All posts tagged: loss

Sherwood star Monica Dolan’s private life: from tragic family loss to love life

Sherwood star Monica Dolan’s private life: from tragic family loss to love life

Published by skeptic

The BBC’s critically acclaimed drama Sherwood returns to our screens on Sunday night with its highly-anticipated second season about a Nottinghamshire town divided by tensions caused by the 1980s miners’ strike.  Season two introduces a fresh batch of characters as two new families find themselves intertwined with the infamous Sparrows, a local crime clan who were at the centre of season one’s investigation into Gary Jackson’s murder.  BAFTA-winning actress Monica Dolan has joined the cast as crime family matriarch, Ann Branson. While viewers will recognise the 55-year-old for her roles in W1A, Mr Bates vs The Post Office, and Black Mirror, how much do you know about her life away from the cameras? Keep reading for all we know… WATCH: Will you be watching Sherwood season 2? Monica’s childhood and tragic family loss Monica was born in Middlesbrough to Irish parents. While her mum, from Enniscorthy, studied botany and biochemistry before becoming a research worker and then a teacher, her father was a chemical engineer from Dublin.  While Monica didn’t follow in her parents’ footsteps …

Ozempic: Weight Loss Drug or Supermodel Shortcut?

Ozempic: Weight Loss Drug or Supermodel Shortcut?

Published by skeptic

Ozempic, the weight loss medication that diminishes one’s sense of hunger, has been used as a simple and yet effective treatment for obesity. There is debate on whether the use of drugs to combat weight gain is healthy, or should be pushed back against by simply eating better and engaging in regular exercise. Now, though, a certain brand of Ozempic users is complicating the discussion. People, particularly the young, are starting to use Ozempic to carve out the ideal beach bod. But the risks to this aren’t benign, according to a report by the New York Post. Using Ozempic or other weight loss drugs without a proper prescription can be dangerous. Per the Post: “Drugs including Ozempic and Wegovy should only be used by people prescribed them for obesity or diabetes,” Stephen Powis — the national medical director of NHS England, the country’s publicly funded healthcare system — urged last week at a conference in Manchester. “I’m worried about reports that people are misusing them — they are not intended as a quick fix for people trying …

Children facing a ‘brutal’ loss of time and space for play at state schools | Access to green space

Children facing a ‘brutal’ loss of time and space for play at state schools | Access to green space

Published by skeptic

Children are facing a “brutal” loss of space and time for play in school, teachers, unions and academics have warned. A combination of factors is eating into the time children spend outside, and will have serious implications for their wellbeing and mental health. A Guardian analysis of the space available to state school children in England has revealed that thousands are attending schools with very little outside space, with government data showing that more than 300 schools have under 1,000 sq metres and at least 20 have no outside space. In nearly 1,000 schools, there is under 10 sq metres for each pupil. New and unpublished research from the UCL Institute of Education seen by the Guardian showed a continued downward trend in the amount of time children have for playtime in the wake of the Covid lockdowns, with the youngest losing the most time. The demands of the curriculum have increased, and continue to diminish time outside, while staffing shortages are reducing capacity to oversee playtime. Across England and Wales schools face difficult financial …

Bukayo Saka’s treatment after Iceland loss exposed familiar media failings | England

Bukayo Saka’s treatment after Iceland loss exposed familiar media failings | England

Published by skeptic

The response by sections of the English press to England’s 1-0 defeat against Iceland in their final Euro 2024 warm-up game raised some uncomfortable issues, not for the first time. The best that can be said is that at least they emerged before the tournament and not after, and hopefully there will be some lessons (re)learned. England played poorly in a disjointed performance that lacked sharpness. Iceland scored in the 12th minute and despite having most of Gareth Southgate’s likely first XI on the pitch, England missed chances and could not find a cutting edge. Late substitutions further muddied the waters. Across many newspaper back pages it was Bukayo Saka’s image used to convey disappointment at England’s loss — despite the player not having been on the pitch when the goal was conceded. Saka came on in the 64th minute. In some senses it is easy to see how this happened. The pictures of the Arsenal winger throwing a paper plane off the pitch – cue “Plane awful” headlines in the Daily Mail and Sun, …

Girls Aloud on public bullying, getting older and reuniting after the loss of Sarah Harding: ‘I keep expecting her to burst into the room’ | Girls Aloud

Girls Aloud on public bullying, getting older and reuniting after the loss of Sarah Harding: ‘I keep expecting her to burst into the room’ | Girls Aloud

Published by skeptic

Cheryl has a wind problem. We’re meeting at rehearsals for Girls Aloud’s comeback tour, standing in what will later become the Gift Wrapped Kitty Kat VIP Zone – essentially a pit next to the stage named after a ludicrous lyric in their equally ludicrous 2004 single Love Machine. It’s Monday, the tour starts on Friday, the band only performed a first onstage run-through yesterday and everyone is on edge. Cheryl (formerly Tweedy, but now professionally just Cheryl) is joined by her bandmates – Nadine Coyle, Nicola Roberts and Kimberley Walsh – on two lightly battered white leather sofas surrounded by empty Coke cans, dozens of sparkly high-heeled boots and, intriguingly, four motorbikes. It’s not nerves that are causing the wind issues, but an overzealous industrial fan being aimed inside a 10ft billowing red skirt being tested on stage by the band’s stylist Victoria Adcock. “Less wind,” Cheryl shouts between furtive puffs on a vape. No one listens. “LESS WIND!” she bellows again in her thick geordie accent. (Ironically, a week after we meet, on tour …

Oceans face ‘triple threat’ of extreme heat, oxygen loss and acidification | Oceans

Oceans face ‘triple threat’ of extreme heat, oxygen loss and acidification | Oceans

Published by skeptic

The world’s oceans are facing a “triple threat” of extreme heating, a loss of oxygen and acidification, with extreme conditions becoming far more intense in recent decades and placing enormous stress upon the planet’s panoply of marine life, new research has found. About a fifth of the world’s ocean surface is particularly vulnerable to the three threats hitting at once, spurred by human activity such as the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation, the study found. In the top 300 meters of affected ocean, these compound events now last three times longer and are six times more intense than they were in the early 1960s, the research states. The study’s lead author warned that the world’s oceans were already being pushed into an extreme new state because of the climate crisis. “The impacts of this have already been seen and felt,” said Joel Wong, a researcher at ETH Zurich, who cited the well-known example of the heat “blob” that has caused the die-off of marine life in the Pacific Ocean. “Intense extreme events like these …

Nigel Farage warns World Health Organization pandemic treaty will mean ‘sovereignty loss’ | Politics | News

Nigel Farage warns World Health Organization pandemic treaty will mean ‘sovereignty loss’ | Politics | News

Published by skeptic

Nigel Farage has warned that Britain faces a huge looming “loss of national sovereignty” that virtually no one is talking about. The former UK Independence Party and Brexit Party leader used his GB News show to alert viewers to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) upcoming pandemic treaty. Countries are expected to sign up to it at a conference at the end of May to prepare for “Disease X” – the name for a future pandemic that could be even more deadly than coronavirus. The WHO said it was a matter of when, not if, Disease X breaks and that the treaty was needed to ensure the world would be prepared for the next pandemic. “The pandemic agreement can bring all the experience, all the challenges that we have faced and all the solutions into one,” WHO boss Tedros Ghebreyesu said earlier this year. “That agreement can help us to prepare for the future in a better way.” But Mr Farage, the honorary president of Reform UK, warned that the treaty would give the WHO “the …

I struggled with hair loss but now my hair is stronger than ever – here’s how

I struggled with hair loss but now my hair is stronger than ever – here’s how

Published by skeptic

As a South Asian girl, you might think hair oiling is embedded into my beauty routine. This is partly true, but only when I head to Bangladesh for long summers. When I’m at home in London, not so much.  Over the years, my beauty regime has become rushed and I always look for simple and quick fixes. But when my hair started to fall out rapidly, I knew I had to change my routine.  I ditched shampoos with sulphate in and had endless blood tests, but I still had no idea why I was losing so much hair.  I made hair oiling a regular part of my routine Hair loss I hated seeing the clumps of loose strands on my hairbrush, so I turned to my ancestors for inspiration and decided to add hair oiling back to my haircare routine, in the hope of saving my strands.  Hair oiling My first foray into oiling was with coconut oil; my mum would massage the oil into my hair and scalp, always reminding me, “This is better …

Forest disappointed at appeal loss but time to move on, says Nuno

Forest disappointed at appeal loss but time to move on, says Nuno

Published by Sam

Nottingham Forest are disappointed after losing an appeal over a Premier League points deduction, but have moved on and are focussed on avoiding relegation, manager Nuno Espirito Santo said on Thursday. Forest received a four-point deduction for a breach of the league’s profit and sustainability rules in March, and were informed on Tuesday that their appeal was unsuccessful. This leaves them 17th in the table with 29 points, three above the relegation zone with two games remaining. “We were all disappointed. Because we conquered those points on the pitch we had the hope and the belief that they can give them back, but the decision is over,” Espirito Santo said. “This is the reality, this is what we have, this is what we have to face and let’s focus on ourselves because it’s in our hands. “Since the beginning, since the possibility of the points deduction we always face it the same way, what we have to focus on is ourselves, our job. We have already moved on.” A win at home to Chelsea on …

Ricki Lake, 55, proudly models the same dress she wore back in 2007 following 30-pound weight loss

Ricki Lake, 55, proudly models the same dress she wore back in 2007 following 30-pound weight loss

Published by skeptic

Celebrating a stunning 30-pound weight loss, Ricki Lake recently wowed her followers by stepping back into a chic white mini dress she first donned in 2007.  At 55, Ricki proudly showcased her timeless style and significant transformation on Instagram. The dress, worn initially at the world premiere of The Business of Being Born, looked just as fabulous on Ricki now as it did back then.  She paired it with classic black heels, mirroring her original look, and posed gracefully in a garden setting. “Oh, this old thing?? Just had it hanging around. Originally wore this dress to The Business of Being Born world premiere in 2007 and now here I am wearing it again in 2024!” she captioned the delightful post, exuding happiness and pride. © InstagramRicki Lake dons the same dress she wore back in 2007 This fashion flashback comes amid Ricki’s public clarification regarding her weight loss method. Recently, she addressed rumors suggesting she used Ozempic, Hollywood’s latest trend for shedding pounds.  The medication, known for suppressing appetite, has been linked to many …