Around 3,000 Wales football fans are arriving in Qatar to support their home nation as they prepare to play in their first World Cup for 64 years.
Sky News has joined two families from South Wales as they jet off to the Middle East.
Welsh Flags, bucket hats and scarves are all being carefully folded and packed into a suitcase by Marcus Panayi and his 13-year-old son Theo at their home in Cardiff.
“I’m buzzing! I can’t believe it really that we’re going out there!” says Theo.
His excitement is echoed by his dad.
“It’s amazing, isn’t it?” says Marcus. “For me, I’ve been supporting Wales for 42 years, I’ve seen all the disappointment over the years, all the near misses, so really this is once in a lifetime.
“I think every Wales fan who’s going is just going to be on cloud nine when we get there – obviously a lot of the other big countries are used to qualifying, so I think it means a bit more for us.”
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The pair will join other fans at a special party in the capital Doha over the weekend to welcome the Welsh contingent.
“We’ve been told the alcohol prices are really extortionate, so we are prepared for that, but I think we’ve just got embrace it. The fact we’ve qualified, we’ll focus on the positives and try to have a party as much as we can,” adds Marcus.
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Image: Marcus (left) says Wales fans will be on ‘cloud nine’ when they get to Qatar
Twenty-five miles down the M4, near the English border, Huw Hudson and his daughters Amelie and Isabella usually watch Wales in action in their garden games room.
Inside, Wales football and rugby shirts adorn the walls, as do photos of Huw with Gareth Bale and Swansea City players.
“I’m a die-hard Wales and Swansea City fan,” Huw says.
The family will be staying in Dubai and catching internal flights to Qatar for each game – a cheaper option than staying in Qatar and one chosen by many Welsh fans.
Image: Huw Hudson and his family are staying in Dubai and flying to Qatar for each game
We chat to Huw as he cracks open an aptly named bottle of Bale Ale.
“It’s something I’ve been dreaming of since I was a child,” he says.
“All I’ve wanted to do is to see Wales at the World Cup. There’s plenty of times where I never thought it would happen – but to be actually going, it’s a dream come true, once in a lifetime probably.”
Like all fans heading to Qatar, they’ve been told to be aware of cultural sensitivities.
Image: Huw says he’s a die-hard Wales and Swansea fan
Huw says: “There’s a chap who lives in Qatar who’s set up a Red Wall Facebook group which has been really useful so we can get all the local lowdown… just rules, cultures, things to expect and adhere to; so yeah it’s going to be interesting.”
While most fans travelling have paid for themselves, it’s reported a number of Wales and England supporters have had their trips funded by Qatari authorities as part of the Fan Leader Network.
It’s understood flights and accommodation are included, with authorities saying the scheme “contributes to tournament planning through fan insight, research, content creation and message amplification”.
The prime minister had called on Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to take substantive steps to end the “appalling situation in Gaza“, agree to a ceasefire, commit to a long-term sustainable peace, allow the UN to restart the supply of aid, and not annex the West Bank.
The Israeli foreign ministry furiously rejected his statement, with Mr Netanyahu claiming that “Starmer rewards Hamas‘s monstrous terrorism and punishes its victims”.
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1:28
Could recognition of Palestine change the West Bank?
Ilay David, brother of Hamas hostage Evyatar David, who was seen emaciated in a video last month, said giving recognition was “like saying to Hamas: ‘It is OK, you can keep starving the hostages, you can keep using them as human shields.’
“This kind of recognition gives Hamas power to be stubborn in negotiations. That is the last thing we need right now.”
There has been no ceasefire, and the situation in Gaza has deteriorated, with a declaration of a famine in Gaza City and the expansion of Israeli military operations.
Israel has launched a major ground offensive to seize all of Gaza City and destroy Hamas in an operation which has prompted widespread condemnation, with UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper calling it “utterly reckless and appalling”.
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What changed in UK’s Gaza policy?
Earlier this month, a UN commission of inquiry concluded that Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. Israel said the claim was “distorted and false”.
The UK will join 147 of the 193 members of the UN who recognise Palestine ahead of the UN General Assembly in New York on Monday.
Other nations, including France, Australia and Canada, have said they plan to take the same step at the UN gathering as part of a broad international effort to put pressure on Israel.
During a joint news conference with the prime minister at Chequers on Thursday, Donald Trump said he disagreed with recognition, and US politicians have urged the UK and other allies to reverse their stance.
Image: Sir Keir Starmer is expected to deliver the announcement on Sunday. Pic: PA
Sky News understands that Israel is considering options in response to the UK’s decision, but the strength of that reaction is still under consideration.
Family members of some of the 48 hostages still in captivity, after Hamas and other militant groups stormed into Israel on 7 October 2023, have written an open letter to Sir Keir, condemning the move.
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2:38
Israel ramps up attacks on Gaza City
“Hamas has already celebrated the UK’s decision as a victory and reneged on a ceasefire deal,” they said.
“We write to you with a simple plea – do not take this step until our loved ones are home and in our arms.”
The UK government is understood to be looking at further sanctions on Hamas, and has demanded the group release all hostages, agree to an immediate ceasefire, accept it will have no role in governing Gaza, and commit to disarmament.
Heathrow was among a number of major airports across Europe hit by delays after a suspected cyber attack that targeted a service provider for check-in and boarding systems.
The “technical issue” affecting Collins Aerospace, which provides check-in and boarding services for various airlines, resulted in 14 flights being cancelled at Brussels Airport on Saturday, and several more being delayed at London Heathrow, Berlin, and Dublin, among others.
Passengers have reported being unable to check in online, instead queuing for hours for staff to deal with them manually at desks and departure gates, only to be told their flights are not taking off.
Helen Steel, 49, left Dorset for Heathrow at 3am to travel home to Oslo, with her cat Thomas – but was “shouted at by staff” who told her she would not be able to fly until Sunday.
Describing the situation as an “absolute nightmare”, she said: “I’ve got an animal here, so I’m very concerned about his welfare.
“I’ve been shouted at twice and I broke down in tears because I was worried about him. None of us have had any information whatsoever. Whenever we ask ground staff, they shout at us.”
Ms Steel says she spent two hours in the queue on the phone to customer service and is now having to find a hotel to stay in overnight.
Sam arrived at Heathrow expecting to drop his girlfriend off for her flight to Rio de Janeiro – but was still at the airport seven hours later.
Image: Sam has been at Heathrow for seven hours after his girlfriend’s flight to Rio was cancelled
When they arrived, it was “chaos everywhere”, he told Sky News, with “nobody seeming to know what was going on”.
The couple say they were not told about the cyber attack by airport staff, finding out about it online instead.
After queuing for three hours, they made it to the front, only to be told the plane was not taking off, he adds.
“Her flight was at 8.40am and it was held back until 10.15am. At 10.10am they sent everyone away and told them to contact the airline. But there are no representatives for any airlines whatsoever. It’s been a bit of a farce.
“Nobody knew where they were going – and they were sending people left, right, and centre.
“She’s going tomorrow now, but we’ve got to find a hotel, and no one is here to give us any hotel vouchers. They just give you a piece of paper and say ‘you’ve got to pay for it yourself’.”
Image: Passengers wait for news at Heathrow Terminal 4. Pic: PA
‘Insane queues’ and ‘skeleton staff’
Passenger Tereza Pultarova waited around 10 hours at Heathrow after she arrived at 4.30am for her flight to Cape Town via Amsterdam.
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6:32
Tereza Pultarova had to wait 10 hours at Heathrow
“We were kind of stranded here because KLM wasn’t able to issue us boarding passes digitally, and requested us to collect them at the check-in desk,” she said.
“And then they told us that there is some sort of global issue with the system they’re using for check-in and boarding, and they have to do everything manually. So then they were checking in people at the rate of, like, one person per 10 minutes.
“I’m not exaggerating. It was just insane, the queue wasn’t moving. And then suddenly they said, ‘Oh, the flight will be departing, we’re closing the gate’.
Maria Casey was due to fly to Thailand with Etihad Airways – but had to wait three hours to drop off her luggage at Heathrow, with staff taking between five and 10 minutes to deal with each passenger.
Image: Queues at Heathrow. Pic: PA
“The queues are terrible,” she told Sky News. “It was an absolute skeleton staff. Out of six of the desks there were probably two people”.
A Heathrow spokesperson advised people to arrive no more than three hours early for a flight and apologised for any inconvenience.
It is understood British Airways at Terminal 5 remains unaffected and is operating as normal.
Collins Aerospace said it is working to resolve the issue as soon as possible.
“We have become aware of a cyber-related disruption to our Muse (Multi-User System Environment) software in select airports, the firm said in a statement.
“The impact is limited to electronic customer check-in and baggage drop and can be mitigated with manual check-in operations. We are actively working to resolve the issue and restore full functionality to our customers as quickly as possible.”
An elderly British couple who have arrived back in the UK after being detained in a maximum security Taliban prison are “delighted to be free”, their son has told Sky News.
Barbie Reynolds, 76, and her husband Peter, 80, were arrested in February after spending decades in Afghanistan, where they have dual citizenship.
They had been held without charge before being released from detention on Friday and flown to Qatar, where they were reunited with their daughter, before flying back to Heathrow Airport on Saturday.
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4:13
Freed couple reunites with daughter
The couple’s son, Jonathan Reynolds, told Sky News: “They’re just delighted to be free… they’re very excited to see their kids and grandkids and great grandkids, people they’ve just been wanting to catch up with and wondered if they’d ever see them again.”
Jonathan, who spoke to his parents from Wyoming in the US in a FaceTime call with some of his siblings, said: “I’ve seen photographs of them in hospital beds getting checked. I’ve seen them having full English breakfasts. So they’re jumping on that.”
Image: Peter Reynolds enjoys breakfast after his release
He described some of the conditions his parents had been kept under in a “big maximum security prison with thousands of inmates”.
“My dad described being handcuffed or chained to other criminals. And, one point he had his chest hairs ripped out,” he said.
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“He was hit in the head. And, then they were moved, to more of a safe house.”
Image: Peter Reynolds gets hospital check-up
But Jonathan said his parents retained their British politeness even when calling him from a payphone in the prison yard, with his dad asking: “Is now a good time?”.
“It was totally, ‘Yeah, not too bad. Where’s the queue to get out of here?'”
The UK government advises British nationals not to travel to Afghanistan.
Abdul Qahar Balkhi, a spokesperson at the Talibangovernment’s foreign ministry, said in a statement posted on X that the couple “violated Afghan law” and were released from prison after a court hearing.
He did not say what law the couple were alleged to have broken.
Sky correspondent Cordelia Lynch was at Kabul Airport as the freed couple arrived and departed.
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2:51
Sky’s Cordy Lynch speaks to released couple
Mr Reynolds told her: “We are just very thankful.”
His wife added: “We’ve been treated very well. We’re looking forward to seeing our children.
“We are looking forward to returning to Afghanistan if we can. We are Afghan citizens.”
The couple have lived in Afghanistan for 18 years and run an organisation called Rebuild, which provides education and training programmes.
They have been together since the 1960s and married in the Afghan capital in 1970.