At least the ship itself did not sink, despite all 203 passengers and more than 150 crew members being ordered to leave it.

There were no lifeboats or emergency rescue drama. Instead, passengers watched their life savings disappear as their dream of making a permanent home at sea collapsed in spectacular fashion.

The 509-cabin Villa Vie Odyssey, operated by Florida-based Villa Vie Residences, is stranded in Sihanoukville, Cambodia, after the company said it was under “unsustainable financial pressure” and could no longer afford to purchase additional fuel.

The vessel was marketed as a never-ending cruise, sailing around the world on three-year cycles. Cabins cost between £90,400 and more than £670,000, with residents also paying a monthly charge for meals, housekeeping and internet access. Passengers, however, say the internet and televisions have been unusable for weeks.

The proposition was simple: make the ship your permanent home while visiting more than 400 ports. Life on board was to include unlimited buffets, exercise classes, trivia competitions, pickleball and nightly entertainment.

Several passengers, most of them from the United States or Canada, committed fully to the idea. They sold their houses and cars and accessed their pensions, believing they were buying an extraordinary new way of life.

It has undoubtedly been an adventure. But it has been far from the life-enhancing experience they were promised.

Randy Cassingham, 66, and his 71-year-old wife, Kit, were among those forced off the vessel this week. “We had built a house and it was our dream house,” he said. “And we decided to sell that and our car and almost all of our belongings and move onto the ship full-time, permanently. So, we don’t have a home to go to right now.”

Adding to the anger, the company offered no immediate apology despite the seriousness of the situation. Mikael Petterson, founder of Villa Vie Residences, has since said he feels like “the villain” in the story and acknowledged that the circumstances were “awful”.

This week, residents who had paid substantial sums for relatively modest cabins on the 642ft ship were given an explanation of the mounting costs. The account sounded more like a presentation from a sharp-suited financial adviser than an emergency briefing, with the company blaming the continuing conflict in the Middle East for driving up oil prices.

“On an equivalent per-cabin basis, monthly fuel expense that historically averaged approximately $1,800 (£1,350) has recently reached an estimated $6,000 (£4,500) to $8,000 (£6,000) in parts of Asia. The company cannot simply pass increases of that scale on to residents,” the company said.

That may be understandable from a financial perspective. But passengers say they should have been given considerably more warning.

Instead, Villa Vie issued a brief statement: “We are working with residents to co-ordinate disembarkation and temporary living arrangements and are supporting residents.”

The Cassinghams dispute that account. They sold their family home in Colorado and most of their possessions to pay £284,000 for a permanent cabin, along with a monthly fee of £5,200, convinced that the Odyssey would become their “forever home”.

“What’s happened didn’t come out of the blue,” Mr Cassingham said. “It was a cascade of problems piling up on one another, from the business model to mistakes by management to the mentioned crisis in fuel cost and availability, and more.”

Writing on his blog, he said he first realised the situation was deteriorating on Monday, when Kathy Villaba, Villa Vie’s chief executive, posted a message on the ship’s internal communications board.

Passengers were given just seven hours to pack their belongings and disembark. From that point, they were responsible for arranging and paying for their own accommodation and meals in the port town of Sihanoukville.

Another resident, Margaret Carrasco, delivered her own statement on what happened – and she doesn’t pull her punches.

‘I want to set the record straight and clear up any confusion out there about what the company, Villa Vie Residences, is claiming in their PR announcements,’ she said.

‘They are providing zero support to residents despite claiming they’re helping us with temporary living arrangements. That is total bull****.’

Ms Carrasco said the only help she received was from ‘our loving crew and fellow residents in getting our luggage down the gangway and onto a shuttle. We were dropped unceremoniously in the middle of town, left to our own devices.’

Sihanoukville is not the most hospitable of towns in which to be dumped.

More than 70 casinos have been built here in the past three years alone and there are plans for a new $1 billion, 65-hectare Chinese-Malaysian resort called Wisney World.

‘The town itself is now an almost-permanent construction zone. Bricks and construction materials litter the streets, the crime rate is growing and Sihanoukville’s postcard beaches are now choked with plastic bags,’ according to the website Intrepid (catchline: ‘committed to using travel as a force for good’).

Sihanoukville, which has a population of around 90,000, is known as a thriving town for human trafficking and is a hotbed for online scams – fitting, one might think, for a venture that has proved a shambles from the start.

Long Dimanche, the deputy governor of the province of Sihanoukville, is wholly sympathetic: ‘Being ordered to disembark so abruptly has left retirees and workers effectively homeless, thousands of kilometres away from their home countries.’

The cruise had long been beset with problems.

Due to set sail from its dry dock in Belfast in early spring 2024, the ship was still there four months later because of problems with its rudders and gearbox, which cost the company some £15 million more than expected. During this period, passengers were allowed on the ship during the day but at night they were booked into hotels and rented apartments.

At the time, the Mail was keen to visit the ship in Belfast with a view to finding out how passengers were getting on. I emailed the company, but my request was flatly refused by Villa Vie Residences. It didn’t want the publicity. I wasn’t welcome.

Then, in July this year, I received an email from the company’s public relations agency saying it was ‘excited to share some big news’.

DISCOVER MORE: 8 People Who Should Not Drink Beer And Why – NewsFinale

Now, it clearly did want the publicity – and I was welcome to interview Mr Petterson.

‘Following the success of Villa Vie Odyssey, which is now more than 85 per cent sold, the company is expanding into a two-ship fleet with the announcement of its second residential cruise ship, Legacy, with residences expected to be approximately 50 per cent larger, along with expanded dining, larger public spaces, enhanced wellness facilities and additional luxury amenities.’

No chance of that now. Holly Hennessey, 70, from Florida, has been on board from the start, accompanied by her Siamese cat, Captain. She paid some £250,000 for her cabin, with a balcony, plus a monthly fee of around £5,000.

Ms Hennessey, who describes herself as a ‘cruise addict’, does not expect to get her money back but is being remarkably stoic.

‘I don’t like losing money at all but it was worth it to me,’ she said. ‘I wish different decisions were made but I got to live my dream.’

It might not have helped that the ship is more than 30 years old, having previously sailed as Braemar and part of the Fred Olsen fleet.

Villa Vie Residences reportedly spent some £17 million renovating it but, according to Judi Cuervo, another passenger who has written about her experiences on board, the ship’s age was all too apparent.

There were missing ceiling tiles, grubby windows, torn seat covers and ‘blinds askew’, Ms Cuervo said. She added that there were no safety drills during her entire nine-day stay.

Similar defects were uncovered by a woman – who wishes to remain anonymous – following a ‘try-before-you-buy’ cruise on the ship last year.

‘No heat. No air-conditioning, spotty wifi … and I’d heard about repeated toilet malfunctions aboard Odyssey in my research prior to sailing, but I believed the problem was resolved.

‘Imagine my surprise when I returned to find a full-page of Toilet Use Guidelines.’

The Daily Mail has seen those guidelines – and they don’t make for attractive reading.

‘While our team works diligently to clean the filters every two days, we’ve recently discovered a growing number of inappropriate materials causing blockages, including plastic gloves, diapers, tissues, napkins and other non-flushable items,’ it states.

In April, the company tried to levy a ‘fuel surcharge’ on passengers – but this was rejected by them.

Then, earlier in the year, the ship was forced to leave Australia sooner than planned over the issue of access to fuel. What’s more, passengers all contributed money to enable the ship to depart from Singapore in August because, according to Mr Petterson, whereas the company was paying $600-$700 per metric ton for fuel, the price soared to nearly $2,000 following the escalation of the Israeli/American war with Iran.

While passengers onboard Villa Vie Odyssey have discovered to their horror that round-the-world residential cruises are not always the happy-ever-after they’d dreamed of, even so, the yearning to live a life on sea will continue. Cruising, in general, remains extraordinarily popular, despite all kinds of disasters.

In May, there was the grim spectacle of a Dutch expedition ship, MV Hondius, stranded in the Atlantic following an outbreak of hantavirus, which killed three people – a situation made worse by the refusal of the Cape Verde islands to allow the ship into port.

Also in May, some 1,200 mainly British passengers on board an Ambassador Cruise Line ship called Ambition were quarantined in Bordeaux after 48 people reported symptoms of norovirus, a highly contagious form of gastroenteritis.

A 92-year-old British man died on the ship, not from norovirus but from a heart attack – which wasn’t great publicity either.

But still the cruise industry sails on, contributing £5.8 billion annually to the UK economy and supporting 60,000 jobs.

More than 2.4 million British and Irish holidaymakers are expected to take a cruise this year, making it the fastest growing travel sector, according to the Cruise Lines International Association.

Last year, I had my own experience of a fully residential ship when invited on to the The World for a few days, where there are 165 private apartments, ranging from studios starting at around £1.8 million to three-bedroom apartments costing £12 million.

On The World, you buy your apartment outright, just as you would a house or flat, and then decorate it as you please. It’s yours for as long as you want – and you can’t rent it out.

You come and go depending on where the ship is berthed, with itineraries planned three years in advance, including to Antarctica, Australia, Papua New Guinea, Alaska, Northwest Territories et al.

You move around the world (it’s already circumnavigated the globe nine times), but feel that the world is moving around you. You can spend the whole year on board if that takes your fancy.

The World is a floating apartment building – a condominium, as Americans like to call it, owned entirely by the supremely wealthy residents.

It’s a lifestyle choice, where your ‘preferences’ (as they are known) are noted, right down to whether you prefer your omelette runny in the middle or a little firmer.

All rather different to life onboard Villa Vie Odyssey – where passengers are no longer sailing the seven seas but left on their own with no clear direction home in a dreadful-sounding city in Cambodia.

Some of them will surely never set foot on a cruise ship again.

Questions continue to surround Bill Belichick and Jordon Hudson’s reported private split after the high-profile pair appeared to keep presenting themselves as a couple months after allegedly ending their romance.

A bombshell TMZ report published Friday night claimed that the age-gap relationship ended ‘late last year,’ yet Belichick and Hudson apparently managed to keep the breakup hidden for nearly 12 months.

Later that night, a separate report from USA Today said staff members at UNC had been ‘caught off-guard’ by news of the split. Two anonymous employees reportedly said they were ‘not aware’ that the relationship had ended. 

Hudson has remained a familiar presence at North Carolina football games this season, standing alongside Belichick both at Chapel Hill and during away fixtures – including appearances as recently as this month.

Reports have described the pair as still being ‘close friends’ who ‘remain committed to their business partnerships,’ with Hudson listed as a director of several companies. That is despite claims that she has since moved on romantically and dated multiple men this year.

That raises an obvious question: why are there so many affectionate photos of the pair from 2026 if their romantic relationship supposedly ended during the final months of 2025?

At major sporting events and in more private settings, a series of photos obtained by the Daily Mail suggests that the situation between the legendary coach, 74, and his former girlfriend, who is 49 years younger, may be more complicated than it first appeared.  

One of the most puzzling public displays of affection took place in May at the Kentucky Derby, reportedly as many as six months after the couple had ended their romance.

Belichick flew Hudson to the historic race at Churchill Downs on a private jet. Once there, the sharply dressed coach was photographed holding her hand as they walked around the course.

Hudson later shared two images from the event on social media, writing: ‘Not the first time we’ve trudged through the mud together,’ alongside a pink heart. 

The photos showed the pair smiling broadly, with Belichick’s shirt and tie appearing to coordinate closely with Hudson’s dress.

A social media post from the previous month added to the speculation after Belichick stepped away from his demanding football schedule to support Hudson at her own sporting event.

Appearing every bit the supportive boyfriend, Belichick watched Hudson compete at the US Worlds Trials, where she and her ‘Cheer Extreme Code Black’ team were crowned champions.

Afterward, Hudson posted a selfie with Belichick and called him ‘Bill the WAG’ while he wore a T-shirt featuring the name of her cheer squad. The phrase WAG – short for ‘wife and girlfriend’ – appeared to suggest that their relationship was still going strong.

Shortly before that April adventure, Belichick and Hudson had spent time in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, attending a basketball game one night on campus.

While nothing was posted on social media by either of them, photographers captured the pair with their arms intertwined as they sat in the bleachers to watch the action.

This, it should be noted, occurred two months into 2026 and long after they had apparently ended their high-profile relationship.

In recent months, Hudson’s Instagram account has been dormant, with no new posts in 25 weeks and the most recent photo dump being the loved-up Kentucky Derby appearance.

Despite no images from the source, Hudson has still been closely involved in Belichick’s life, appearing in photos taken at at least three of UNC’s games just this month.

Last time out, the Tar Heels lost in overtime to Syracuse, and Hudson was seen in multiple fan photos taking selfies on the sideline in a stylish pink suit.

In one post, she was labeled the ‘First Lady of UNC Football’ as she grinned for snaps with young supporters. 

Seven days earlier, she traveled to Durham, North Carolina with the team for the rivalry game against Duke, which ended with a huge win for Belichick and his players.

At the end of the game, Hudson appeared to cozy up to Belichick as they laughed and walked down the tunnel together.

On October 3, meanwhile, she was again on the sideline again as UNC suffered a loss to No 5 ranked Notre Dame, also at Chapel Hill. 

The Daily Mail has reached out to the pair for comment. 

Abdul El-Sayed and his former Democratic primary rival, Haley Stevens, have revived their intra-party dispute just four days before a pivotal Senate election in the swing state of Michigan.

El-Sayed, a progressive candidate who previously campaigned alongside controversial streamer Hasan Piker, narrowly defeated the more moderate Stevens in August, surprising many observers.

Now running against Republican Mike Rogers, El-Sayed is once again locked in a dispute with Stevens as Democrats prepare for a high-stakes contest in a purple state that Donald Trump won two years ago.

The tensions returned to the spotlight Wednesday when Stevens’ fiancé, Jason Turkish, told The Detroit News that he planned to vote for Rogers.

Later that day, Stevens appeared on CNN and confirmed that she would support El-Sayed, while urging his campaign to “shut out the hate and call it out.”

She said El-Sayed must also reach out to voters who supported her during the primary and “make them feel comfortable about coming to the polls.”

The two Democrats appeared to patch things up Thursday, scheduling a Sunday campaign event in Detroit alongside South Carolina Congressman Jim Clyburn, an influential Democrat widely credited with helping Joe Biden secure victory in the 2020 primary.

However, Stevens issued a lengthy social media statement Friday criticizing her former opponent. She called on El-Sayed to denounce an advertisement tying US support for Israel to rising grocery costs and to address concerns about his previous rhetoric.

The advertisement, produced by left-wing commentator Cenk Uygur, Piker’s uncle, features startling exchanges in a grocery store. In one scene, a woman tells a man she cannot afford eggs because her money had to be spent “killing Palestinians.”

El-Sayed’s campaign has emphasized that it neither created nor endorsed the advertisement, saying it “has always been focused on addressing the most critical challenges Michiganders are facing.”

“Abdul promises to get money out of politics,” Stevens wrote in her lengthy statement early Friday.

“He can begin by getting Israel out of his explanation for everything Michigan cannot afford.”

El-Sayed has apologized for some of his past remarks as he seeks to bring Democrats together ahead of the election.

In a statement Friday, however, El-Sayed highlighted his primary victory over Stevens and said that while she “seems intent on relitigating a primary… let’s all focus on the task at hand: beating Mike Rogers.”

A source within El-Sayed’s campaign is now asking Stevens not to attend future campaign events, saying her presence could “distract from the central issues of the campaign,” according to Politico.

Mallory McMorrow, who also sought the nomination before withdrawing and endorsing El-Sayed, reacted sharply. “I have no idea what the hell Haley Stevens is doing. This is a moment where we have to recognize the stakes,” she said.

“Every Democrat was singing the same tune but now, because one person is tone deaf, the whole choir is thrown off,” said a source not affiliated with El-Sayed’s campaign.

Rogers – who has been working to court Jewish Democratic voters – later applauded Stevens, calling her ‘a courageous leader who deserves the respect of every Michigan voter.’ 

He said Stevens was ‘absolutely right to call’ on El-Sayed to denounce the ad. ‘It is as shameful as it is disappointing that his response to her clearly shows that he does not care about those concerns,’ Rogers wrote on X.

President Donald Trump was much more blunt in a statement at a rally in Daytona Beach, Florida Friday. 

‘If you’re Black, or if you’re Jewish, and you vote for Abdul, you’re not smart,’ he said. 

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Selma Blair Fights Back Tears in Apology for Flight Incident

The RealClearPolitics polling averages currently shows El-Sayed leading Rogers by five points. 

Michigan hasn’t elected a Democrat to the Senate since 1994, but Donald Trump won the state in 2016 and 2024. 

Republicans face political challenges of their own, particularly voter dissatisfaction with Trump, the Iran war and high costs. 

Rogers has remained closely aligned with the president on most issues, appearing alongside him at a Michigan rally Sunday where he credited Trump with bringing manufacturing jobs back to the state.

The rally took place in Port Huron, just across the river from Canada, a country with deep economic ties to Michigan that Trump has targeted with tariffs.

El-Sayed has held campaign events in heavily Republican areas, including Michigan´s Upper Peninsula. 

His team also released an ad featuring clips of prominent conservative figures praising him, including former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who has faced accusations of antisemitism that he denies.

But the ad created another source of friction with some Jewish voters.

Rabbi Aaron Starr of Congregation Shaarey Zedek in Southfield criticized both the Rebellion PAC ad and El-Sayed´s campaign ad during a call with reporters.

‘We are one week away from the election, and it feels like the temperature has turned way up,’ Starr said. 

‘Instead of things getting better over the last seven weeks, they´ve actually gotten worse.’

Trump has repeatedly attacked El-Sayed´s Muslim faith, calling him a ‘jihadist’ and saying Sunday that he was ‘on the side of terrorists.’

Both candidates are trying to win over Black voters, particularly in Detroit’s Wayne County, where Stevens defeated El-Sayed in the Democratic primary.

El-Sayed’s event with  Clyburn is part of an effort to shore up support among Black voters. 

Much of El-Sayed’s final campaign stretch has included appearances in Detroit.

Rogers has also sought to make inroads with Black voters. He visited a reading remediation program at a Detroit high school and discussed housing costs with residents in Pontiac, north of the city. 

Earlier this month, his wife handed out $10 gift cards at a gas station.

El-Sayed and Stevens last appeared together on Aug. 6, two days after the primary. Stevens pledged to support El-Sayed, telling CBS News she would do ‘whatever he wants me to do’ on the campaign trail.

But divisions from the contentious primary have persisted. Nearly $60 million was spent on advertising attacking El-Sayed, including $30 million from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC. 

Stevens is a staunch supporter of Israel who represents a district with a large Jewish community in Detroit´s suburbs.

The church visit on Sunday is intended to further that elusive unity, although its impact is uncertain, given that it comes just two days before the election. 

Michigan early voting started Octobert 24.

A police officer in the Seattle area has been taken off active duty after video appeared to show him repeatedly punching a shirtless suspect in the head while holding him down in the middle of a busy roadway.

Andrew Bryant, an officer with the Auburn Police Department, was placed on administrative leave after footage captured the confrontation during a violent arrest Wednesday afternoon.

The video shows Bryant straddling the suspect and striking his head and face for more than 20 seconds as motorists remained stopped nearby and watched the incident unfold.

The force of the blows left the officer with significant injuries to his hands, according to police.

The encounter has triggered an independent criminal investigation by the neighboring Renton Police Department, in addition to an internal review by Auburn police.

Relatives identified the suspect as Mauro Alberto Felix Valles. Police said he had been moving through traffic and trying to enter passing vehicles before officers arrived.

An 18-minute police video shows the shirtless man crossing multiple lanes while drivers slow down and maneuver around him.

Bryant is then seen walking toward Valles in the roadway while repeatedly ordering him to stop and get on the ground.

‘Hey, you’re under arrest. Get on the ground! Do it now! Get on the ground! Hey!’ the officer shouts.

When Valles keeps moving, Bryant issues another warning.

‘Hey, get on the ground right now! Are you going to get tased?’

Valles does not comply, and Bryant deploys his Taser, causing him to fall to the ground.

Instead of ending the encounter, however, the arrest quickly turns into a physical struggle.

Bryant climbs onto Valles and tries to pull his arms behind his back so he can apply handcuffs.

Valles appears to twist and resist as the officer attempts to restrain him. Bryant then begins striking the suspect repeatedly in the head and face.

A nearby traffic camera captures Bryant seated on top of Valles as he repeatedly drives his fists toward the man’s head.

At one stage, the officer’s body-worn camera falls off although it continues recording audio and the exertion with which Bryant is raining down blows upon Valles can be heard.

Another camera captures the violent confrontation from above, showing the officer continuing to strike the man as he lies on the road.

The suspect can be heard shouting as the struggle continues, with Bryant staying  on top of him until additional officers arrive.

Bodycam footage shows it ultimately took four officers to bring the man under control and secure him in handcuffs.

Even after being restrained, the man continued screaming and resisting, prompting firefighters to attend the scene to help calm him.

Both the suspect and Bryant were subsequently taken to local hospitals for evaluations.

Bryant required medical attention for his hands following the confrontation. 

Police initially said the man did not appear to have suffered serious injuries, although his relatives have since claimed he sustained a concussion and other physical injuries. 

Valles’ family has said he was experiencing a mental health crisis at the time of the confrontation.

Police booked him on allegations of non-felony drug possession, disorderly conduct, obstruction and attempted assault.

He subsequently posted bond and was released from custody on Thursday. As of Friday, prosecutors had not filed formal criminal charges against him.

The Auburn Police Department released body-worn camera, dashboard camera and traffic surveillance recordings following the encounter.

‘We understand the concern surrounding the October 28 incident,’ the department said in a statement.

‘The officer involved in the incident on Auburn Way North and 37th ST NE was placed on administrative leave yesterday pending a full investigation.’

Police insisted they were treating the allegations seriously.

‘The Auburn Police Department takes all officer-involved incidents seriously and treats these investigations with the utmost urgency.’

‘We are committed to conducting a thorough and impartial investigation, maintaining transparency throughout the process, and ensuring fair treatment for everyone involved.’