They're back! NSYNC return with first new song in 20 years
NSYNC, who are made up of Justin Timberlake, JC Chasez, Lance Bass, Chris Kirkpatrick and Joey Fatone, have returned with their first song in 20 years, 'Better Place', a snippet of which appears in a trailer for forthcoming DreamWorks Animation film 'Trolls Band Together'.
2023-09-14 15:21
'This has worn my soul...' Fletcher reveals heartbreaking Lyme disease diagnosis
Singer songwriter Fletcher has been diagnosed with Lyme disease after becoming "increasingly ill" over the past couple of years.
2023-09-14 15:16
How homeowners are creating pet-specific stylish spaces
If you have a furry friend at home, it’s safe to say they are your best friend – and just as much a part of the family as anyone else. Indeed, according to home renovation and design platform, Houzz, more than three-in-five pet owners actively consider their pets when making decisions about home renovations, with designers on the platform noting a rise in pet-specific requests during home remodels. “Whether it’s considering the best materials or layouts for our furry friends, or even integrating bed nooks, built-in dog showers or clever feeding stations, pets are an important consideration when designing a home that works for all the family,” says Katie Greenhalf, director at KG Lifestyle & Interiors. “And as a result, people are keen to integrate items for them within their interior design scheme,” she enthuses. Bespoke storage is all the rage “For many people, storage is a key part of designing where they live – and considering your pet within this, is integral to a design that works for everyone in the home. Greenhalf continues: “We’ve had clients request bespoke cupboards in the kitchen for a pet’s food; easily accessible for pets but also hidden away to keep things clean and tidy, and tucked away from toddlers too; integrated dog showers into the utility room and creating dog beds in the under-stairs area.” Stylish sleep spaces are trending For proud pet owners, dedicated spaces for pets are no longer hidden away, but are now at the centre of the design. According to Houzz’s survey, a quarter of pet owners have created a built-in nook for their pet’s bed. “It isn’t as crazy as it might sound, as a dedicated nook can be positioned out of the way, rather than in the middle of the floor like standard pet beds and cushions,” explains Amanda Pollard, senior editor, Houzz. “It also allows owners to locate their pet’s bed in a kitchen or living space, rather than having them sleep in a separate space away from family life.” If you’re thinking about commissioning a bespoke piece of furniture for your living room, she suggests including an integrated sleep space for your dog – so it ties into the design of your room. “For furry friends of the smaller variety, such as cats or petite pooches, you can carve out an area in a sideboard for a little built-in bed,” suggests Pollard. A-list access is also top of the agenda And it’s not just sleep spaces being incorporated into design plans either – how pets can get in and out of your home is another important factor to consider. Especially with big swathes of glazing becoming increasingly popular, deciding where the humble old cat flap should go can be a slight hurdle. Dominic McKenzie, director at Dominic McKenzie Architects came up with an innovative idea to overcome this. “We recently designed a house with wall-to-wall glazing across the rear elevation, but the owners’ cat needed a way to get in and out. “We devised this special entrance through one of the cupboard doors in the kitchen, which leads onto a cat flap to the outside,” he explains. “We made the cat’s doorway house-shaped to give it a special character – the cat is very happy.” Homeowners are always very keen to make their pets’ lives better as part of a renovation – as well as everyone else in the family, says McKenzie. “There’s usually a dedicated area devoted to the pet – and often their ways in and out of the property are high on the list of priorities when planning the project!” But what if there isn’t any space on the ground floor for a cat flap? Leah Chisnall, interior design project manager for Absolute Project Management, shares a creative approach for cat access in these instances… “We’ve had two projects that included rear extensions with beautiful full-length glazing, and no space for a cat flap,” says Chisnall. “As a solution, we created cat flaps on the first floor (in a study and a bathroom) and included bespoke cat staircases from the first floor to the garden, for the family cats to use.” Feeding stations are increasingly fashionable And for those muddy paws and messy food bowls, innovative spaces for feeding and bathing are also high on the renovation wish list. According to Houzz’s survey, one in five homeowners have added a built-in pet area for bathing or feeding into their homes – and for Absolute Project Management, it’s a top request from recent clients. “The dog featured here is the very lovely Biscuit, belonging to one of our previous clients,” discloses Chisnall. “As part of their terrace house renovation, we converted a fairly snug ground-floor WC into a dog shower room. “We built a short tiled shower wall to enclose the space, fitted a stone (splash-proof) shelf for shampoo bottles and fur brushes, hooks for towels and dog leashes, and made sure the shower waste was large enough (with an adequate catcher) for the excess dog fur!” explains Chisnall. Cats aren’t missing out on dedicated spaces either, as Leah shares another project where her team created a beautiful cat litter room for a client. “We carved out a small space in an under-stairs cupboard with a hole in the hallway door for the cat to get in – and beautiful stone flooring for the litter box to go on,” says Chisnall. “It was a very luxe and practical solution to keep it out of sight!” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Sex Education season 4: How vintage finds help characters get their unique style Groundbreaking migraine treatment offers ‘new hope’ for patients ‘Millions of women and girls suffer severe pain’ during periods – research finds
2023-09-14 14:57
AstraZeneca advances UK clean heat and energy efficiencies with £100m commitment
CAMBRIDGE, United Kingdom--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep 14, 2023--
2023-09-14 14:28
Sex Education season 4: How vintage finds help characters get their unique style
Fans of Sex Education will have noticed something curious about the costumes on the hit Netflix show. The eclectic fashion of the cast of characters – including Eric (played by Ncuti Gatwa), Otis (Asa Butterfield), Maeve (Emma Mackey) and Jean (Gillian Anderson) – seems to have no specific era. Eighties prints mix and match with grungey Nineties-inspired looks, topped off with the occasional Noughties accent – and this is all purposeful. “It gives it it’s own individuality,” explains costume designer Daniella Pearman, who worked on the show for its fourth and final season, due to air September 21. “I do feel like people watching it can feel like: We can be anyone we want to be, we can dress how we want, we don’t all have to own the same snazzy phone or the same designer wardrobe, because everyone can be in their own little world like Moordale [School, where many of the characters were enrolled for seasons one to three].” With the new season comes new challenges for the characters and new locations – meaning tweaks were made to the costumes to help tell the story. At the end of season three, Moordale shut down – so now, many of the central characters have relocated to the progressive Cavendish Sixth Form College, which is eco-friendly, technologically advanced and on a much bigger scale than the Moordale students are used to. “From the beginning, we wanted them to look like their normal Moordale [selves], because it’s only been about eight weeks since the end of the third series,” Pearman, 42, says. “We wanted them to be walking into this new environment and looking like it’s all quite alien to them, that they’re these small fish in this massive pond.” The other big change – which was teased at the end of the last series – is Maeve moving to school in America. “It’s another different environment from Moordale – very much grown-up compared to Moordale. With her, we didn’t want to totally change her look. We wanted to mature it slightly, but still have the elements of Maeve. “So the leather jacket, the boots, the fishnet tights – but we had a new vintage leather jacket, new vintage cowboy boots that she might have picked up in a thrift store. Maybe she’s had influences from her new group of friends.” Eric’s style also follows his character arc as he makes a new group of friends, as does Aimee’s (played by Aimee Lou Wood), “As she’s opening herself up to new things, post everything that had happened to her in her past”, Pearman says. “She joins art class and becomes a photographer, and we got this brilliant, arty feel to her.” However, not everyone had a costume glow-up. “The only one I don’t think really changes dramatically is Otis – but why should he? He’s still trying to find himself, he’s pining for Maeve, he’s been looking after his newborn sister, looking after his mum – he’s not had time to evolve.” As Otis joins the new school and finds a rival sex therapist, Pearman did give him new chinos and put him in a shirt – but it’s small tweaks, rather than anything dramatic. “When people watch it, that enables the story. It’s not jarring, but shows we had fun developing those characters through their costume.” While Pearman – who got her start in the industry as a trainee on soap Coronation Street in 2004 – struggles to pick a favourite character to dress, she does mention fan favourite Eric, who’s know for bold looks on the show. “Eric is incredible, looks amazing in anything you put him in and is so collaborative and interested in it,” Pearman says – and this season, she wants viewers to look out for the “amazing vintage jackets” she’s dressed him in. Vintage is a running theme throughout the costumes, with Pearman saying: “We tried to be as sustainable as we could” – particularly as the new school puts the environment front and centre. “We did shop in vintage stores and charity shops, and stuff is hired from costume houses. Then there’s stuff that has to be bought, because you don’t have the choice or time to have stuff made. “In telly, things happen quite quickly, and there are last-minute changes. So we needed doubles for stunts or repeats of stuff – if someone’s having a drink spilled over them.” If you’re looking to get the vintage vibe of show, Pearman’s advice is to “invest time in it”. When shopping in secondhand stores, she says: “Don’t rush it and enjoy it – and think outside the box. If you see something you really like and you’re like, ‘Where will I wear it?’ Never think that, always find somewhere to wear it.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Groundbreaking migraine treatment offers ‘new hope’ for patients ‘Millions of women and girls suffer severe pain’ during periods – research finds Cats given vegan diets ‘have better health outcomes’, study claims
2023-09-14 14:17
‘Millions of women and girls suffer severe pain’ during periods – research finds
Almost half of people who menstruate experience period pain that is ‘severe’ – and 51% feel their symptoms aren’t taken seriously by healthcare professionals, new research has found. The survey, commissioned by health charity Wellbeing of Women, asked 3,000 women and girls in the UK about their experience. A massive 86% of those surveyed said they have had mental health problems in relation to their period. Many said they had ‘debilitating pain’, bleeding for six weeks and some waited decades for a diagnosis of a health condition, in the survey of 16 to 40-year-olds across all regions, backgrounds and ethnicities. Women and girls have been “dismissed for far too long”, said Professor Dame Lesley Regan, chair of Wellbeing of Women. “It’s simply unacceptable that anyone is expected to suffer with period symptoms that disrupt their lives.” Painful, irregular and heavy periods can be symptomatic of serious gynaecological conditions. Signs of the chronic condition endometriosis – when the endometrial lining grows outside of the uterus – include debilitating period pain. Similarly, adenomyosis – a condition where the uterus lining starts growing into the muscle of the womb wall – is normally identifiable by painful periods and heavy bleeding. Painful periods may also be a sign of fibroids, non-cancerous growths that develop in or around the womb. Despite around two in three women developing at least one fibroid at some point in their life, according to the NHS, only 38% of those surveyed knew about the condition. Awareness for adenomyosis was even lower, at only 10%. The research found only 14% have tried medication to reduce heavy bleeding, despite treatments, like tranexamic acid which reduces blood loss significantly, being available. Caroline Nokes, Conservative MP and chair of the Women and Equalities Committee which is conducting an inquiry into reproductive and gynaecological health, said: “There is a terrible phrase, ‘Well, it’s just a period, why are you making a fuss about that? Can’t you just get on with it?’ “Yet many women and girls are experiencing horrendous period symptoms and gynaecological conditions. “These are impacting the health of women and girls, and preventing them from taking part in work, school, sport and everyday life. “Endometriosis alone affects 1.5 million women in the UK and costs the economy £8.2 billion – now is the time for change.” Wellbeing of Women have launched a new campaign called ‘Just A Period’ – aiming to address the normalisation of worrying period symptoms. NHS GP Dr Aziza Sesay said: “In my clinic, I see teenagers who are anaemic, who miss several days of school, and they don’t realise that this isn’t normal. They’ll literally use the words, ‘It’s just a period’. “It’s vital that we raise awareness and education on periods. We need to stop the narrative that heavy and painful periods are something we have to live with. “I want women and girls to have the knowledge to advocate for themselves, to push for more investigations, and to push for a diagnosis and treatment so that they don’t have to live with debilitating symptoms.” Clare Nasir, Channel 5 weather broadcaster and host of BBC Under the Weather broadcast, was diagnosed with fibroids and had an myomectomy – an operation to remove them. “With fibroids, there’s the physical pain but also the mental pain, I was struggling to conceive but looked about five months pregnant. People would write into the show asking why I hadn’t declared my pregnancy. It took a toll on my mental health. “When I eventually had my myomectomy, it was life changing. I’m passionate about raising awareness so that other women don’t feel alone and or suffer unnecessarily.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Cats given vegan diets ‘have better health outcomes’, study claims Groundbreaking migraine treatment offers ‘new hope’ for patients Taylor Swift and Shakira lead the charge in slit dresses at the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards
2023-09-14 13:24
Stranded Cruise Ship Shows Risks of More Traffic in Remote Arctic
The grounding of a luxury cruise ship off the coast of Greenland on Monday highlighted the irony of
2023-09-14 12:58
Extreme weather may cost the global fashion industry $65 billion by 2030
Extreme heat and flooding are set to deal a massive blow to the global fashion industry, with four of the world's top garment producing countries at risk of missing out on $65 billion in earnings by 2030, according to a study from Cornell University and investment manager Schroders.
2023-09-14 12:56
Biden rules on clean cars face crucial test as Republican-led challenges go to appeals court
Efforts by the Biden administration to limit tailpipe pollution from automobiles — a major source of planet-warming emissions — face a crucial test as legal challenges brought by Republican-led states head to a federal appeals court
2023-09-14 12:27
Xylazine Has Spread to Every Region of the Country, Millennium Health Signals Report™ Shows
SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep 14, 2023--
2023-09-14 12:19
DeSantis warns against Covid-19 boosters for people under 65 contradicting CDC guidance
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' administration is advising people under the age of 65 against getting the new Covid-19 booster shots from Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna, contradicting federal health officials' guidance.
2023-09-14 11:57
Reports show new Indonesian industrial park on Borneo, feted as 'green,'' will be powered by coal
An industrial park being built in Indonesia on the tropical island of Borneo that has attracted billions of dollars in foreign and domestic investment is damaging the environment in an area where endangered species live and migrate
2023-09-14 11:46