The former hostage Ingrid Betancourt has arrived in France after being held captive for six years by leftist rebels in the Colombian jungle.
The French-Colombian politician was greeted by the French president Nicolas Sarkozy at a military air base near Paris. Mr Sarkozy, who made Ms Betancourt's release a top priority, has invited her whole family to a party at the Elysee presidential palace. The hero's welcome is being shown live on French television.
Reunited with her son and daughter a day after her jungle rescue by the Colombian army, Ms Betancourt left Bogota for France yesterday.
Speaking to French radio before she boarded the plane, the 46-year-old former presidential candidate said she was chained up night-and-day for three years by her rebel captors, with only her Catholic faith as a solace.
"I was in chains all the time, 24 hours a day, for three years," she said. "I tried to wear those chains... with dignity, even if I felt that it was unbearable."
On Wednesday, Ms Betancourt was rescued, along with three US hostages and 11 Colombians, from the grip of Farc rebels by the Colombian army. Ms Betancourt said she had suffered "moments of real crisis, hardship and abuse".
Asked whether she was tortured, she replied: "Yes, yes". She said she saw her captors lapsing into "diabolical behaviour."
"It was so monstrous that I think they themselves were disgusted. I think you need tremendous spirituality to stop yourself falling into the abyss," she said, adding that she decided in the helicopter flying her to safety not to reveal the most "sordid" details of her ordeal.
Yesterday, Ms Betancourt had a powerfully emotional reunion at Bogota airport with her daughter Melanie, 22, and son Lorenzo, 19, who waged a relentless campaign for their mother's release, making her a cause célèbre in France.
"I thank God for this moment. These are my little ones, my pride, my reason for living, my light, my moon, my stars, for them I wanted to leave the jungle, to see them again," she said.
Ms Betancourt's children were young teenagers when she was seized in February 2002 while campaigning for Colombia's presidency. They were flown to Bogota together with her ex-husband, Fabrice Delloye, on a French presidential plane.
France celebrated the news of her release. She is expected to be treated to a rapturous welcome in Paris, the city where she grew up, studied and raised her children.
A fervent Catholic who called her release a "miracle of the Virgin Mary", Ms Betancourt has also been invited to meet Pope Benedict XVI next week. "It is a meeting that one cannot pass up," she said.
On the flight back to Paris, an exhausted Ms Betancourt is said to have withdrawn with her children to rest in a private suite at the front of the aircraft.
Mr Sarkozy's personal doctor, who was travelling on the flight, said her state of health was "satisfactory" but that she would undergo in-depth medical exams once in Paris.
Video footage earlier this year showed Ms Betancourt looking frail and gaunt and she was reported be suffering from a host of ailments including hepatitis.
Ms Betancourt has urged Colombia and the international community to keep working to free the hundreds of other hostages still held by Colombia's Farc rebels, Latin America's most powerful left-wing insurgency.
The three US military contractors, Marc Gonsalves, Thomas Howes and Keith Stansell, released in the raid were also to be reunited with their families in Texas. They were said to be in good shape and high spirits.
And in Bogota, the seven Colombian soldiers and four police officers rescued ? some after more than 10 years in captivity ? received rapturous welcomes at ceremonies complete with mariachi bands.
The rescue mission was a huge triumph in the Colombian government's long battle against the leftist rebel army.
In the humbled rebels' first reaction since the rescue, a news outlet close to Farc said they would be open to peace talks with the Alvaro Uribe government.
* AFP with AP
How much sugar is in chocolate Easter eggs?
- The 169g Crunchie egg has 15.9g of sugar per 25g serving, working out at around 107g of sugar per egg
- The 190g Maltesers Teasers egg contains 58g of sugar per 100g for the egg and 19.6g of sugar in each of the two Teasers bars that come with it
- The 188g Smarties egg has 113g of sugar per egg and 22.8g in the tube of Smarties it contains
- The Milky Bar white chocolate Egg Hunt Pack contains eight eggs at 7.7g of sugar per egg
- The Cadbury Creme Egg contains 26g of sugar per 40g egg
Anxiety and work stress major factors
Anxiety, work stress and social isolation are all factors in the recogised rise in mental health problems.
A study UAE Ministry of Health researchers published in the summer also cited struggles with weight and illnesses as major contributors.
Its authors analysed a dozen separate UAE studies between 2007 and 2017. Prevalence was often higher in university students, women and in people on low incomes.
One showed 28 per cent of female students at a Dubai university reported symptoms linked to depression. Another in Al Ain found 22.2 per cent of students had depressive symptoms - five times the global average.
It said the country has made strides to address mental health problems but said: “Our review highlights the overall prevalence of depressive symptoms and depression, which may long have been overlooked."
Prof Samir Al Adawi, of the department of behavioural medicine at Sultan Qaboos University in Oman, who was not involved in the study but is a recognised expert in the Gulf, said how mental health is discussed varies significantly between cultures and nationalities.
“The problem we have in the Gulf is the cross-cultural differences and how people articulate emotional distress," said Prof Al Adawi.
“Someone will say that I have physical complaints rather than emotional complaints. This is the major problem with any discussion around depression."
Daniel Bardsley
Scoreline
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Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
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MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League, Group B
Barcelona v Inter Milan
Camp Nou, Barcelona
Wednesday, 11pm (UAE)
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
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