thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-03-07--British Woman, 23, Found 'Safe And Well' At Eco-Retreat After Going Missing For Eight Days In Fiji

Lydia O'Sullivan, who has been missing in Fiji for 8 days. PA
A British woman missing for eight days has been found “safe and well” at an eco-retreat on the south Pacific island nation of Fiji.
Lydia O’Sullivan, 23, had not been seen or heard from for eight days, sparking a police search in the country.
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But it emerged on Saturday morning that O’Sullivan, who is from Whitehaven, Cumbria and had been living and working in Auckland, New Zealand, had been found at a mountain eco-retreat, The Mirror reported.
Her sister wrote on Facebook: “We are absolutely elated that Lydia O’Sullivan has been found safe and well on an eco–retreat in the Fijian mountains.
“My mother has just spoken to her and she is safe and well oblivious to the world search party looking for her.
“We would like to thank the police forces in Fiji and England for there hard work and dedication to find Lydia.
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“But mostly we would like as a family to thank our amazing friends and everyone that has sent well wishes and offers for help.
“The Fijian people have been so kind. They all went the extra mile to help find Lydia.”
Namosi Eco Retreat also posted a picture of Lydia at a village after news of the search reached the remote retreat.
It said: “A HUGE thank you to Lydia for staying with us this week. The village kids miss you already! Safe travels and god bless.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-03-07--Sherry Pie Disqualified From RuPaul’s Drag Race Following Catfishing Allegations

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Joey Gugliemelli, aka Sherry Pie, has been disqualified from the current series of RuPaul’s Drag Race following multiple “catfish” allegations.
The drag star is alleged to have posed as a casting director asking five men to perform embarrassing things on camera under the guise of an audition.
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One of the accusers, Ben Shimkus, said he was asked to perform things that were “particularly sexual and awkward”, while another man, Josh Lillyman, told Buzzfeed News he had agreed to record himself performing a sex act, believing he was trying out for a role in a show.
Sherry Pie Scott Roth/Invision/AP
Gugliemelli appears in season 12 of RuPaul’s Drag Race, which kicked off last weekend, but has now been disqualified.
A statement on behalf of network VH1 and production company World Of Wonder said: “In light of recent developments and Sherry Pie’s statement, Sherry Pie has been disqualified from RuPaul’s Drag Race.
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“Out of respect for the hard work of the other queens, VH1 will air the season as planned.
“Sherry will not appear in the grand finale scheduled to be filmed later this spring.”
“In light of recent developments and Sherry Pie’s statement, Sherry Pie has been disqualified from RuPaul’s Drag Race.... — RuPaul's Drag Race (@RuPaulsDragRace) March 6, 2020
...Out of respect for the hard work of the other queens, VH1 will air the season as planned.
Sherry will not appear in the grand finale scheduled to be filmed later this spring.” – spokesperson for VH1 and World of Wonder — RuPaul's Drag Race (@RuPaulsDragRace) March 6, 2020
The season premiered on Netflix UK last weekend, but Gugliemelli will not appear in the grand finale, which is due to be filmed in the coming weeks.
After the catfishing allegations came to light, the 27-year-old issued a statement apologising for his behaviour.
Rock M. Sakura, from left, Gigi Goode, Nicky Doll, Crystal Methyd, Jaida Essence Hall, Sherry Pie, Widow Von'Du, Aiden Zhane, Dahlia Sin, Brita Filter, Heidi N. Closet, Jackie Cox, and Jan Sport participate in a "RuPaul's Drag Race" season 12 special event at ViacomCBS - TRL Studios on Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2020, in New York. (Photo by Scott Roth/Invision/AP) Scott Roth/Invision/AP
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“I want to start by saying how sorry I am that I caused such trauma and pain.
“I know that the pain and hurt that I have caused will never go away and I know that what I did was wrong and truly cruel.
“Until being on RuPaul’s Drag Race, I never really understood how much my mental health and taking care of things meant.
“I learned on that show how important ‘loving yourself’ is and I don’t think I have ever loved myself. I have been seeking help and receiving treatment since coming back to NYC. I truly apologise to everyone I have hurt with my actions.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-03-07--The African Students Stuck In Wuhan

The African Students Stuck In Wuhan

The African Students Stuck In Wuhan
African students in Wuhan, China have been stuck indoors for over a month as the area is on lock down to contain the Coronavirus spread. Nine African countries including South Africa, Mauritania and Morocco have evacuated, or have said they will evacuate so far. But students from other African countries have said they feel left behind and sad their country has not brought them home.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-03-07--Thousands Of Free-To-Use ATMs Lost In Two Years, Stranding Vulnerable In 'Cash Deserts'

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The decline of free-to-use cash machines could leave vulnerable people stranded with no easy way to access their money, campaigners have warned.
Data compiled by MP Layla Moran and shared with HuffPost UK show more than 7,600 free ATMs had vanished from our streets in the two years up to October 2019 – and latest figures by consumer group Which? suggest the figure has reached around 9,500.
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Broken down by parliamentary constituency, Moran’s data shows the the worst-hit areas are Glasgow North West, where more than 40% have been lost, and Birmingham Hall Green, which saw a 38% decline.
Oxford West MP Moran said: “I am deeply concerned about the trend of cash-points closing in our communities. As my Lib Dem colleague Jane Dodds has highlighted in Brecon in Wales, some people in rural communities now need to drive huge distances to access their money.
“What about those who cannot drive like the elderly, the young or disabled? Combine this with woeful local transport and I worry about the potential of seeing large parts of the country becoming cash deserts.”
Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran Aaron Chown - PA Images via Getty Images
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In 2017 there were a total of 54,833 free-to-use cashpoints across the country, and by October 2019 there were 47,159 – a total of 7,674 lost.
About 150 pay-to-use cashpoints were lost during the same period.
Of the UK’s 650 constituencies, just 24 have seen either no change, or an increase, in their availability of free ATMs.
A view of a Barclays Bank ATM machines in central London. (Photo by Dinendra Haria/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images) SOPA Images via Getty Images
Free ATM Statistics by Ned on Scribd
Which? is urging newly-appointed chancellor Rishi Sunak to use his first budget next week to protect the UK’s access to cash, as it says the industry’s efforts to fix the situation are doomed to fail.
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The organisation renewed its plea after Link – the UK’s largest cashpoint network – issued a stark warning that the free cash system will collapse within just two years without government intervention.
The “Request an ATM” scheme, designed to allow local communities across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to apply for funding for a cash machine.
But it has received just 274 requests to date, and Which? believes the figure shows a “lacklustre, reactive approach taken by the industry to identify the areas that are in most severe need of help”.
Experts say the only way to safeguard cash, in a society in which contactless and card payments are skyrocketing, is to ensure legislation is developed to protect cash for as long as people rely on it.
Gareth Shaw, head of money at Which?, said: “The sharp decline in ATMs shows how the UK’s cash system is on the brink of collapse.
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“This reduction, combined with swingeing cuts to bank branches across the UK, means millions of people now face being cut off from the cash they need to pay for vital goods and services.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-03-07--Why Are People Faking Coronavirus Stories?

Misinformation about coronavirus – from the perpetuation of racist stereotypes about its origin to the effectiveness of face-masks – has been evident online almost since the moment the first story broke.
Theories about bat soup, a global pharmaceutical industry conspiracy, and mass graves have all made an appearance, but as the threat of the little-understood virus slips closer, the targets for disinformation are becoming increasingly domestic.
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Manchester Evening News reported on Wednesday that they had been contacted by a number of worried parents who believed they had seen articles about an outbreak at their child’s school.
According to the MEN, at least four fake articles have been created and shared online, leaving parents with serious concerns about the safety of their children.
Distorting facts and creating false information can seriously hamper efforts to deal with an outbreak. Toby Melville / Reuters
An irresponsible hoax is being spread on social media about a case of Coronavirus being confirmed in a high school in #Didbsury in the form of a fake @MENnewsdesk article. This is *NOT* true. Please do not share the fake news. — John Leech (@johnleechmcr) March 3, 2020
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On the basis of plummeting disinfectant supplies in high street shops and a huge drop in demand for air travel alone, it’s clear that we are becoming increasingly anxious about the outbreak – and misinformation is not helping.
But what motivates someone to actively spread fake news?
Professor Ken Rotenberg, who teaches in the University of Keele’s psychology department and has studied the notion of trust for 40 years, explained that while there were clear theories about why people would spread misinformation as part of a scam or a conspiracy theory, there was less evidence when it came to relatively mundane hoaxes such as a school infection.
“Scammers put false information out there because they want to make money from it, but why people create these fake stories with no obvious advantage we can’t be sure,” Rotenberg explained.
South Korean soldiers in protective gear sanitise a street at a shopping district in Seoul, South Korea. Kim Hong-Ji / Reuters
“The first thing I would suggest is that it’s to do with gaining notoriety, getting likes, getting retweets – they get people focusing on whatever they said,” he added.
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“We could say that it’s maybe part of the social reward system, that person is conveying information that is needed, information that could control somebody.”
The reason we often flock to articles that confirm our anxieties, Rotenberg said, is down to social evolution – as a species we are constantly looking for impending danger.
Rotenberg refers to one of the most famous experiments in social psychology – known as the face-in-the-crowd experiment – which showed that humans were much more efficient at picking out a frown in a crowd of smiling faces, than a smile amid a group of frowns.
This effect is attributed to this human alertness to danger, and so it’s possible that when we see an article that signals danger, whether the article is trustworthy or not, we pay attention for the sake of our own survival.
“The first thing I would suggest is that it’s to do with gaining notoriety, getting likes, getting retweets” - Professor Ken Rotenberg, who teaches in the University of Keele
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“Almost all news is negative, because that’s what news is in some way – to tell us what we’re in danger of,” Rotenberg added. “That reaction really compounds the situation.”
A fake article about a school closure is one thing, but there are also conspiracy theories around government schemes, biological warfare, and poisonous vaccinations – all of which, in relation to Covid-19, have been shared both on mainstream websites and niche forums.
This phenomenon around serious public health emergencies such as coronavirus is nothing new. Zika, Ebola and Aids were all, and in some circles continue to be, the subject of conspiracy theories.
But the way we use the internet has allowed them to go mainstream, fast.
Dr Daniel Jolley, a chartered psychiatrist and senior psychology lecturer at Northumbria University, specialises in studying conspiracy theories: why people believe them, and their consequences.
“We know that people want to make sense of chaotic events – in essence, put blame on a set of conspirators to try and understand what’s happening,” Jolley explained.
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“The virus outbreak can breed uncertainty and a sense of threat, so fake news and conspiracy theories can be seen to be a coping mechanism.”
“The virus outbreak can breed uncertainty and a sense of threat, so fake news and conspiracy theories can be seen to be a coping mechanism” - Dr Daniel Jolley, Northumbria University
In other words, popular conspiracy theories such as coronavirus being manufactured by the pharmaceutical industry are simply a way of reframing a situation – applying a narrative to something chaotic and unpredictable, and ultimately finding someone to blame.
Those sharing conspiracy theories more often than not believe in them, Jolley explained. They’re believed because they affirm something about that person’s worldview, whether it’s a distrust of the government, medical professionals, or both.
“[Sharing conspiracy theories] also could be something to do with the fact that it’s relevant to their interests,” Jolley said. “So maybe they are distrustful of governments, of those in power, and they value the underdog.
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“When they craft this information, it’s potentially not done out of harm in their minds, but trying to affirm their world view. They often feel anger towards the conspirators, and they want to get back at them.
“On the other hand, there’s a suggestion that there’s more intent behind it. Maybe they’re doing it for some other game or self interest, which is hard to theorise about because we haven’t really looked at it like that.”
For those who believe in them or share them, conspiracy theories can impose an apparent order on a situation that seems unmanageable – but they also add another layer to the influx of information that appears when a story like coronavirus goes global.
Disinformation spreads quickly and can have destructive consequences, both for a society’s sense of trust in health professionals and for a population’s physical health. For example, myths perpetuated by “alternative” health communities include a “miracle” cure for coronavirus – which turned out to be drinking a bleach solution that can cause serious liver failure.
“We do know from research elsewhere that those who peddle alternative, natural remedies also indulge in conspiracy theories and simply do not believe in modern science – it’s one way for them to further their agenda,” said Santosh Vijaykumar, a health and risk communication scientist based in Northumbria University’s psychology department.
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“When you look at other, seemingly softer, types of misinformation, ascribing motives will require talking to the creators who are tough to identify because encrypted platforms where misinformation spreads quickly don’t allow us that luxury yet.
“As such, it’s a bit tough to ascribe a uniform, higher level motive to creators of misinformation simply because it could really vary from one message to the other. But it must be said that those who intentionally spread misinformation while being aware of its threat to the common people are a serious risk to society especially in times like this.”
“Those who intentionally spread misinformation while being aware of its threat to the common people are a serious risk to society” - Santosh Vijaykumar, Northumbria University
While it’s hard to work out exactly who is spreading misinformation, it’s evident that distorting facts and creating false information can seriously hamper efforts to deal with an outbreak like Covid-19.
The problem has become so insidious that the World Health Organisation (WHO) have even been forced to compile its own Myth Busters webpage, which deals with some of the false claims made about the virus.
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“Misinformation can affect communities in many different ways but I’ll list three that come to mind,” said Vijaykumar.
“One, they can cause confusion in the minds of community members about what personal protection measures to take and which ones to avoid simply because they’ll be hearing different things from different places.
“Two, it could adversely affect the trust that community places in health institutions who might be involved in the response.
“Three, the decline of trust could be especially problematic as it would mean that the possibility of community members conforming to those actions prescribed by health agencies or the government might be lowered.”
Although it has dominated headlines, information from the government about coronavirus remains limited – there’s a daily update about the number of cases and now, their geographic locations – but there’s a palpable sense of urgency to know more: exactly who, when, and where.
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-03-07--From The Stranger To Love Is Blind: Netflix's 10 Best Originals Of 2020 (So Far)

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In a year of few silver linings, we’re happy to say that in 2020, Netflix has been there with a veritable smorgasbord of new original series and films to keep us entertained at a time when we’ve never needed it more.
Since January, the streaming giant has given us A-list documentaries, cringe-heavy teen dramas and one of the most bizarre reality TV concepts we think we’ve ever heard of – and that’s without even delving into the decapitated alpaca and the cartoon horse contemplating his existence.
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With a few months left of 2020, there are still a few must-watch picks to come, including the much-awaited fourth series of The Crown, Ryan Murphy’s latest Ratched and Katherine Ryan’s debut sitcom The Duchess, which could well be making our list in the not-too-distant future.
For now, though, here are our top 10 favourites from Netflix’s original offerings so far this year...
10. The Stranger
Netflix
Released: 30 January
Tell us about it: Netflix first branched out into ITV-esque mystery dramas in 2018 with Safe, but it’s that show’s successor The Stranger that really made waves upon its release this year.
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Full of twists and turns, the crime thriller features a cast including Siobhan Finneran, Richard Armitage and Jennifer Saunders (in the Ab Fab star’s first “dramatic” role) and storylines involving decapitated alpacas, faked pregnancies and teenage drug misuse. And that’s literally just episode one.
The whole thing is over-the-top and verges on silly, particularly towards the end of the 10 episodes, but if borderline-ridiculous British dramas packed with plot twists that come so thick and fast they make your head spin are your thing, then The Stranger is definitely worth a stream.
Best time to watch: If you need a new drama to watch that’s equal parts British grit and extreme camp.
9. Circus Of Books
Netflix
Released: 22 April
Tell us about it: Come for the scandal, stay for the actually-quite-moving story. Circus Of Books tells the unusual tale of the Masons, a fairly regular nondescript elderly couple who ended up becoming, in their own words, “probably the biggest distributor of hardcore gay films in the United States”.
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The documentary – helmed lovingly by their daughter – documents how, when down on their luck, they ended up acquiring the titular book and pornography shop, and helping it become an institution for gay men in West Hollywood in the 1980s.
It’s an unbelievable story, but one that’s full of more heart than you might expect, to the point we actually found ourselves blubbing during those poignant final moments.
Best time to watch: When you need some cheering up, maybe.
8. Love Is Blind
Netflix
Released: 13 February
Tell us about it: We still can’t quite believe this show even happened, in all honesty. One of Netflix’s most ambitious originals to date, Love Is Blind saw them venture into the world of dating shows, with a group of singles meeting through “pods”, without actually being able to see one another.
Kind of a The-Circle-meets-Love-Island situation, right?
Well... not quite.
You see, the contestants are only allowed to meet one another once they become engaged, which happens at an alarmingly fast rate. From there, they have a few weeks to spend time together one-on-one, before walking down the aisle. Once hitched, they then have to work out if they want to spend the rest of their lives with someone they’ve only just met.
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Totally deranged yet completely addictive, Love Is Blind is impossible to look away from, and makes for compulsive viewing as the couples plan their big days, meet each other’s families and, of course, discover more about each other as the days rolled on.
Best time to watch: When you’ve got a hankering for some trashy TV that you just can’t ignore anymore.
7. Selling Sunset
Netflix
Released: 22 May (season two) and 7 August (season three)
Tell us about it: Listen, we’ve been hooked on Selling Sunset since the first season arrived in 2019 with little fanfare, so we’re glad that 2020 has been the year the rest of the world finally caught up.
This year gifted us not one but two new series of the show that mixes high drama with sun-drenched property porn in perfect measure.
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At just eight episodes long, each season is the perfect length for binging, and once it’s all over the chances are you’ll want to put it straight back to the beginning, to look around all those insane houses, if nothing else.
Best time to watch: When the sight of the same four walls is really starting to get you down.
6. RuPaul’s Drag Race
Logo TV/World Of Wonder/VH1
Released: 29 February, with new episodes every week
Tell us about it: After of the strongest launch episodes in recent memory, kicking things off with both a fashion and music challenge, Drag Race hit a bit of a bump in the road, with scandal surrounding contestant Sherry Pie and arguments between the queens that made some viewers a little uncomfortable.
Still, while some opined that this could have derailed the entire series, as the weeks rolled on season 12 ended up being our favourite run of Drag Race in recent memory.
True, Snatch Game might not have been one for the Drag Race herstory books, but the show more than made up for it with the iconic Madonna: The Unauthorised Rusical group number and the hilarious political debate challenge.
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And it says a lot that a winner as strong and deserving as Jaida Essence Hall had some stiff competition right until that very last lip sync... even if we’ll never quite get over RuPaul’s choice to wear a facekini in the finale.
Best time to watch: When you’re in need of some laughs, some surprises and, of course, some fabulousness.
5. Hollywood
Netflix
Released: 1 May
Tell us about it: Hollywood marked TV super-producer Ryan Murphy’s first official collaboration with Netflix after signing a multi-million-dollar deal with them in 2019. And with this miniseries, he made sure his arrival was a big one.
Arriving at a time when lockdown fatigue was really starting to sink in, Hollywood provided some much-needed escapism, not just throwing it back to those gorgeous and glamorous days of old Hollywood, but correcting some of the wrongs that were made back in the day, too.
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In this reimagining of cinema history, fictional characters rub shoulders with real-life figures from the film industry, in what turns out to be a rose-tinted version of “what could have been”, complete with an out Rock Hudson walking the red carpet with his boyfriend and a Black woman taking home Best Actress at the Oscars in the 1940s.
It was anything but subtle and at times verged on cheesy, but as we wrote at the time: “We can’t help but feel that a show as lavish, sunshine-soaked and expensive-looking as Hollywood has come along at just the right time.”
Best time to watch: When you’ve worked your way through all of Ryan Murphy’s other shows on Netflix.
4. Tiger King
Netflix
Released: 20 March
Tell us about it: Undoubtedly the wildest thing to debut on Netflix in 2020, the seven-part documentary Tiger King centres on the weird and wonderful world of big cat conservation.
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The subtitle “Murder, Mayhem and Madness” sums things up pretty succinctly, with polygamy, drugs, murder-for-hire plots and, of course, tigers forming a key part of the action.
Netflix has been killing it with their factual shows in 2020, but none as much as Tiger King has had us watching open-mouthed in disbelief, leaving us with the big question: “Did we really just watch that?”
Best time to watch: When you are ready (and we mean ready) for a genuinely wild and unpredictable ride.
3. Bojack Horseman
Netflix
Released: 31 January
Tell us about it: We were a little bit gutted when it was announced that Netflix was pulling the plug on Bojack Horseman at the end of its sixth series, but at the very least, we knew that if the show was going to give us one final run, it wasn’t going to be one we’d forget in a hurry.
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The first batch of episodes debuted towards the end of 2019, while the final eight arrived on 31 January. Naturally, we’d devoured the lot by 2 February.
During its six years on Netflix, Bojack Horseman had taken us to some pretty dark places, but while the first half of its final series suggested there may be redemption for the titular character, the second half truly pulled the rug from under us.
While the whole thing is worthy of praise, we have to single out the penultimate episode, The View From Halfway Down, for being particularly strong. Taking place entirely in Bojack’s imagination, he is reunited with dead figures from his past, complete with a deeply unsettling musical reprise, some stunning animation and a truly chilling poetry reading from Will Arnett.
It has to be said, we still think Bojack had a lot of life left in it, but if it had to go out in the way it did, we applaud the way it was done.
Best time to watch: When you’re feeling in a strong frame of mind and are somewhere comfortable. This final series is dark and we do not recommend if you’re already feeling a bit fragile.
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2. Sex Education
Netflix
Released: 17 January
Tell us about it: We loved the first series of Sex Education, but we loooved the second series, which built on everything that made the initial run so popular, and added a few extra bits too.
Ncuti Gatwa is still on fine form as Eric, with Otis’ right-hand man caught in a love triangle for most of the series, while Maeve’s back story is explored further with the introduction of more of Emma Mackey’s character’s family.
And while sex has always taken more of a back seat in the hit teen drama than its name would suggest, we still have to hand it to the Sex Education team for the way they handled taboo issues and lesser-known sexual themes in season two, including everything from sexual assault and internalised homophobia to asexuality and anal douching.
All in all, another great season, and we can’t wait to see what mortifying adventures they take Otis on next year.
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Best time to watch: Any time, really, but if you needed a bit of cheering up, this would probably do the job.
1. Cheer
Netflix
Released: 8 January
Tell us about it: We never anticipated that a six-part documentary about college cheerleading would be our top pick of 2020, but that was before we watched Cheer.
Netflix has proved and time and time again that they’re not afraid to explore unusual areas when it comes to their documentaries, 2019′s Don’t Fuck With Cats, Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened and, of course, the aforementioned Tiger King being three great examples).
In Cheer, they lift the lid on a world few of us knew even the first thing about: the ultra-competitive world of college cheerleading - and the weird and wonderful characters who inhabit it as they strive to try and “make mat”.
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Among our favourites are the fabulous La’Darius, underdog tumbler Lexi, always “on” Jerry and, of course, the perfectionist coach Monica.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-03-07--‘Oh I Have Risen, Honey!’ Gabrielle On Her Bob Dylan-Sampling Classic Single, Rise

HuffPost UK
After bursting onto the music scene in 1993 with her huge number 1 hit Dreams, Gabrielle went on to score a run of memorable hit singles like Give Me A Little More Time, If You Ever and Walk On By before disappearing from the charts following a “devastating” break up with the father of her son.
Pouring her heartbreak into her songwriting, the Hackney-born star made a triumphant return in 1999 with her most-accomplished set of songs yet, on the album Rise.
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Gabrielle BMG
The Bob Dylan-sampling title track - an anthem for anyone who has loved and lost - went straight to number one in the UK at the turn of the millennium, and perhaps even more than Dreams, has become her signature song.
In fact, according to musical legend, Rise was the first ever song that Adele sang in public – something that was news to Gabrielle.
“No waaaay! That’s something I didn’t know and I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall and heard that performance. I would probably have been moved to tears because she is a phenomenal singer,” she told us.
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She’s not so bad herself.
Here she looks back at the busiest time of her career – the year 2000...
I was living my best life in 2000
I was very busy. I remember having to go round the whole of Europe. The record company had done this timeline of where they expected me to be in all the different territories. We brought out the Rise album and I remember being at the Brit Awards (I didn’t get a Brit for that album by the way!). I was just having the time of my life… fantastic music and just fantastic times. I can’t really complain.
I can honestly say I can’t remember how I celebrated the turn of the millennium
The bottom line is I was so busy that it would have just come [and gone]… I think the main thing when it happened was that I was like ‘ok, planes didn’t fall from the sky, right?’ and stuff like that.
I was very confident that I had great songs
I didn’t expect them to go to number one at all. I just knew I loved the music I was making at the time. I just wanted to go on the road with it all. I remember thinking that nobody thought this was going to happen. I definitely didn’t think it was going to happen.
Gabrielle BMG
I never know if a song is going to be a hit
It’s a feeling with me. When I write a song, it’s always a feeling, how I feel about the song. It’s a case of ‘can I blast this in my car?’ Do I feel good? How do I feel when I listen back to it? Usually my songs are therapeutic. But in terms of predictions, I’m rubbish! I can’t tell you if it’s going to be a hit.
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At the time of writing Rise I’d gone through the break-up with the father of my first child
He’d gone to prison. And it was me, after being in the public eye, having to retreat around that time. I wrote it with the head of my label Ferdy Unger-Hamilton, who is also a bestie of mine, godfather to my son and the man who signed me.
By the time we’d written Rise and brought it out it had been a couple of years since the trial
[I was] resuming public life again. It was very much about my personal life and the only other person who could have written it with me was Ferdy. The bottom line is it was the best song for me because it’s about hope and that there is life at the end of the tunnel and you’ve just got to hang on in there.
When we released the song, the feedback was phenomenal
It went straight to number one and the response from the public.... People were telling me that I could have been writing about them and that it had got them through a break up or so many different things in their life. So it was such a worthwhile song. I was really proud.
I had a manager who was quite dismissive of Rise getting to number one
He was like ‘well you’ve got Rise coming out but that’s not really going to be a hit, but you’ve got others’. He was a lovely guy but I have never forgotten [he said that]. Hence why he didn’t last that long!
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I’m not responsible for using the sample of Bob Dylan’s Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door
It was (co-writer) Ferdy Unger-Hamilton who is a huge Bob Dylan fan. I don’t think anyone could be a bigger fan. So he was like ‘we’ve got to do something because this sounds amazing’. And he played me Bob Dylan’s Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door. It was the best thing ever.
We would later go on to get Bob Dylan’s blessing
At the time I don’t think he’d ever given anyone his blessing to use a piece of his music. I don’t want to say I was the first, but he doesn’t usually do that. He was just incredible, so I’ve got to thank him because he’s so iconic. To be associated with that, that’s not a bad thing! To write something that this master has said ‘yes, you can use it’ is an amazing thing to happen in my career.
I was so excited that we got his permission
I don’t think I was told that they were going to present [the song] to him first, so I wasn’t nervous. No one told me that they were going to let him listen to it. I think I would have been like ‘noooooo!’ [laughs]. So I was really very happy when I heard that he’d given his approval. When I found out he’d heard it I was like ‘god, were they the best vocals that they used?’ [laughs]. It’s Bob Dylan after all, so you want everything to be right.
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Maybe nobody would have paid it any mind if it hadn’t had the association with Bob Dylan
Maybe it garnered all of that interest because people wanted to see if we would be cheeky enough to use a piece of Bob Dylan’s masterpiece and try and create something new and special. It was wonderful to have had that opportunity. I do believe that Rise can stand on its own two feet but I’m very happy with the association.
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It’s two decades old, but I don’t do any sets without singing Rise
I love it now as much as when I was doing it the first time. Obviously in the early days it was very emotional for me because I’d come out of this devastating relationship and things weren’t great. I could be in tears after performing or before and would try to hold myself up and stay strong.
Now I feel so removed from the original place of where Rise came from
I sing it with such gusto and I enjoy it so much. I love what it means to people and the feeling I get when I sing it because I sing it from a different perspective now. Now I’m singing it from the place of ‘Oh, I have risen, honey!’ [laughs].


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-03-07--'Be Kind' – Can A Two-Word Reminder Make Us Kinder?

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“In a world where you can be anything, be kind.” How many of us have scrolled past this quote on Instagram or Pinterest? It was a social media platitude for years, but those final two words took on new poignancy – after the fact – when it emerged Caroline Flack had shared them months before taking her own life.
“Anything ... we can literally choose to be anything,” Flack captioned the image on Instagram, less than a week before she was arrested at home following a row with her boyfriend Lewis Burton. Her plea for kindness went largely unheard.
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In the hours after news of Flack’s death broke, thousands of tweets were posted with the words ‘Be Kind’ – a reminder, in the most basic sense, that we need to treat each other better. The motto seemed to be a cry for help and change, a collective realisation that things had gone too far.
Ian West - PA Images via Getty Images
T-shirts bearing the slogan ‘Be Kind’ went on sale online within hours of Flack’s death. Comedian Leigh Francis (aka Keith Lemon, a friend of the presenter) designed a top bearing her face and those words, sold at £25, with 100% of profits going to charity. Even Primark joined in, prompting cries it was “cashing in on a motto that has become synonymous with a high profile suicide”.
On Facebook, there was a renewed effort from women to be kinder to one another, too – one viral trend encouraged them to tag and compliment their friends. “It’s time for us to fix each other’s crowns,” read someone’s caption. The ‘Be Kind’ motto also appeared as ‘ribbons’ on profile pictures.
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It was everywhere. But some have questioned this renewed fervous of Brits to promote the message. Can sharing two words – or wearing them across our chests – actually make us kinder? Or is it a well-meaning yet essentially empty promise thrown into the social media void?
Dr Tom Farsides, a social psychologist at University of Sussex, takes a sceptical view. “Events like this can go either way or have no effect,” he says. Whether a motto can really make people kinder depends on several factors, he says.
Some people are more predisposed to kindness genetically – for this group, a ‘Be Kind’ reminder might nudge behaviour, while for others it won’t make the slightest difference. It also depends on a person’s motivation for sharing the message – which could be a cry for people to be nicer to them, more than a commitment to be kinder to others. Unkindness often comes from a place of insecurity. Conversely, being kind – not just receiving kindness – has been found to alleviate feelings of loneliness among some of society’s most vulnerable.
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“Many of these [posts] will have stemmed from sincere but short-lived motivations,” says Dr Farsides. And in some cases, he adds, clicking that ‘share’ or ‘retweet’ button can make subsequent kindness less likely, because of an ‘I’ve done my bit’ mentality. There are examples of people tweeting #BeKind in one message and slating someone in the next; and abuse aimed at high profile figures posted from profiles with a ‘Be Kind’ ‘ribbon’.
Sharing these posts won’t necessarily make us instantly kinder, but it does put kindness at the centre of our focus, says therapist and Counselling Directory member, Pam Custers. “If we could keep this kindness notion in the forefront of how we operate and if we can harness that, it would be an incredibly powerful thing,” she says.
“If we could keep this kindness notion in the forefront of how we operate and harness that, it would be an incredibly powerful thing.” - Therapist Pam Custers
Kindness requires action
We need to commit to kindness, adds Farsides. There needs to be action. “If you start off with that commitment of ‘I want to be a kinder person’ you can change your behaviour,” he says. Think of it like weight training – you’re building your compassion ‘muscle’.
The key is promoting it in your life in small, yet manageable, ways: signing up to become a volunteer, making a mental note to be friendly on public transport, checking in on people who seem unhappy, or choosing to be there when someone needs you. Translated online, this could mean standing up for others being trolled, using the ‘report’ button when you witness abuse, and choosing not to spread negative messages.
If you commit, actually commit to kinder acts, “you can absolutely be more kind,” says Farsides. The benefits are mutual. Research suggests when you’re kind to others, your brain’s pleasure and reward centres light up, as if you were the recipient of the good deed. Not only do you get that “helper’s high”, you also diminish feelings of isolation. If you open the door for someone, for example, that person may smile and say ‘thank you’. Custers refers to this as a “feedback loop of positivity” as the chances are, they’ll pay it forward.
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Dr Farsides caveats that if you do make a commitment to being kind, you’re probably quite a nice person to begin with.
On that logic, he adds: “If you’re a bit of a dick, you might not commit to it.”
Kil Clothes Be kind t-shirt with hand drawn illustration by Keith Lemon.
What goes around, comes back around
Emotion is considered contagious – if you smile at someone on your way to work, chances are they’ll smile back. If you frown, they might do the same. A study by sociologist Nicholas Christakis, from Yale University, revealed that if a person became happier in their life, a friend living close by had a 25% higher chance of becoming happy – and their romantic partner would be happier too.
This ‘emotional contagion’ translates online – as you may have experienced. A study of almost 700,000 Facebook users found when good things popped up in people’s feeds, they tended to write more positive social media posts.
Those who viewed more negative posts ended up writing more sad or angry posts. The study’s author Jeff Hancock, from Stanford University, said the results suggest that, just like in real life, “emotions can move through networks through contagion”.
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If you make a commitment to be kind, can telling others encourage a kindness contagion, of sorts? Not necessarily. Dr Farsides reckons it could trigger more unkindness. “The downside of social media activity is you see a lot of people reacting badly to it [kindness],” he says. If you post a good deed you’ve done, there may be a fair few cries of “virtue signalling” – that you’re making it all about you. “Anybody that tries to, or even seems to be trying to be kind, will get accusations,” he continues. “We’re suspicious of them because it’s exploited.”
We don’t have to tell people, though. We just need to act. “We know that by integrating kindness in how we work, our relationships, in society as a whole, it actually empowers people,” says Custers. “Kindness connects us. Nastiness or cruel behaviour disconnects us and isolates us.”
Treat people online as you would offline
Making a commitment to being kinder should have a specific focus within your online world. It’s needed – a 2019 YouGov poll of 2,000 people in the UK found one in four had experienced cyberbullying, with 18- to 24-year-olds most likely to face abuse online.
People need to learn the impact of their words. Lauren Pemberton-Nelson, communications coordinator for Glitch, a not-for-profit working to end online abuse, says people don’t need to be best friends [online]: “You can still hold politicians to account and critique people, but do it without being offensive.”
Air grievances constructively. “Even if we disagree with someone, it’s about disagreeing in a respectful way,” says Custers. “We don’t have to annihilate them in the process.”
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Then, you’ll avoid being left with what Custers calls an “emotional hangover”, that distaste you feel with yourself after crossing the line with a friend, family member or someone you’ve never even met. Being kinder online can also mean sending those who are bullied words of support, like the response to Callum Manning, a 13-year-old from South Shields, bullied for loving books.
Ultimately, kindness should be considered one of your emotional five-a-day. “You know you need to eat five-a-day to be healthy? Well, kindness is one of your emotional needs, it’s one of your five-a-day – and we need to do it on a daily basis,” says Custers.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-03-07--I’m Not Letting Endometriosis Ruin My Sex Life

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You’re reading Sex Diaries, a HuffPost UK Personal series about how we are (or aren’t) having sex. To share your story, get in touch on ukpersonal@huffpost.com.
It took nearly half of my life to receive an official diagnosis of endometriosis – 14 years to be exact.
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If you’re unfamiliar, endometriosis is a condition in which tissue similar to the lining of the uterus grows outside of the uterus. If this tissue is present behind the vagina, or is stuck between the vagina and the front of the rectum, penetration can pull or stretch it, causing extreme pain.
Before I found a doctor who would actually listen to me, my quality of life was deteriorating quickly; the pain so intense that I couldn’t sleep, couldn’t use the bathroom without urinating blood, and could barely make it to the office.
After several visits to ‘specialists’, I finally received an answer: I was diagnosed with interstitial cystitis – a chronic bladder condition that causes excruciating bladder and pelvic pain – and endometriosis. After a laparoscopy, hysteroscopy, cystoscopy, and dilation and curettage I was diagnosed, but told there’s no cure – according to my surgeon all this will give me perhaps just one to five years of relief before I will need to have surgery again.
While I still have flare-ups, I try not to let endometriosis get in the way of my relationship with my husband, emotionally or physically. It took me a while, but I figured out how to navigate living with chronic illness without sacrificing my sex life. Here’s how.
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“Sexually, we fell into a routine: he’d reach for me and I’d let him, wincing in pain and wishing it would end.”
We communicate with one another
Communicating with your partner isn’t as simple as it sounds – it’s more than debating which Netflix show to binge-watch next. Real communication means exposing your emotions and being vulnerable.
Before diagnosis, I was more of a ‘silent partner’. Sexually, we fell into a routine: he’d reach for me and I’d let him, wincing in pain and wishing it would end. He’d finish and fall asleep soundly, oblivious. Once I felt as though I could peel myself out of bed, I would tip-toe to the bathroom so I could lie on the shower floor in hopes that the hot water would heal my pain. Some nights, I’d stay there for hours. Then, I’d sneak back into our bedroom where I’d lie, writhing in pain and hating him for being able to sleep so peacefully, hating him for not realising what I was going through. How could he be so selfish? Why doesn’t he care about me? Doesn’t he love me?
Before I knew it we weren’t talking at all, and became emotionally and physically unavailable to one another. Once I realised that we might not make it to the altar, I had a mental breakdown. Sobbing into his t-shirt, I told him everything – from the demeaning doctor’s visits to the bleeding to the bloating. He was, of course, dumbfounded. He had no idea, and was confused as to why I hadn’t told him sooner.
Post-diagnosis, I’m straightforward and honest about whether I’m feeling well enough to be physical. It’s not romantic, but it works. The best part, though, is that now he’s verbal with me too. Being open and honest with him, I think, saved our relationship.
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“There are nights where I feel fine one minute, and yelping in pain the next. Unfortunately, with my condition, this is just how it has to go.”
For us, ‘sex’ doesn’t always mean penetration
Once we were able to really open up to one another, our sex life went from no to oh! very suddenly. We began exploring each other’s bodies in a different way – some nights, it felt as though we’re having sex for the first time.
We quickly discovered that kissing, massaging, and playing with each other can be even more exciting than ‘going all the way’. Shortly after I had my breakdown (or breakthrough?), we spent an entire hour just kissing and it was so intoxicatingly delightful.
And on nights when I’m feeling particularly out-of-it, he’ll run a bath and just sit in the tub with me until I’m ready to get out. I position myself between his legs, prop up against his chest, and close my eyes. Even though he and I are quiet in these moments, I can still feel how much he loves me.
We have a drawer filled with toys
Whenever I’m feeling frisky enough to have penetrative sex, we pull out a few of my favorite toys to build excitement. When we’re ready, I’ll grab our Ohnut – an intimate wearable toy designed for people who experience pain during sex. If we’re feeling particularly lucky (meaning I don’t think a flare-up will come back to bite us immediately after), we’ll switch out the ‘standard’ vibrator for a clitoral sucking vibrator that offers a feeling that’s out of this world.
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I’d be a liar if I told you this weird routine worked every time. There are nights where I feel fine one minute, and yelping in pain the next. Unfortunately, with my condition, this is just how it has to go. Sure, it’s not ideal, but it’s a hell of a lot better than lying in bed, backs to one another, silently screaming.
Before my diagnosis, I couldn’t have sex without feeling inadequate and heartbroken. Once I came to terms with the fact that I’ll have to deal with chronic illness for the rest of my life, we adapted, made small changes and things became easier. They became easier because I realised I needed to accept myself: burning urethra, endo-belly, and all.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-03-07--My Black Hair Is A Statement, Whether I Want It To Be Or Not

Courtesy of Tomi Otekunrin The author, Tomi Otekunrin.
As a Black woman, my hair has always been a major part of my life. There’s simply no denying it.
On one hand, I love being able to switch it up. One minute I can be rocking my natural curls and then the next, I might put on a neon wig or wear my hair in box braids. Constantly changing my hairstyle is fun, helps me express myself and keeps me from feeling bored. But I’d be lying if I said my hair doesn’t come with baggage that feels like it’s literally weighing me down.
My hair has always invited unwelcome commentary, ever since I turned 4 and my mother relaxed my hair to make life easier. One Black boy in school joked that my newly straightened hair looked like it came from a horse. As a teenager, any time I went to school with a new hairstyle, white people would ask me, “Is that your real hair?” When I wanted to switch up my look and cut my hair in college, the decision was met with a flurry of opinions, the most upsetting being, “You’re jumping on the natural hair movement.”
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But no, I wasn’t intentionally making myself part of a movement. I just didn’t feel like relaxing my hair anymore.
Up to that point, I had always relaxed my hair. But I couldn’t be bothered to do it forever, so I cut off my relaxed ends, allowing my curls to flourish in peace. This was just about the time, around 2011, that the natural hair community started to gain traction online, but I didn’t feel pressure to go natural because of a YouTuber or a movement. I just wanted to let my hair be.
I didn’t realize that no longer relaxing my hair would make a statement. I wasn’t trying to embrace myself or “love myself for who I really am” or refuse to conform. Nor am I anti-relaxer, nor do I believe that Black women who relax their hair don’t love themselves or their hair.
My friend who relaxes her hair shared with me that she fears her straight hair comes across as not loving her hair in its natural state, and this feeling is understandable. If you go online, you’ll see all kinds of comments telling Black women that they don’t love their hair or themselves if they wear weaves, sport wigs or relax their hair.
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That’s simply not true.
The lack of education about Black hair also makes things difficult. It affects nearly all Black women, including models like Leomie Anderson, who has complained that the modeling industry continues to hire stylists who don’t know how to care for Black hair, and actors like Cynthia Erivo, who has spoken out about the dearth of stylists who work with natural hair on set.
And women in all kinds of everyday settings face discrimination from those who claim their natural hair, locs or dreads aren’t suitable for school or work.
Most Black women know what it’s like to come to work with a new hairstyle and become the topic of watercooler conversation. I don’t want to have to explain my hair to you, Susan in HR. Just say my hair looks nice and go ― or better yet, say nothing at all.
I would like the freedom, as would other Black women, to just rock my hair, whatever the style, in peace. Solange said it perfectly: “Don’t touch my hair when it’s the feelings I wear.”
Read more about the complicated relationships we have with our hair at My Hair, My Story.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-03-07--Kristen Bell And Dax Shepard's Rule About Arguing In Front Of Their Kids

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Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard have been candid about some of the intense arguments they’ve had as a couple. Now they’re letting us in on how they resolve their conflicts, while teaching their daughters to do the same.
In an episode of The Motherly Podcast that dropped Thursday, Bell said that when daughters Lincoln and Delta were still babies, Shepard made a keen parenting observation: Kids often pick up on tension between adults but rarely get to see the resolution. How are parents supposed to equip their children with these skills if they don’t see them modelled, he wondered.
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“We’ll come home. We’ll be tense with each other. We’ll snap at each other in the kitchen, not realising they’re witnessing it,” Bell told host journalist Liz Tenety. “We put them to bed. We go into the bedroom and then, just privately, we say, ‘God, I’m sorry I snapped at you, I had a really tough day.’ Well, they don’t ever see that. But the next morning, they just assume the problem went away.”
Shepard made his wife promise that they’d always apologise and make up in front of their kids — even if that meant having to reenact an apology for them later.
“He said, ‘Let’s make a deal that if we ever make up when we’re behind closed doors, that we role-play the next morning,’” the “Frozen 2” star said.
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“So every time we’re testy with each other, the next morning I say, ‘Good morning, Daddy. Hey, I just wanted to say last night, I had a really long day and I’m sorry I snapped at you about not having the dinner that you wanted or not having this.’ And he would say, ‘Yeah, you’re right, Mommy. I had a hard day too and I’m really sorry.’”
Afterwards, they end the exchange with some PDA.
“Then we physically kiss and hug, even if [the kids are] within earshot,” she said.
Bell and Shepard have been together for 13 years and married for six. Though many fans regard them as “relationship goals,” they try to debunk the idea that they’re the perfect couple by being open about their struggles and the work they put into the relationship.
“Something happened with Dax and I early on where we decided we were never going to not be asked about our relationship,” Bell said in an episode of the podcast “Life Is Short With Justin Long.” “So if we were going to talk about it, let’s make sure we show the good, the bad and the ugly and how we handle it. Let’s not make it saccharine, and we really try hard to not make it saccharine. We talk about the fact that we do fight, we do go to therapy, we dislike each other a lot sometimes.”
In fact, both Bell and Shepard have publicly credited couples therapy with helping them grow and mature into the partners they are today.
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-03-07--Ministers Preparing New Law To 'Protect Freedom Of Speech' At Universities

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Ministers are preparing a new law to strengthen the right to freedom of speech in universities, HuffPost UK understands.
Boris Johnson is understood to share education secretary Gavin Williamson’s deep concerns over the issue, not least in the wake of a fresh row over a student group at Oxford University deciding to “no platform” former cabinet minister Amber Rudd.
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Williamson has already warned that he was ready to act if institutions like Oxford were not “robust” enough in their commitment to free speech.
It is understood that an 11-clause bill has been drafted within the Department for Education and could be brought forward in coming months to give life to the Tory Party’s 2019 manifesto pledge to “strengthen academic freedom and free speech in universities”.
The bill’s champion is Iain Mansfield, appointed last month as Williamson’s newest special adviser, along with some key figures within Downing Street.
Mansfield tried to push the legislation last summer when he was an adviser to higher education minister Jo Johnson, but faced objections from critics who felt that introducing new legislation would be an overreaction to the problem.
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The Policy Exchange think tank, where he was head of education and skills, published a paper last year that called for an Academic Freedom and Free Speech on Campus Bill to clarify the law to protect views that some find unwelcome or even “deeply offensive”.
The paper, “The First Hundred Days: How the Government can Implement the Pledges in its 2019 Election Manifesto”, said new legislation should also extend the existing statutory duty to ensure the right to freedom of speech and academic freedom so it includes student unions.
Those student unions that breached the law could be liable to fines by the Office for Students regulatory watchdog, it added.
In December, Mansfield also pointed out that a recent report from the Policy Institute at King’s College London found that “at least one-third of Conservative or Leave-supporting students do not feel comfortable sharing their opinions” at university.
When he held the universities minister portfolio, the PM’s brother Jo warned that he wanted the Office for Students to have the power to fine those who “no platformed” speakers such as Germaine Greer and Peter Tatchell.
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Many suspected plans for a specific bill had been quietly dropped, but it is now very much back on the agenda, insiders said.
In 2018, Parliament’s Joint Committee on Human Rights reported on “serious concerns” about barriers to free speech in higher education.
Several senior figures in the party now believe the law needs to be clarified or changed to prevent the spread of what is currently a minority activity becoming more widespread.
Williamson in particular is aware of that the bill would be a major step but is prepared to act to force student unions to uphold long-held freedoms.
Others in government have seen legislation as the wrong move given the relatively small scale of the supposed problem.
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One source said: “It’s an obsession for some, but that doesn’t mean we should be spending time on it when there are so many other priorities. It would be mad to legislate.”
Downing Street made plain its displeasure on Friday after the UN Women Oxford student society withdrew an invitation to Rudd.
The society cancelled the event with 30 minutes’ notice after pressure from students who criticised Rudd’s role in the Windrush scandal and other government policies that negatively affected ethnic minority communities.
Williamson also denounced the decision by Oxford International Women’s Festival to “no platform” Oxford professor Selina Todd following pressure from trans activists.
He said on Friday: “For two speakers to have been no-platformed at Oxford within a week is unacceptable. It is not enough to adopt free speech codes if they are not enforced.
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“I expect the University of Oxford to take robust action over these incidents – and, if universities are not prepared to defend free speech, the government will.”
A Department for Education spokesperson said: “This government has committed to strengthen academic freedoms and ensure our universities are places where free speech can thrive.
“Universities are required by law to uphold freedom of speech allowing academics, students and visiting speakers to challenge ideas and discuss controversial subjects. We have made clear that if universities do not uphold free speech, the government will.”
Current statutory requirements stem from the Thatcher government’s 1986 Education Act, which followed a string of “no platform” decisions by student unions to bar Tory politicians from events.
The law requires universities to publish a code of practice, which sets out the procedures their members, students and employees should follow to uphold free speech.
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Nick Hillman, director of the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI), said: “I accept there have been apparent free speech infringements at universities, but I don’t think there is a general problem of a lack of free speech in UK higher education.
“I do worry that some young students unintentionally stumble into tricky waters on free speech, but this is often because they haven’t thought the issues through deeply enough rather than because they have a firm predisposition towards shutting up their fellow students.
“There is a hard core who do want to stop others from speaking out but they have always existed. The complexity of the issue is confirmed by the fact that some people think the greatest threat to free speech on campus actually comes from the government’s own Prevent programme.
“I will look at any new legislation carefully but I am not convinced it should be a top priority for a government that is already busy dealing with coronavirus, extracting the UK from the EU and trying to work out the UK’s future role in the world.”
A HEPI study in 2016 found that 83% of students feel able to express their opinions and political views openly and 60% think universities should never limit free speech.
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-03-07--Cruises Come With Human Health Risks. They Can Be Just As Harmful To The Environment

In 2012, London-based couple Ben Hewitt and David McDonald were invited to a friend’s wedding they feared was going to be “awful.” The ceremony was taking place on a cruise ship and the pair, then 27 and 22, dreaded all the cruising clichés ― stale buffets and overcrowded swimming pools. But they ended up loving the experience so much ― “It’s like a resort at sea,” said McDonald ― that they’ve taken 29 more cruises, averaging three or four a year.
“There’s been a huge change, even in the eight years we’ve been doing this, where cruise lines are actively aiming towards millennials and young people,” said Hewitt, now 35. Seems like that was working. When Hewitt and McDonald started documenting their cruises on YouTube three years ago, the average age of their audience was 45 – now, it’s 35.
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A report from the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) in December found that 71% of millennials had a more positive attitude about cruising than two years earlier. And research firm Mintel found last spring that more than a third of people interested in taking a cruise over the next five years were between 16 and 34 years old.
Overall, 17.8m people went on a cruise in 2009. In 2019, it’s estimated that the industry surpassed 30m voyagers for the first time.
Yet it’s increasingly apparent there are some serious downsides to this vacation vehicle. As everyone has just been reminded, cruise ships can be breeding grounds for disease, like the coronavirus that stranded people aboard the Diamond Princess in Japan and the Princess Cruises ship off the coast of California.
Most cruises don’t lead to illness and quarantines, of course. But the ships still leave long and lasting wakes of ecological damage. And that could be an issue for all those future millennial and Gen Z passengers, the two generations most concerned about the environmental impact of their actions.
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David McDonald (above) and his partner Ben Hewitt have been averaging three or four cruises a year. David McDonald and Ben Hewitt
The millions of passengers aboard these “floating cities” generate millions of tons of waste that pollute both the sea and air, with devastating consequences for human and marine health. That waste is often illegally dumped overboard and companies have been fined millions of dollars for polluting oceans with sewage and garbage.
Many cruises also travel through delicate ecosystems, threatening local communities and marine life and sometimes even destroying fragile coral reefs.
On top of this, cruises are “about the most energy- and emissions-intense form of tourism,” said Eke Eijgelaar, a researcher at the Centre for Sustainability, Tourism and Transport at Breda University in the Netherlands. According to a frequently cited study from 2008, cruises emit about three to four times more carbon dioxide per passenger-kilometre traveled than flying ― and, Eijgelaar estimated, about 9 to 10 times more than an average vacation by car or coach bus.
Air pollution is one of the most troubling impacts of cruising. Most cruise ships use a sulphur-heavy fuel, which is 3,500 times more polluting than road diesel.
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Sulphur emissions can lead to acid rain, which can harm forests, soil and lakes ― trees die and fish eggs won’t hatch. The emissions have also been linked to respiratory problems. A 2018 report in the journal Nature Communications found that sulphur-laden shipping fuel causes 400,000 premature human deaths a year.
A cruise ship off Ilulissat on Greenland, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site because of the Jacobshavn Glacier or Sermeq Kujalleq, the largest glacier outside Antarctica. Ashley Cooper via Getty Images
In 2017, the world’s largest cruise company, Florida-headquartered Carnival, emitted nearly 10 times more sulfur oxide along European coasts than all of Europe’s 260m cars, according to a June 2019 study by clean transport group Transport & Environment.
There are moves to switch to less-polluting fuel. Starting January 1, 2020, new rules by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) dictate that ships are only allowed to use fuel with a sulphur content of 0.5%, compared to the 3.5% previously used. An IMO spokesperson said the transition to low-sulphur fuel has “gone smoothly,” with little disruption to marine transportation.
This doesn’t resolve the pollution problems altogether. The 2018 Nature Communications report noted that low-sulphur marine fuels will still account for 250,000 deaths and 6.4 million cases of child asthma annually.
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To avoid the higher costs of low-sulphur fuel, many ships are instead using gas cleaning systems known as scrubbers to “clean” high-sulphur fuel. In the scrubber, the exhaust gas is passed through water, removing the sulphur oxides and forming sulphuric acid. The wastewater from the scrubbing process is corrosive until it is diluted and neutralised with seawater.
Experts fear that while scrubbers may cut air pollution, they may increase pollutants pumped into the sea. Transport & Environment has warned that increased wastewater can create toxic sediment around ports and harm wildlife. But CLIA says that independent studies it commissioned show scrubbers have limited impact on marine environments.
The IMO notes that while its regulations permit scrubbers, it has strict rules for the acidity levels of discharged wastewater.
Not everyone is unconvinced this is enough. “Scrubbers are problematic ― several courts and jurisdictions have banned the use of scrubbers or the discharge that scrubber waste has generated,” said Marcie Keever, the oceans and vessels programme director for Friends of the Earth. “[Cruise lines] need to reach for the sky when it comes to cleaning up these ships rather than just continuing with what is legally required or, in many cases, lobbying for weaker restrictions.”
And remember, sulphur pollution is only part of the environmental damage caused by cruises. Since 2009, Friends of the Earth has been producing “Cruise Ship Report Cards” that grade cruise lines on how they treat their sewage (in 2014, over a billion gallons of sewage were dumped from cruise ships into the ocean, much of it raw); their efforts to reduce air pollution; whether they’ve violated any water pollution standards or broken environmental laws; and how transparent they are about their environmental practices.
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In 2019, nine out of the 16 companies evaluated received an “F” grade. Five more were given a “D,” including two major cruise companies, Florida-based Royal Caribbean and Swiss-based MSC Cruises.
Carnival received an “F.” Last July, the company was fined $20m (£15.3m) for environmental violations that included dumping plastic waste into the ocean. Two years earlier, the company paid a $40m (£30.7m) fine for dumping oil-contaminated waste into the seas for more than eight years.
Ocean pollution can be extremely damaging to marine life. According to the conservation group Oceana, bacteria in sewage can harm both fish and coral, while oil and trash can hurt turtles and birds.
Even when cruise companies are held accountable for their pollution, it makes little long-term difference, Keever said. “Carnival Corporation made $3.2b (£2.5b) in profit in 2018. … So when you’re talking about a $40m (£30.7m) fine, it truly is a drop in the ocean for a company this large. And it does nothing to truly remedy the pollution that’s happening.”
Hewitt said, "We have to do something to push cruise lines to be better.” Ben Hewitt and David McDonald
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So how does all of this square with the industry’s growing millennial customer base?
Hewitt and McDonald describe themselves as passionate about the environment. They write about environmental issues in their blog, sharing stories about new initiatives, and McDonald said consumers should “use your wallet to back cruise lines that are trying to make changes.”
The couple also pointed to other positive steps they’ve seen onboard in the last eight years: the removal of plastic straws, buffet food that is cooked to order to avoid food waste, and refillable shampoo containers.
But they admit it’s a slow process. Change is “not happening fast enough,” said Hewitt.
Reading studies about air pollution deaths caused by cruising has also made Hewitt feel “like we have to do something to push cruise lines to be better.”
Some companies are doing more. Disney Cruise Line was the only company to receive an “A-” on the Friends of the Earth report card this year, in part due to its efforts to improve sewage treatment and water quality compliance. The company still performed poorly when it came to the nonprofit’s analysis of air quality.
Carnival said it too is taking steps to improve. Initiatives laid out in a “fact sheet,” provided to HuffPost following a request for comment, included reducing single-use plastics on its ships by 50% by the end of 2021, reducing food waste by 10%, replacing plastic balloons and glow-sticks with biodegradable streamers, and reducing sulphur pollution from its emissions.
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A spokesperson from CLIA said that the industry’s policies and practices “often exceed those required by law” and that CLIA engages in research and development efforts toward more environmentally friendly tourism.
Yet can this ever be enough? “I don’t think a report card would ever hand out an ‘A+’ because that’s not really possible,” said Keever. “There’s going to be an impact from these ships. There’s more of them, they’re getting bigger, and they need to do more to clean up these ships.”
If the environment is important to you, she said, it’s “worth considering” whether you really want to cruise.
Ross Klein, a researcher with the Maritime Studies Research Unit at Canada’s Memorial University of Newfoundland and an international authority on cruises, said many of the changes that cruise lines make aren’t done out of a commitment to the environment.
“The industry doesn’t acknowledge the challenges in a serious way. They see environmental issues as a public relations campaign,” he said. Klein argues that touting environmental credentials to eco-conscious millennials is simply “a means to increase revenue.”
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Eijgelaar echoed this sentiment, suggesting that any cruise line claiming to be eco-friendly today is simply “greenwashing.”
"Last-chance tourism" is growing in popularity. compactflash via Getty Images
If you chose to cruise, note that the locations your ship visits are also crucial, as pollution damages the port cities where the ships dock. And increasingly, cruises are seeking out more remote, once-pristine destinations.
Tourism to Antarctica, for example, has increased 50% in the last four years. Scientists warn that more visitors mean greater damage to an already fragile environment ― foreign species are being introduced, local wildlife can be frightened, and graffiti has even been found on historic structures.
Eijgelaar has studied “last-chance tourism,” the phenomenon of people traveling to areas like the Great Barrier Reef and Antarctica before climate change destroys them forever. “An American doing an Antarctic cruise will easily emit five tons of CO2 on that trip ― a ridiculous amount for seeing a continent endangered by these same emissions,” he said.
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He is not optimistic about the ability of the cruise industry to seriously reduce its environmental footprint. Eijgelaar said the ideal future of cruise tourism “would include fully battery-powered, zero-emission ships, with waste and wastewater cleaning systems that are in full-time operation.” But he added, “We won’t see this happening in the coming years or decades.”
Ultimately, cruises are “rather counter-productive to all the climate measures we should be taking,” he said, “particularly on an individual level.”
When asked if they would stop cruising on lines that don’t make enough effort to change, millennial travellers Hewitt and McDonald said “absolutely.”
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-03-07--Two Men In Their 70s Arrested After Woman Found Dead In Bolton

Emergency services were called to the scene on Alexandra Road, Lostock, shortly before 10pm after reports that a woman had been seriously injured.
The woman, thought to be aged in her 40s, was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics.
Police have urged anyone with information to come forward.
Detective superintendent Howard Millington said: “Whilst we have made two arrests, it is important to stress that we are keeping an open mind about the circumstances of the woman’s death and will work tirelessly to keep her family updated of any developments.
“We have a dedicated team of officers who are working hard to piece together exactly what has happened in order to provide those closest to the woman with much-deserved answers.”


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-03-07--‘Utter Nonsense': Stacey Dooley Blasts Reports That She ‘Pushed’ Kevin Clifton To Quit Strictly

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Stacey Dooley has hit back at tabloid reports that she “pushed” boyfriend Kevin Clifton to quit Strictly Come Dancing.
Kevin announced he was walking away from the BBC dance show after seven years in a post on his Instagram Story and Twitter account on Friday.
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Kevin - who won the 2018 series with partner Stacey - said he wanted to “leave on a high” in an emotional message to fans.
Stacey Dooley and Kevin Clifton Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock
Following his announcement, The Sun ran a story claiming Stacey encouraged the professional dancer to “go it alone” so they could become a “TV power couple”.
On Saturday, Stacey described the claims as “utter nonsense”, labelling the The Sun’s story “embarrassing”.
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Honestly, we knew this would happen. 🙄
And so it starts, again......
Utter nonsense 🤷🏼♀ https://t.co/L8NlQg1l1y — Stacey Dooley (@StaceyDooley) March 7, 2020
‘TV power couple’
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Give. Me. A. Break.
These articles are so, so embarrassing. — Stacey Dooley (@StaceyDooley) March 7, 2020
“Honestly, we knew this would happen. And so it starts, again...... Utter nonsense,” she tweeted.
She then added: “‘TV power couple’. Give. Me. A. Break. These articles are so, so embarrassing.”
Kevin joined the show in 2013 with then-girlfriend Karen Hauer. The pair married in 2015, before announcing their split in 2018.
During his time on the show, Kevin was paired with Susanna Reid, Frankie Bridge, Kellie Bright, Louise Redknapp, Susan Calman, Stacey Dooley and Anneka Rice.
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He reached five Strictly finals before lifting the Glitterball trophy for the first time in 2018 with Stacey, who he is now in a relationship with.
The BBC said Kevin would be “hugely missed” by his fans and colleagues.
Sadly Kevin Clifton is leaving #Strictly after seven incredible years on the show. Join us in wishing him all the best, @keviclifton you’ll be sorely missed! pic.twitter.com/vMqvlpTK53 — BBC Strictly ✨ (@bbcstrictly) March 6, 2020
Paying tribute, a spokesperson for the show said: “Kevin has been such a brilliant part of Strictly for the past seven years.
“From reaching the final an impressive five times, to lifting the Glitterball with Stacey Dooley in 2018, he has provided the show with some fantastic moments, through his exceptional talent as a dancer and choreographer. He will be hugely missed by fans and by his Strictly family.
“He will always be our Kevin from Grimsby.”
Strictly Come Dancing returns to BBC One in the autumn.
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thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-03-06--Coronavirus: Second Person In The UK Dies After Contracting Covid-19

A second person has died in the UK after contracting coronavirus. Richard Baker via Getty Images
A second person has died in the UK after contracting coronavirus, the health secretary has confirmed, as the global number of cases surpassed 100,000.
The man is believed to have died at Milton Keynes Hospital, and was described by Matt Hancock as “somebody older” with “underlying health conditions”.
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Hancock told ITV: “I am very sorry to hear the news of a second death here in the UK of somebody with coronavirus.
“My condolences go out to the family and his loved ones.”
To date, 163 people have tested positive for the virus in the UK and two people have died.
On Friday, Boris Johnson announced £46m of funding to help research into a “life changing and life saving” coronavirus vaccine, as well as rapid diagnostic tests.
There is currently no vaccine available to protect people against Covid-19, but Johnson said he hoped one will be ready in about a year.
News of the funding comes after health secretary Matt Hancock warned Brits against stockpiling food, saying the government was in talks with supermarkets to ensure that those in self-isolation would be able to get the supplies they need.
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Globally, more than 100,000 people have now been diagnosed with coronavirus, with more than 80,500 of these cases recorded in China. To date, around 3,400 people have died during the outbreak.


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-03-08--Davina McCall Reveals She Was Once Rushed To Hospital After Overdosing On A Cocktail Of Drugs

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Davina McCall has spoken about her past drug addiction and revealed she was once rushed to hospital after a drugs overdose.
The former Big Brother presenter revealed the “terrifying” moment she ended up in a hospital bed after taking a cocktail of drugs in her 20s.
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The TV star was speaking at the launch of The Sun on Sunday’s International Women’s Day event in front of 130 inner-city schoolgirls.
Davina McCall Mike Marsland via Getty Images
She told them: “Drugs took me to a very, very, very dark place and, one night, I overdosed.
“It was very frightening as it was a very gradual overdose. I’d had a cocktail of drugs, because I didn’t want to feel normal.
“I was constantly trying to escape myself — I was like a piece of fruit rotting from the inside.
“So then I thought, ‘Well, I’ll just take a valium’, and the next thing I knew I woke up in hospital.”
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She added: “At my lowest point, when I was filled with self hatred, it was literally a case of ‘get clean, or die’.”
Joel Ryan/Invision/AP
Following her overdose, Davina began to attend Narcotics Anonymous meetings and quit drugs for good.
Davina - who was joined at the event by Strictly host Claudia Winkleman and footballer Alex Scott - said drugs took her to the “darkest, darkest place”.
She said: “I was the person that people would have crossed the street to avoid. I started with cannabis and went on to become a heroin addict.
“It ended up taking me to the darkest, darkest place. I empowered myself to change my situation, I made a conscious decision I could change me. And because I got clean I got the job I’d dreamed of and that changed my life forever.”
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The Masked Singer judge has previously revealed that she took drugs with her own mother in her younger years.
Davina – who grew up living with her paternal grandparents in Surrey – told of how when she stayed with her mother Florence Kock in France during her holidays, there were “no boundaries”.
“I don’t blame her at all for my addiction,” she said. “But it was screwed up . . . not a normal mother-child relationship.
Need friendly, confidential advice on drugs?


thehuffingtonpostuk--2020-03-08--The ‘Invisible’ Children Held In Detention Around Europe

The true number of child refugees being held in detention centres across Europe is being obscured by a lack of consistent data, analysis by Investigate Europe has uncovered, raising questions about the welfare of vulnerable minors.
Children of all ages are held – some with their families, others alone - in centres with euphemistic names as ‘transit zones’ (Hungary), ‘safe zones’ or ‘protective custody’, (Greece), ’hotspots (Italy and Greece), ‘retention centres’, airport ‘waiting zones’ (France), or ‘family units’ (Norway), Investigate Europe (IE) can reveal.
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These labels often disguise the fact children are kept in detention, and also allow for statistical gaps and omissions, that could leave children in danger.
Our journalists could find no commonly agreed methodology by EU nations to collect and store data on migrant children in detention.
There is no commonly agreed methodology by EU nations to collect and store data on migrant children in detention. Ingeborg Eliassen at Investigate Europe
If you’re not counted, you don’t count. Unicef’s Tsvetomira Bidart said: “Having quality and timely data on the situation of refugee and migrant children in immigration detention is key to give visibility and transparency to the implementation of national policies. It can help track progress, or on the contrary negative trends that require urgent attention.”
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“Detention is any privation of liberty, no matter what the definition of a state.” Marta Gionco, Advocacy Officer for the Platform for International Cooperation for Undocumented Migrants (Picum) told IE, “So, children can be detained in airports, in hotspot, in border detention centres in pre-return centres.”
So how does the situation vary across other EU countries?
Britain is a better place for migrant children in Europe, but poor decisions can still be made. Cunaplus_M.Faba via Getty Images
The UK
Other than on arrival or while waiting for deportation, the UK stopped detaining children in 2010, making it one of the best places for migrant children in Europe. However, there is a risk of them being misclassified as adults – “sadly a common problem” according to the UK Refugee Council – in a system that “leaves it to the child to prove that they’re children” according to James Simmonds Read, at The Children’s Society.
And while “there’s some really good practice in social care in places”, Simmonds says, this is not always the case, particularly where social services are stretched.
He’s seen cases of “aggressive litigating against children, even where there is a wealth of evidence for them to suggest that that person is a child.”
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The UK Refugee Council has “evidence of poor decisions on age being made without sufficient reason” – concerns that have been reflected in the Age Disputes Project for 2018/9 where of 187 disputed cases, 158 were subsequently accepted as children.
“Every single child I’ve worked with who was in detention looks back on it as one of the worst times in their lives,” James Simmonds Read said.
“Often it was the experience they had when they first arrived into the country, when they thought they were going to be safe but in reality, felt in extreme danger”.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “Our age assessment process seeks to balance the need to ensure that children are given the support they need while preventing adults passing themselves off as children.”
“When there is doubt about an individual’s claim to be a child, they will be referred to social services for further assessment and treated as a child during this time.”
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France
France has been condemned many times by the European Court of Human Rights for its practices of holding migrant children in detention.
In Mayotte, a French overseas territory in the Mozambique Chanel, there are around 2,500 children in migration-related detention, while in mainland France there were 275 children in the same year.
The Global Detention project describes the situation in which they find themselves on arrival in Mayotte, where there are: “exceptions in the application of immigration law, limiting procedural safeguards and leaving people vulnerable to abusive detention conditions.”
Children at Moria, a refugee camp on the island of Lesbos Ingeborg Eliassen at Investigate Europe
Greece
It’s Europe’s borders that are at the forefront of the migration crisis and countries not directly affected are reluctant to share the load. The Greek prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis expressed his frustration at the lack of response to a request made last year by his government: “We attempted to reach agreement with all EU states, saying ’for God’s sake, we are talking about 3,000 children... can they not be shared out among 27 countries so that Europe can show solidarity?” IE are still trying to find out how each country responded to that request.
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The Greek island ‘hotspots’- overcrowded facilities where basic human rights are not respected – are places many migrant children call home. As of September 2019, 8,300 children, including 1,600 unaccompanied minors, were living often in sub-human conditions in camps in the five hotspots on the Aegean islands Lesvos, Leros, Kos, Samos, Chios. The European Court has repeatedly ruled against the detention of unaccompanied minors in Greece.
“A very closed place. It is a bomb ready to explode” is how Danae Papadopoulou, from Medecins sans Frontieres describes Moria, a camp on Lesbos that Investigate Europe journalists visited. A former military facility, the camp is surrounded by high, see-through fences with rolls of barbed wire on top. The main entrance has a gate and there is a police presence, but the gate is open. Beyond the gate is a road with fences on both sides. Residents in tents use the interior fence to dry clothes. When in the camp we spoke to six Afghan boys, aged from 15-17, who had been there for a month and a half since arriving together “on a rubber boat”, with around 40 other people.
As children with no family or guardian, they should have been put in the camp’s safe zone where minors live on their own and theoretically adults cannot enter. But the already overcrowded zone had no room. They should have been provided with tents. But there were no tents left to give to them, so they had to buy their own.
Life in the camp is tough for the boys, and the fear they live under is worse than they experienced when travelling from Afghanistan: “Crossing the borders happens for just a few hours, but we live here.”
“Where we live there is space for six tents. In four of them live minors and in the other two there are adults. One night the adults of the two tents got involved in a fight: some people came and attacked them with a knife. There was blood. We were hearing the shouts and the noise from the fight, and we didn’t go out of our tent because we were afraid” they told us.
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So why is it like this, we asked Erik Marquart, MEP and Green spokesman on migration policy: “We have a situation where the EU Commission and the European Council speak of a good asylum policy when the number of people fleeing to Europe falls. By creating situations like those on the Greek islands, you buy yourself better statistics,” he said.
Moria has been described as "a bomb ready to explode". Ingeborg Eliassen at Investigate Europe
Hungary
There is a lot of secrecy around Hungary’s two transit zones – camps for migrants awaiting the result of their asylum application – journalists are not allowed in, and official data is hard to come by. Families with their children are amongst the migrants living here. And while they are free to leave in the direction of Serbia, by doing so they lose their right to asylum in the EU, making the transit zones practically places of detention.
At the height of the migrant crisis in 2015, Hungary built a fence – akin to Trump’s wall – on its border between Serbia and Croatia. Entry to the transit zones is limited resulting in the so-called ‘queue’ at the border. This is not an actual queue but people waiting, in makeshift camps for their turn to move to the transit zone.
Reza, a 17-year-old Iranian boy, has the dubious honour of currently being the only unaccompanied minor in the transit zones. He and his lawyer, Tímea Kovács, spoke to Investigate Europe by phone.
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He has been in the camp for a year having arrived with his uncle and family who were granted protected status in Hungary. But authorities didn’t consider the family relationship strong enough for Reza to qualify as well, so they split him from his family (who left the transit zone), making him officially an ‘unaccompanied minor’. “It is hard here. I have been here in the transit zone for about a year, and nine months in this sector. Every morning I wake up and see the same things” he told us.
Then his asylum request was refused. This was strange, as he left Iran with his uncle and their story of fleeing the country was exactly the same – so if the uncle qualified for protected status, the nephew should have as well. And he’s far from the only child to be stuck in the camp: “If I go to the other sector, I see all the children there, why do they have to be here? All the small children, this place will be in their memory forever, and it will be so sad for them later. Why is the immigration office doing all this to us?”
Erik Marquart has his own view: “European policy aims to make the external border as badly managed as possible so that people love to stay in war zones, rather than come.”