caged in 2008, it took him another TEN years to finally break free from her grasp as she love-bombed him from prison.

“Deep down, I don’t think she really gave a s*** about me,” says Yorkshireman John.

“It was all to become the model prisoner, to get parole – to crack on and do it again, which I genuinely believe she will.”

Love in the air

Former bus driver John still remembers the first time he met Heather at the home of a mutual friend. He recalls seeing her on crutches as she returned from a visit to the physio.

A few pub quizzes and dinner invites later, and they were on their way. Their marriage in 1997 was a spectacular affair and Heather was welcomed into the family. 

“It was a bit up and down – like most normal married couples,” John tells us.

“It was a bit of fun. I’d been divorced for a couple of years, and I’m thinking I might just get a second bite of the cherry here. Not many people do.

“She was a dead precious, little, attractive woman. And I thought yeah okay – let’s give it a crack.”

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Heartbroken from his first divorce, John felt Heather gave him another chance at happiness[/caption]

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Heather Mook pictured alongside John’s parents, including his mother, Freda, who she would go on to embezzle[/caption]

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Heather had received previous convictions for fraud and poisoning[/caption]

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A cheeky birthday cake from Heather to John[/caption]

Heather was bright, competent and seemed to have had a successful career.

But their marriage hit its first road bump when John’s father passed and his mother, Freda, sold her house to move in with the couple in York in 2002.

“It was tense,” he said. “As far as my mum was concerned, no woman was good enough for her son.

“It seemed like a good idea at the time but it just didn’t work.”

The whole time, John recalls his mum claiming that things were going missing – a cheque here, a bankcard there. 

The family – which included Tracey, 54, and Helen, 56, as well as another daughter from his first marriage – put it down to Freda’s old age.

But it turned out she was right the whole time. 

In control of the finances, Heather was able to make things appear normal, while in fact siphoning the money away for herself.

As part of a later investigation into her deception, a shocking phone call emerged of ‘Freda’ calling the bank.

Sounding old and confused, she says she’s going to put her daughter-in-law on the line.

My legs twitched, my arms twitched and I just couldn’t concentrate on anything. We’d get halfway there and, Heather would say, ‘you all right?’

On comes Heather, sounding confident, and with full access to move Freda’s money wherever she wants.

The bank staff assumed the pair were in the room together, when it was really Heather putting on two different voices.

Unpaid bills

Eventually, in 2005 the family decided it was time for Freda to head into a care home. 

Believing they still had the money from selling her house, finances were the least of their concern.

But when they started to receive letters from the bank and care home over unpaid bills, Heather insisted it was the bank’s mistake and they took her at her word.

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John’s story was recently told in the documentary How to Kill Your Husband[/caption]

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Despite embezzling his family’s money, John suspected nothing – until he received a near fatal overdose[/caption]

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By crushing up tablets into his dinner, Heather was able to keep her deception hidden for years[/caption]

Speaking on a recent Channel 5 documentary How To Kill Your Husband, John said she always had an excuse for what was happening.

He said: “I don’t know how she dreamt them up, but they were so plausible. You just didn’t question it – it was logical, it made sense.”

The bills kept stacking up. But every time John made arrangements to speak to the bank or care home, he’d find himself feeling ill.

He said: “You could guarantee I wouldn’t feel very well. My legs twitched, my arms twitched and I just couldn’t concentrate on anything. We’d get halfway there and, Heather would say, ‘you all right?’ 

“I’d say no – and she’d say, ‘I’ll tell you what, I’ll ring up and cancel and we’ll come back another day.’ And so we’d come home and I’d go to bed and sleep it off.”

With Heather crushing up the pills and mixing them into John’s dinner, he was totally unaware he was being drugged.

He even admits she was a “bloody good cook”, despite the inclusion of what he now dryly calls her “magic ingredients”.

Near-deadly overdose

For months, John had been out of it, on one occasion even failing to notice his own daughter getting on board the bus he was driving.

By this point, more than £21,000 was owed to the care home, and John’s mother was facing eviction. 

Determined to sort this out once and for all, he’d set up a meeting with the care home manager. It was on that day that Heather gave him the almost-lethal overdose.

While John was in hospital, one of his daughters, Tracey, saw Heather take some pills out of her handbag and give them to him, telling her that the nurses had asked her to do it.

But Tracey was alarmed. Why – in a hospital – would Heather be doing nurse’s job?

She went to the nurses’ station, who confirmed they asked no such thing of Heather. Tracey rang her sister, Helen, who then went straight to a police station.

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John and his family, pictured at Heather’s trial in 2007[/caption]

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John’s daughter Tracey speaks out about her family’s ordeal in the documentary[/caption]

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Helen, John’s other daughter, went to the police as soon as poisoning was suspected[/caption]

By this point, Heather had returned home. Police found her trying to fake a suicide attempt but she was unharmed so they arrested her. 

Heather was convicted in 2008 on two counts of poisoning with intent to endanger life and given an indeterminate sentence, with no possibility of parole for at least five years.

Shockingly, it emerged she’d lived the life of a career conwoman.

While the family knew she’d been to prison before, they had believed her when she said it was due to an altercation with an ex-partner.

In fact, she’d previously duped people out of £5million over plans to buy a hotel, and had conned friends out of £20,000 over phoney plans to invest in Scotch whiskey, for which she’d received a sentence of three years.

They said look – it’s either her or us.

Sickeningly, on one occasion, she’d led John’s family to believe she had breast cancer and had less than 12 months to live, before making a miraculous recovery.

She flew out to Dubai, where her surgeon apparently was – and came back breast-cancer free. But it turns out she’d just treated herself to a holiday.

The judge even revealed that in 1981 she’d poisoned her own daughter, aged six, from a previous relationship with the same drug she went on to poison John with.

Family ultimatum

With Heather in prison, the family felt able to move on. But John was the exception. 

“She wrote me a letter – and she could write a damn good letter. She wanted to see me, and I’ll be honest I wanted answers as well. So I agreed to see her,” he says.

Against his family’s wishes, John started to visit her more and more, even giving her gifts and money.

He said: “You can’t just switch straight away to disliking someone like that, or completely changing the way you feel about someone.”

John carried on visiting Heather for ten years – and even planned to get back with her properly when she was out.

In the end, his family gave him an ultimatum.

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John’s mother, Freda, faced being evicted from her care home over unpaid bills[/caption]

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It took John years to finally accept and understand the deception he had been subject to[/caption]

“They said look, it’s either her or us. I went up to visit her, and just for once I manned up and said ‘l can’t go on like this’. She agreed with me and it was then I went for the divorce.”

While Heather was finally out of John’s life, it still took him a long time to for him to finally make sense of the ordeal

To this day, he still doesn’t quite know why – despite knowing about her past crimes – it took him so long to accept the truth.

“All my friends were talking behind my back, saying things like ‘what a pr*t he was’. And it hurts,” he admits.

“I felt oppressed. It’s a real bitter pill to swallow, finally accepting that I was wrong, and everyone else was right. I was convinced that I was doing the right thing. But after 10, 12 years or so I’ve finally accepted it.

“It was like a big jigsaw puzzle. It was only until a few years ago that the final pieces all clicked into place and I got the overall picture of everything she’s done. 

“I’ve just accepted that that’s what she was. She was showing bits of emotion towards me to make it look good – nice birthday parties and big dos at Christmas. ‘Look at me, I’m the loving caring wife etc.”

It would not surprise me in the next two, three, maybe five years that she’s back inside again.

Despite Heather eventually spending 11 years behind bars, John is unconvinced that she will have reformed. 

He said: “She often said to me, ‘you do the crime, you do the time.’ She said that a few times and I never really registered it. She just took it like an occupational hazard.

“But it would not surprise me in the next two, three, maybe five years that she’s back inside again. It would not surprise me at all.”

Stashed abroad

All in all, Heather stole £43,000 from the sale of John’s mother’s house. 

The bulk of what the family have been able to recover went towards the costs of the care home – but much of it remains missing.

John believes Heather has managed to hide it overseas.

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Upon first hearing the news, John was convinced that Heather had just had a mental breakdown and needed help[/caption]

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John went on to visit Heather in prison for 10 years[/caption]

He says: “It’s not as though she was driving around in flash BMWs and wearing Christian Dior clothes, and stuff like that. 

“I think because she was well travelled, I reckon she has contacts abroad and has some money stashed away somewhere. I’m pretty sure of it.

“I’m quite surprised that the police haven’t gone down that line of inquiry, actually,” he adds.

John, now aged 77, has a new partner, Sue, and is glad to say he now has a “fantastic” life as a grandfather.

He has no intention of ever seeing Heather again. But when asked what he’d say if he did see her, he admitted he’d thought the question over many times.

One pill and you weren’t going to be there. It just echoes with me now and then – one pill

John Mook

“It depends on what mood I’d be in,” he said.

“I’d say, ‘thanks for nothing, you really did me a f***ing favour here!’ 

“On the other hand, I’d say, ‘come on – where’s all this bloody money gone?’”

While admitting he still finds it hard to trust anybody outside of his close-knit circle of family and friends, he’s managed to put the past behind him, but remains aware of how lucky he is to be alive.

To this day, he recalls the moment a scientist was interviewed and said John was just one more pill away from dying.

“It sort of ran it home to me. One pill, mate. One pill and you weren’t going to be there. It just echoes with me now and then – one pill.”

“I don’t really believe in ghosts and spirits and things like that. But I genuinely believe that somebody was looking down on me as if to say it’s not your time mate yet. And I believe that to be my dad. I really do.

“One of my grandkids, has just passed his motorbike test and he says, ‘Hi there Grandad, we’re off on our bikes and going to this local bike cafe.’ 

“Things like that, you just cannot buy. And that’s what really bangs it home. I’m here and I am going to enjoy life now. 

“I just crack on with life. Believe you me, I am grabbing it with both hands.”

Francine Diaz and Seth Fedelin spill how they react in different situations through the “physical touch” love language.