Simon Pegg and Brian Cox support Hollywood strike at London rally
By Sarah Mills LONDON "Mission Impossible" star Simon Pegg and Brian Cox from "Succession" joined a rally in
2023-07-21 21:28
Ukrainian mayor visits Jersey to strengthen ties
The mayor of Mykolaiv told BBC Jersey how Russia launched missiles on his town killing two.
2023-07-21 19:21
Drones are showing us sharks like never before
Astonishing aerial footage reveals sharks are closer to us than we think – and usually leave us alone.
2023-07-21 07:21
Trump strategizes with Hill allies to go on offense against January 6 criminal probe
Donald Trump has reached out to his top allies on Capitol Hill to strategize how they can help defend him against potential criminal charges over his effort to overturn the 2020 election -- the latest example of Republicans racing behind the scenes to use their power and platforms to shield the former president without knowing details yet about the criminal investigation.
2023-07-19 05:29
Coleen Nolan becomes fourth sister in her family to be diagnosed with cancer
Coleen Nolan has revealed that she has been diagnosed with skin cancer, making her the fourth sister in the family pop group The Nolans to have the disease. The Loose Women star, 58, spoke about her diagnosis on the talk show on Monday (17 July) and said she was “sick of cancer” in her family. Three of Nolan’s sisters have been diagnosed with the illness over the years. In 2013, Bernie died of breast cancer at the age of 52, while Linda announced this year that her cancer has spread to her brain. A third sister, Anne, has undergone successful treatment for cancer twice and is currently in remission. However, she has previously spoken out about her fears that it will return. Coleen told ITV viewers that the skin cancer was only caught by chance after she went to a dermatologist for a different problem. The doctor said that the patch was a common skin cancer, basal cell carcinoma, she recalled. “I went back in and he was very good and he said, ‘Look, it’s nothing to worry about. It is actually a cancer that doesn’t necessarily spread, but you do need to treat it’,” she recalled. She is now undergoing treatment using chemo cream, with the option of surgery if it does not work. Coleen said her “first instinct” after receiving the diagnosis was to “laugh hysterically”. “I just thought that’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard anybody say,” she continued. “I’m sick of cancer and also, my first instinct was, I’m not telling anybody in my family because this that I’ve got at the moment seems nothing compared to what my sisters have been through.” She also reflected on Linda’s current condition. In March, Linda shared the news that she was about to start chemotherapy again, and moved into her sister Denise’s home the following month to prepare for “the inevitable”. “What Linda is going through, where it has gone to her brain and she’s having chemo,” Coleen said. “It just seemed so pathetic for some reason to go back and go, ‘Oh yeah, I’ve got a carcinoma’.” After the show, Linda posted on Twitter that she was “very proud” of her younger sister. “She acted on her instincts, found something amiss and got it checked,” the 64-year-old singer wrote. “If you spot something out of the ordinary for you, PLEASE get it checked. Don’t be frightened.” Coleen has previously said she considered undergoing a double mastectomy after Linda and Anne’s diagnoses of breast cancer. She has also had a breast cancer scare in 2009, while competing on Dancing On Ice – however, the lump in her breast at the time turned out to be an infected gland. She told The Mirror: “I’ve been lying in bed at night, looking down at my breasts and thinking, ‘Am I just walking around with two timebombs here?’ If that’s a possibility, maybe I need to get rid of them.” The TV personality said she believes the cancer affecting her sisters “could be down to a rogue gene from my dad’s side of the family”. Some forms of cancer can run in families, with the risk of developing breast cancer, bowel cancer or ovarian cancer increasing if close relatives have previously developed the conditions. However, it does not mean that a person will definitely have cancer if their close relatives have it. According to the NHS, it is estimated that between three and 10 in every 100 cancers are associated with an inherited faulty gene. The Nolans comprised Coleen, Linda, Denise, Bernie and Maureen Nolan. They are one of the world’s biggest selling girl groups and their international hits include “I’m in the Mood for Dancing”, “Gotta Pull Myself Together”, and “Chemistry”. Read More Sorry lads, we just can’t afford any more reckless, middle-aged adventurers Cruise line apologises after passengers witness dozens of pilot whales being slaughtered Woman’s response to Tinder match asking her to go on an ice cream date sparks debate These are the phrases working mums want to stop hearing – survey Montana Brown opens up about struggle to conceive before son’s birth How to keep your pet safe and healthy during a heatwave
2023-07-18 23:53
Lindsay Lohan gives birth to her first child
Lindsay Lohan has given birth to her first child, a son named Luai. On Monday 17 July, Page Six first reported that a representative for Lohan, 37, had confirmed the Freaky Friday star and her husband Bader Shammas had welcomed their first child together. In a statement to The Independent, a representative for Lohan said: “Lindsay Lohan and her financier husband, Bader Shammas, welcomed a beautiful, healthy son named Luai. The family is over the moon in love.” According to Page Six, Lohan and Shammas’ son was born in Dubai, where the couple lives. The exact date of the baby’s birth is currently unknown. As for the name the couple chose for their son, the baby’s name, which is a popular Arabic name for boys, means strong and steady, or shield or protector. The baby news comes after Lohan celebrated her son’s impending arrival with a recent look at the infant’s beach-themed nursery. In photos shared this week, the actress showed off the nursery, which included a wall painted with a beach mural and a nautical-themed crib. Lohan first announced that she was expecting her first child in March, when she shared a photo of a “coming soon” onesie. “We are blessed and excited,” she wrote in the caption. In April, Lohan shared photos from her baby shower, which was attended by friends and family. “Good times. So grateful for all of the wonderful people in my life,” she captioned the photos. Lohan opened up about becoming a mother during an interview with Allure in June, where she revealed that she couldn’t wait to become a parent. “I can’t wait to see what the feeling is and what it’s like to just be a mom,” Lohan said. “Happy tears. That’s just who I am. Though now, it’s probably baby emotion. It’s overwhelming in a good way.” The actress announced her engagement to financier Shammas in November 2021. In June 2022, Lohan revealed that she and Shammas had exchanged vows when she referred to her partner as her “husband” on Instagram. Read More Pregnant Lindsay Lohan reveals she turned to Jamie Lee Curtis for parenting advice Jamie Lee Curtis shares sweet tribute to pregnant ‘film daughter’ Lindsay Lohan Lindsay Lohan gives birth to her first child Today show star Jill Martin diagnosed with breast cancer Melanie Skyes reveals she has been diagnosed with Tourette’s syndrome
2023-07-18 14:47
Nappy changes and tantrums over Michael Gove: I took my one-year-old to a music festival
It’s just after 9pm and lilac hues have spread across Dorset skies, shadows extending over a panorama of marquee tops. Perfect conditions for the first night of End of the Road, whose Friday headliners – Black Midi, Battles and Fleet Foxes among them – are minutes away from stepping on stage. Yet, rather than slipping through the masses to grab a good spot, I’ve been back at my tent for an hour already. Having unfolded a stool in the last of the sun, simmering lentils and a mug full of boxed cab-sav for company, my one-year-old daughter, Nancy, has finally nodded off in the tent, unaware of earlier negotiations between her parents. After an afternoon watching bands from a lower-decibel distance as a family, it’s my wife who’s out tonight, enjoying her child-free break for freedom. Although, with the Pixies – a band beloved since teen years but never seen live – top billing on Saturday night, I felt confident in my call as “White Winter Hymnal” carried on the breeze. We’re a day into our first festival as a family of three, an experience already proving quite a journey. As a sometimes music journalist, I’d covered events across Europe over the past decade, adept at negotiating stage splits, balancing reporting duties and life-affirming experiences with willing accomplices. Of these, End of the Road has remained a regular fixture, an informal end-of-summer meet-up with industry colleagues and friends – as well as my chosen stag-do destination. With a one-year-old in tow, this year would mark a stark contrast. From the freshly purchased family-sized tent – the subject of substantial research and investment, and an attempt to win over a camping-averse wife – to the travel cot, buggy, strings of fairy lighting, endless layers, toys and first-aid trappings for every eventuality, the baggage was endless. Shoulders ablaze, I’d carried it all in as my wife kept our daughter entertained. Stepping into my role as responsible dad, I’d practised the tent’s set-up at home prior to arrival and, with a tangible sense of optimism about the weekend ahead, started separating pegs from poles. Yet, with the tent almost up, something unsettled me. What was that smell? Unzipping the bedroom it hit me. My earlier garden practice run had provided the perfect sheltered toilet for a visiting fox –  evidence of which no amount of wet-wipe scrubbing could remove, resulting in a showdown with the reluctant camper and a smell that would accent a weekend in which expectations were continuously lowered. After my wife crashed back in on Friday night, earlier than anticipated and hamstrung by a fast-developing cold, we wondered if we were up to the challenge. Nancy was having a nice time, happy tracking insects in the long grass or studiously inspecting the contents of her snack bag. But could this equally have been any other field? Had we been too exhausted and distracted to embrace the experience? By contrast, our camping companions had brought their five-year-old, who enthusiastically shared stories about favourite bands and the wicker dragonfly he’d crafted, as his dad talked about the surprise sets he’d happened upon the previous night. Perhaps we’d just taken all of this on too soon. The next morning, I nudged Nancy’s buggy around the site, stopping at the kids’ area, where a neckerchiefed uke player offered up nursery rhymes with instruments for children, which were seized upon with pleasure. Various childless friends were never far away, entertaining our daughter in bursts. Later, after reuniting with my wife, a highlight was bobbing to Los Bitchos’ buoyant afternoon performance with Nancy held aloft, as was a brief glimpse of Jockstrap packing out a small stage in the woods. Yet other moments – flailing nappy changes amid aghast onlookers, straying too close to the stage with a buggy as the light faded and the crowd surged – presented a sharp learning curve. Still feeling under the weather, my wife headed back to the tent with Nancy as the Pixies arrived, Frank Black’s substantial presence now underscored by a pang of guilt. After checking in and being signed off to stay out, I’d joined an excitable crowd for an unannounced late-night set at the Tipi stage, which, after turning out to be one of the tiny handful of bands I’d already seen that day – again sounded another minor chord on my tiny violin. As the skies cleared, we’d discovered corners along the way we’d otherwise never have seen and met a similarly dazed yet determined community of parents With my wife’s health deteriorating further overnight – diminishing her perception of fox piss, at least – we made the call to leave on Sunday morning and I hauled everything back to the car. On the long drive home, and hours before Covid would be confirmed, it had to be asked: had this been fun for anyone concerned? Was this festival too aptly named for a new dad trying to reconcile past and present lives? This all happened in the summer of 2022 and, unfazed, we tried again this year – albeit at the even smaller scale and decidedly family-friendly Kite Festival in Oxfordshire. While Nancy’s advanced age presented new challenges – tentative first steps now a confident swagger – her inquisitiveness also marked her out as the perfect festival companion. Expectations now firmly in check, we let ourselves be led by circumstance and proximity, stopping for whatever drew the eye rather than dashing from act to act, allowing us to slow down and see the world through her eyes. Occasionally we tag-teamed the lineup, each picking a couple of acts to witness unhindered by short attention spans (my wife took former PM John Major’s packed-out talk in the big top, I took Suede). Under the hot sun, our meeting point at the shaded children’s area also helped keep Nancy from turning pink in the sun. Clapping furiously at the end of shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves’s morning debate, her grasp on Labour’s manifesto pledges seems better than most – although this mimicry of crowd behaviour proves an endearing feature at later events, too. An uncontrollable tantrum during Michael Gove’s appearance at a panel discussion saw us quickly extract ourselves from the tent, drawing smiles from an audience impressed by the effectiveness of her heckle. Further priceless memories included dancing together at Candi Staton’s sundown set, Nancy with a brioche in each hand – ear defenders askew – visibly finding her feet. The following day the skies suddenly broke, with an electrical storm closing all stages, sending Birkenstock-clad families sprinting for cover. The one attendee thrilled by it all was Nancy, who careered around cackling as security attempted to keep punters from the marquee’s lightning-conducting metal poles. As the skies cleared, we’d discovered corners along the way we’d otherwise never have seen and met a similarly dazed yet determined community of parents. We still hadn’t nailed the performative kids-at-festivals thing – there was no trolley adorned with decoration or whimsical outfits – but felt comfortable that we’d struck the right balance, fulfilled by a shared experience led by the spontaneity of a child’s impulses. It marked a shift from any naive attempt to carry on with our lives as normal. An alternative, of course, is to leave your family at home. A couple of weeks ago I joined 250,000 others at Glastonbury, my own spontaneity given breathing space once more. Thrilling, yes, but also a weekend that at times left me seeking my small festival companion among the other attendees. I was temporarily overcome watching a daughter on the shoulders of her father as he introduced her to a favourite band, excitedly explaining each musician’s role. “How old? I’ve got one a similar age,” was shared with various others. Yet it was also at Glastonbury, as the temperature nudged into the thirties, that I spotted another dad – fixed grin but dead behind the eyes – pushing three irritable kids in a trolley up a shadeless slope. I nod my solidarity, before skipping off to the bar – relieved, this time, that’s not me. Bumping into Joe Goddard from Hot Chip, whose bandmates collectively call their kids the Micro Chips, he says that of all the children he knows, it’s those who have always been dragged to festivals who have proved the most rounded. Something that resonates with me as the Glastonbury hangover subsides and – reunited with my family – I start looking forward to carving out new shared experiences in crowded fields once more. Read More The earthy magic and lawless energy of being a child at Glastonbury festival Too cool to love these acts 10 years ago? This year’s Glastonbury is for you Music festivals have saved me so many times Demi Lovato says she still struggles with vision, hearing impairment after overdose Marina Diamandis says she has been diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome Should I keep my windows closed or open during a heatwave?
2023-07-16 13:51
Winnipeg can remove blockade over indigenous murders, court rules
Protesters blocked the dump after officials said they would not search for the remains of two murdered women.
2023-07-15 06:56
Biden administration announces $39 billion in student debt relief following administrative fixes
The Biden administration announced Friday that 804,000 borrowers will have their student debt wiped away, totaling $39 billion worth of debt, in the coming weeks due to fixes that more accurately count qualified monthly payments under existing income-driven repayment plans.
2023-07-15 05:23
Manchin won't back Biden's Labor secretary nominee
Julie Su, President Joe Biden's pick to be the next Labor secretary whose nomination has been stalled for months, now faces opposition from a key Democrat: Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia.
2023-07-14 04:45
Former Manson family member Leslie Van Houten released from California prison, official says
Leslie Van Houten, a former Charles Manson follower and convicted murderer, was released from a California prison on Tuesday, a prison spokesperson told CNN.
2023-07-12 05:26
Is Bollywood a man’s world?
Researchers try to quantify just how severe the stranglehold of patriarchy on Hindi cinema is.
2023-07-12 05:19