Kit Barrus had spent nearly $5,000 on a three-day cruise to Mexico planned to celebrate her childhood best friend’s upcoming wedding.

She purchased gifts, decorated the bride’s cabin, paid for fuel and parking, and drove the other women to and from the ship.

After 17 years of friendship, Kit wanted to make the celebration memorable, despite not being chosen as one of the bridesmaids.

Yet after dropping everyone home, the 28-year-old was already trying to work out how she could avoid attending the wedding. The trip she had eagerly anticipated left her feeling humiliated and pushed aside, prompting her to reassess a friendship she had spent years trying to preserve.

Six hours later, a message from the bride appeared in her Instagram inbox: ‘This is so inappropriate, uncalled for, consider yourself uninvited from the wedding.’

Kit had uploaded a brief video poking fun at the challenges of travelling with a group. She never imagined the post would end a friendship that had lasted for most of her life.

The friend she grew up with

The two girls met in Thousand Oaks, California, when Kit was 11, and soon became inseparable. They lived within walking distance of one another, sang in the same choir and spent so much time together that others regularly assumed they were twins. On occasion, they would swap one shoe before class and arrive wearing mismatched pairs.

The pair shared much of their childhood, and although Kit moved away during high school, they continued to consider themselves close. As they grew up, however, their lives gradually began to take different paths.

Kit, who now creates content for OnlyFans, says her friend’s Christian beliefs occasionally caused tension between them. She remembers remarks about her work and relationships that made her feel judged, but tried not to allow those disagreements to destroy the friendship.

‘I was very loyal to the friendship,’ Kit tells Daily Mail. ‘I was like, man, we’ve been friends since we were 11. Like, what are we gonna do, not be friends?’

They had their share of arguments, but Kit was generally the one who made contact afterwards. She would allow her friend time to cool off before sending a message saying she loved and missed her and would be ready to talk whenever she was. For years, that approach had helped repair their disagreements.

Eleven bridesmaids, but not Kit

When her friend announced her engagement, Kit expected an invitation to join the bridal party. Having known the bride since childhood, she assumed she would have a place in the wedding celebrations.

But the invitations were sent without her name appearing among them. The bridal party included 11 bridesmaids, some of whom the two women had met together years after their friendship began.

Kit did not demand an explanation, though she privately wondered why she had been excluded. The bride had vaguely indicated that her mother did not want Kit in the bridal party, but Kit never discovered the precise reason.

Later, while the two women were making Valentine’s gifts for their partners, the bride invited Kit on a three-day hen’s cruise to Ensenada, Mexico. ‘I was just happy to be involved at this point,’ Kit recalls.

She accepted, knowing she would likely feel out of place. Most of the women joining the cruise were bridesmaids, making Kit the only guest without an official role in the wedding.

Going all out for the bride

When the bride wrote in the group chat that she would appreciate help decorating her cabin door and organising games, Kit stepped in after no one else responded.

She bought decorations and assembled a large collection of bridal gifts, including a sash, tiara, slippers, games and novelty sweets. Kit organised transport to the cruise terminal, drove the other women and paid for fuel and parking. She also reserved her own cabin so she could keep working during the trip.

There were excursions, too, including activities the bride wanted to try but couldn’t persuade the others to join. By the time Kit added up her accommodation, travel, gifts and everything else, she estimates she’d spent almost $5,000.

‘So I brought everything to decorate her door,’ she recalls. ‘I brought her a whole basket of bride-to-be stuff. And I was not even a bridesmaid.’

It was a considerable amount of money for three days away, but Kit had known the bride for most of her life. She wanted her to enjoy herself.

The hen’s trip from hell

At first, things seemed to be going reasonably well. Kit noticed her friend was a little irritable, but she was still included in the group’s activities. It was when they reached Ensenada on the second day that the atmosphere began to change.

Kit doesn’t drink much, while several of the other women were enjoying alcohol throughout the trip. She also began noticing comments about money that made her uncomfortable.

At lunch, the group had run up a sizeable bill. Kit had ordered two tacos and a water, which she estimates cost around $20 to $30, but the women were struggling to work out how much everyone owed. She offered $80 towards the total, hoping that would help settle things.

Instead, she says, the discussion dragged on, leaving her with the uncomfortable impression that the others were waiting for her to foot the entire bill.

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‘You know when you can tell that people are waiting for you to do something, and they’re dragging their feet or making it more difficult than it needs to be for no apparent reason?’ she says. ‘It was that.’

Kit began to wonder whether she’d been invited partly because the others expected her to cover some of their expenses. ‘I kind of felt like I was taken along as, like, a weird piggy bank,’ she says.

She was also struggling with the bride’s behaviour towards her. Kit says her friend had become increasingly hostile, not only towards her but towards locals they encountered while exploring Ensenada. Kit, who rarely drinks, felt increasingly out of place among the women. By the time the group finished lunch, she’d had enough and decided to return to the ship alone.

Once aboard, she bought herself a drink, found a quiet spot in the main foyer and started reading comics on her phone. ‘This is the most fun I’ve had this whole f***ing trip,’ she remembers thinking.

The worst moment came on the final day of the cruise. Kit had been trying to find the other women when she discovered they’d gone to one of the ship’s nightclubs without telling her. She eventually tracked them down and went over to join them, only to be directed to a chair against the wall.

‘They put me in a chair, like, up against this wall and then all turned their backs to me,’ she recalls. Kit was so stunned that she took a short video and sent it to another friend. ‘I wish I could make this up,’ she remembers thinking.

By then, she’d given up trying to understand what was happening. She says the bride had been drinking heavily and was behaving aggressively, so Kit decided it was easier to keep her distance than risk a confrontation.

Even the drive home brought another awkward moment. Kit was taking some of the women back from the cruise terminal when they began discussing a sleepover, happily making plans to watch a film together once she’d dropped them off.

‘After Kit drops us off, we should do this. We should do that. We should watch this movie,’ she remembers them saying. Kit was sitting right there, behind the wheel. ‘I’m right here,’ she recalls thinking. ‘I’m driving you home.’

By the time she finally got home herself, she was wondering how she could possibly face another gathering with the same women.

The Instagram Reel that ended everything

Before the cruise, Kit had explained to the bride that she would need to create content while they were away. She regularly travelled alone for work and wanted to be able to film Instagram Reels and TikToks, which was one reason she’d booked her own cabin. She says the bride had been perfectly happy with the arrangement.

During the trip, Kit made a short Instagram Reel about the differences between travelling alone and travelling with other people. Usually, she could move at her own pace and decide what to do without consulting anyone. On the cruise, she found herself adjusting to other people’s schedules, walking more slowly and carrying their belongings while they did other things.

She filmed a few light-hearted clips of those little frustrations, including herself holding people’s things. In one shot, another woman’s hand was briefly visible. Kit thought it was the sort of joke other solo travellers would recognise.

Her friend, however, took offence. Around six hours after Kit had dropped everyone home, the bride sent her a message through her public Instagram account rather than her personal one, something Kit found particularly strange.

‘She was like, “This is so inappropriate, uncalled for, and has upset everyone. Consider yourself uninvited from the wedding”,’ Kit recalls.

Kit hadn’t named or criticised the bride in the video, and couldn’t understand why she’d reacted so strongly. She didn’t reply to the message. ‘I was like, well, there’s really nothing I can say to that,’ she recalls.

In fact, she’d already been talking to another friend about how much she dreaded attending the wedding. She hadn’t been given a plus-one, and most of the people she knew would be occupied with their bridesmaid duties. After the cruise, the thought of spending another day feeling unwanted was unbearable.

So when the invitation was withdrawn, Kit admits she was relieved. ‘I was like, yep, thank you,’ she says.

Five or six days later, Kit discovered the bride had blocked her on Instagram. She’d initially left the Reel online, but removed it after one of the bridesmaids began responding to her followers, writing, ‘Crazy of her to say this after we bought her lunch.’ Kit was stunned, particularly given the awkward lunch in Ensenada, where she says she’d offered $80 despite ordering only two tacos and a water.

‘I was like, what? I drove. I paid for gas. I paid for parking. I got you guys s**t all the time. What are we talking about right now?’ Rather than continue arguing with the bridesmaids in public, she decided to take the video down.

The friend she still misses

The wedding has since come and gone. Kit was travelling when a reminder appeared in her calendar, and she remembers feeling grateful that she wasn’t there. She admits there was some relief in the friendship ending, too, although she’d spent years hoping the woman she remembered from childhood would return, even as their disagreements became more frequent.

‘She used to just be this, like, being of absolute love,’ Kit says. ‘She always had so much love for the people around her. She really tried to take care of others.’ Kit had watched that side of her friend gradually disappear, hoping things might eventually improve. ‘I feel like I’ve been watching her slip away for years and there’s been nothing I can do about it.’

She doubts there’s much left to repair now, although she says it would take a significant apology before she’d consider rekindling the friendship. What she still misses is the girl she knew long before the wedding, the arguments and the cruise.

‘I grieve the girl I was friends with when I was only 16,’ Kit says, ‘because she was awesome. She was the coolest.’

Five teenage boys have been seriously injured in a stabbing during a Halloween party in Eastleigh, Hampshire.

The victims—three aged 16 and two aged 17—were attacked after an “unknown group” entered a property in Chandler’s Ford on Saturday night.

Police were called shortly after 10.30pm and found all five boys suffering injuries described as serious.

An air ambulance was sent to the scene before the teenagers were taken to hospital for treatment.

Witnesses reported hearing “crying and screaming”, sounds some residents initially mistook for late-night trick-or-treaters.

Neighbour Mary Morton, 70, said she had “just gone to bed” when flashing lights appeared outside her window.

“I thought it must be roadworks. I’d never have thought all these police vans had showed up,” Ms Morton said.

The pensioner, who has lived in the Chandler’s Ford residential area for 26 years, said she had “never seen anything like this”.

Another resident, James, 38, said: “I heard a commotion last night and saw loads of teenagers in the street.

“It was like a party had just finished. There were girls crying and screaming.”

Hampshire Police said no arrests had been made and urged anyone with information, including those who attended the party, to contact officers.

The daughter of a nearby resident, who said she had been in contact with one of the victims, claimed she heard people “jump the fence and start stabbing”.

Angie McConnell, 67, said she returned home at midnight and found seven police vans blocking the road.

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“Nothing like that happens here. It’s shocking and surprising,” she said.

“There were lots of children with their families at seven, trick-or-treating and having a lovely time.

“I can’t imagine it was anything to do with the road. Mostly just elderly people live here.”

Another local man said he was woken by police officers knocking on his door at around 1.30am and asking for information.

Images from the scene show police tape sealing off parts of Chandler’s Ford as officers continue their investigation.

Police vehicles were also stationed at Park Road and Valley Road. 

Senior investigating officer Detective Chief Inspector Elizabeth Pirie said: ‘We are already hard at work identifying anyone who was at the party who may be able to assist our enquiries, whether that be having directly witnessed what took place, having filmed any footage which may be relevant, or who may be able to help us identify the unknown group.

‘I understand the response the local community may have to hearing about this incident this morning, and I do not underestimate the impact our scenes will be having on those living in the area.

‘These scenes are vitally important for our enquiries and we are grateful to the understanding of our communities whilst we work to establish the facts.

‘If you were at the party and have not spoken with officers yet, or you have any CCTV, mobile phone, dash cam or doorbell camera footage covering Park Road and the surrounding area, then please get in touch.’

Liz Jarvis, MP for Eastleigh, wrote on X: ‘My thoughts are with the victims and their families and all those affected by the incident in Chandler’s Ford last night, and my thanks go to our local police and emergency services for their prompt response.

‘It’s important not to speculate or share unverified information.’

Anyone who may have information has been asked to contact Hampshire Police quoting reference 44260534624. 

A distinctly Trump-era sense of tension is gathering over the Middle East.

Following months of apparent restraint, Donald Trump now seems to be positioning the United States for a possible new round of military strikes against Iran.

The US president has assembled one of the largest American naval deployments seen in the region in decades, with a major force concentrated in the Arabian Sea.

The USS George Washington and USS George W Bush aircraft carriers are already operating in the area, supported by 17 warships. The force includes the USS Boxer amphibious readiness group.

A third carrier strike group, headed by the $4.5billion (£3.3billion) USS Theodore Roosevelt, is moving towards the Middle East from the Philippine Sea. It is travelling alongside the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit amphibious assault force.

The group is expected to reach the region within days, potentially raising the number of US sailors and Marines stationed there to more than 20,000.

Together, the three carrier groups can carry roughly 150 combat aircraft, including F-35 stealth fighters and F/A-18 Super Hornets.

The US Navy last maintained three carrier strike groups in the Middle East in April, marking the first such deployment since 2003.

The latest military build-up has raised fears of a possible offensive once the US midterm elections conclude on Tuesday. Trump had previously indicated that no attack would be launched before then.

A series of fresh threats from the president in recent days has intensified speculation that he may be preparing to resume military action against Iran, a move that could push the wider Middle East back into turmoil.

Tensions rose further on Friday, when Trump appeared to indicate that his confrontation with Iran could soon reach a decisive stage.

‘It’s going to get wrapped up soon,’ Trump said during an interview with Kansas City radio station KCMO, though he did not explain what that would involve.

‘We need a guarantee there’ll never be a nuclear weapon,’ he added.

However, allegations that Tehran is pursuing nuclear weapons have been challenged. Previous US intelligence assessments, including findings attributed to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), concluded that Iran did not possess such weapons.

Even so, Trump is reportedly continuing to consider new air strikes against Iran, which has resisted earlier attacks and military pressure.

‘Do I finish it off, which would be very easy to do, or do I make a deal? It’s getting to be decision time,’ the 80-year-old billionaire told Fox News earlier this week.

At a rally in Florida the previous week, Trump also told supporters that ‘we may do another little Epic Fury’, invoking the name of the US bombing campaign.

One of the clearest indications yet that Washington may be preparing for another operation came after Gulf allies were reportedly advised to brace for a ‘short, intense military campaign’, according to The Wall Street Journal.

A White House official said: ‘We do not comment on sensitive military plans that may or may not exist. President Trump keeps all options on the table to ensure that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon.’

Among the main targets Washington could seek to attack include the Pickaxe Mountain nuclear facility hidden in central Iran.

The secretive underground site was previously struck by the US in 2025, with B-2 stealth bombers hitting it with bunker-busting bombs after taking off from Whiteman Air Force Base and flying across the Atlantic.

President Trump has already indicated the site is already on his hit list, telling Fox News last week: ‘We can read the badge on somebody’s shirt from space, okay? We know exactly what’s going on at Pickaxe Mountain. We know the other three [nuclear sites] are obliterated.’

The build-up of naval firepower, combined with dozens of the world’s most sophisticated fighter jets, means the US would also be able to launch huge salvos of cruise missiles at Iran. 

Such an arsenal could be unleashed upon the Islamic regime’s electricity network in an effort to plunge Iranian cities into darkness. 

The President previously indicated he would strike Iran’s most valuable power plants, starting with ‘the biggest one first’ during the opening exchanges of the war. 

Trump never followed through with the threat but could seek to should he resume his bombardment after the midterms.  

The country’s largest energy hub is the Damavand Combined Cycle Power Plant on the outskirts of Tehran province.

Also known as the ‘Pakdasht’ plant, it can produce around 2,900 megawatts, which is enough electricity to power several major cities.

Other large Iranian power plants include the Kerman site in the southeast of Iran, with a capacity of about 1,910 megawatts, and the Ramin power plant in the Khuzestan, which can produce about 1,890 megawatts of power.

Military facilities, including those building drones and missiles, as well as major arms depots could also be hit.

America previously struck Iran’s remote ‘Eagle 44’ underground air force base, located deep in a mountainous area of the country’s south, at the end of March. 

The bombardment left deep impact craters at and near the tunnel entrances to aircraft shelters, which are hidden under a mountain ridge. Runways were also damaged, disabling them. 

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However, reports emerged last week that Iran had managed to carry out a significant number of repairs, with runways having been fixed. 

The site, and what remains of Tehran’s air force and drone fleet, could be used to launch limited attacks against the American fleet, meaning it might be one of sites US top brass would seek to eliminate. 

Any such air attack by the US would likely be supported by Israel. Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, was planning to resume attacks on Iran before the Israeli elections but was blocked by the country’s military. 

Tehran has repeatedly warned it would retaliate, striking a wide variety of targets across the region, including US military bases and military and civilian infrastructure in Gulf states. 

In recent days, the US military has flown a number of Patriot systems to beef up its missile defences after supplies were depleted during the opening exchanges of the war.

A flurry of C-17 military cargo planes have also reportedly flown into the Middle East and into Israel, which open intelligence analysts have linked to the Patriot battery movements. 

It has also moved troops off bases deemed vulnerable to a counter-attack by Iran, officials familiar with the movement told the Wall Street Journal.

Earlier this month the US withdrew all of its B-1, B-2 and B-52 bombers from RAF Fairford, in Gloucestershire, after a suspected Iranian sabotage plot was foiled. 

As the President continues to weigh up his options, he has reportedly received a rare, in-person briefing from one of America’s top military commanders. 

Admiral Brad Cooper, who heads up Central Command and oversees all operations in the Middle East, briefed Trump on Thursday, updating him on the conflict and spelling out potential next steps, the Wall Street Journal claimed. 

The senior naval officer is also said to have met with General Dan Caine, the Joint Chiefs Chairman, and JD Vance, the Vice President, for a separate high-level war briefing. 

The meetings of senior US politicians and military chiefs lend additional weight to speculation Trump was preparing for a fresh round of strikes on Tehran. 

American troops are prepared to launch a new, potentially major, military operation against Iran ‘within 96 hours of receiving’ an order from President Trump, two US officials told CNN. 

It’s believed the scope of any impending onslaught would go beyond previous efforts targeting radars, launchers and other Iranian tech that can be quickly reconstituted. 

‘It will be a big effort,’ one of the officials told CNN.

Back in the States, American soldiers have been drilling the grim job of preparing mass graves to bury fallen troops.

The exercise, carried out at the US Army’s camp in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, last week, saw engineers carving out trenches to act as temporary burial sites in the event of a war.

Such mass graves have not been since the Korean War. More recently, the US has had air superiority over its adversaries in the likes of Iraq and Afghanistan, meaning dead soldiers could be transported out of war zones rapidly.

The move suggests the US is putting a growing importance on relearning such macabre skills, which haven’t been needed in decades.

During the drill, American soldiers constructed multiple rudimentary trenches capable of holding 20 dead soldiers each. The plots were dug out in just over an hour.

‘This exercise allowed us to take a critical look at how we respect, honor, and systematically manage our fallen in a high-intensity conflict,’ said Sgt 1st Class Delbert Ruede.

‘If we went to war tomorrow, we would be making this up as we went along. What we are doing here is taking a scientific, field-tested approach so that we can maintain positive control and respectfully care for our fallen.’

While evidence increasingly suggests US strikes look to be on the horizon, efforts are still continuing for a diplomatic solution to be found.

In recent weeks, Qatari officials have been acting as intermediaries between Washington and Tehran as the two warring powers attempt to come to a peace deal.

Diplomats from the oil-rich Middle Eastern state reportedly delivered a draft proposal by the US to finally draw hostilities to a close on Friday.

A source familiar with the ongoing diplomacy effort told CBS News that it followed a previous draft presented by mediators last Sunday.

The Iranians were expected to provide a response to the latest effort to avert a resumption of military action at some point this weekend.

Negotiations have increased in recent days, with the US Vice President credited for having pushed for new talks. 

Iran has also continued to discuss its own proposal to end the war, saying it would reopen the Strait of Hormuz within seven days and provide a route to permanently ending hostilities.

However, the proposal was quickly dismissed by Trump last month.  

In a social media post earlier this week, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Aragachi said Tehran ‘continues to give diplomacy a chance to succeed’.

But he warned that any ‘Israel-instigated military misadventure’ in the Gulf would have a ‘devastating impact’ on international markets.

Meanwhile, Gulf nations have appealed for calm from both Washington and Tehran, with the United Arab Emirates’ Foreign Ministry calling on both sides to ‘exercise wisdom and pursue political solutions to help contain tensions’.

The conflict has cost $47.1billion so far, according to Pentagon estimates. At the same time, global oil prices have skyrocketed.   

America is also believed to have expended about half of its stockpile of Tomahawk cruise missiles, half its Patriots and almost all its long-range Army Tactical Missile Systems and precision-strike missiles.