Stay at home mothers

Yes, it’s become a real thing in 2021 – practising not just safe sex but Covid-safe sex this Valentine’s Day. After all, while you do want to get things all hot and steamy metaphorically, you don’t really want to feel hot and steamy (read: feverish) IRL these days because a rising temperature can only mean one thing… jialat, you have to see a doctor right away. In fact, the New York City Health Department recently even issued a two-page memo on “strategies to reduce the risk of spreading Covid-19 during sex” because “decisions about sex… need to be balanced with personal and public health”. Since we can’t imagine our health authorities doing this, here are our strategies for you. 1. Stick to one sex partner only. It’s like how you must restrict the number of people visiting your household liddat so you can easily track and trace who’s been where if someone falls sick. 2. Avoid face-to-face positions to reduce the risks of transmitting infectious saliva particles. The New … [Read more...] about Here’s how to practise (pandemic-)safe sex

SINGAPORE : Parliament has passed the Income Tax (Amendment) Bill, which involves changes announced in the 2012 Budget Statement. Elderly and handicapped persons will get enhancements to Earned Income Relief so as to encourage them to stay employed. A one-off cash grant capped at S$5,000 will help small and medium-sized enterprises offset higher business costs. The Productivity and Innovation Credit scheme has also been enhanced so cash payouts can be given to businesses on a quarterly, rather than yearly, basis. Minister of State for Finance Josephine Teo also responded to calls for more help for lower- to middle-income families. She said: "The government does not look at tax reliefs alone, but takes a holistic approach to supporting families. And there are several substantive forms of assistance to families that are given, whether the mothers are in the workforce or at home. "This includes the baby bonus, infant care and child care subsidies. The baby bonus, for … [Read more...] about Parliament passes Income Tax (Amendment) Bill

Glaiza de Castro Although most of 2020 was challenging career-wise, the last few months have been much better for Glaiza de Castro, who now has projects lined up across different media. The GMA 7 variety show “All-Out Sundays,” which she cohosts, is celebrating its first anniversary this month. Her latest film, “Midnight in a Perfect World,” just had another digital release. She’s set to release a new single and music video. And she will also be starring in an upcoming drama series. “It’s overwhelming. The things I had been dreaming of last year are slowly happening now. The blessings are coming in. And I feel grateful for the timing,” she told the Inquirer in a recent virtual conference for “All-Out Sundays.” For Glaiza, who has been in show biz for almost two decades now, work is already a part of her. Thus, she couldn’t help but feel that there was something lacking when the pandemic put the breaks on the industry. “I missed working because it’s already part of my system. … [Read more...] about Glaiza de Castro overwhelmed by blessings coming her way

Basingstoke, England (CNN) Last May, Steve Bates' phone rang. The UK was in the midst of its first national lockdown -- there was a stay-at-home order, schools and most shops were closed, and experts were warning that a vaccine could still be years out. At the other end of the line was an old friend, Kate Bingham , a pharmaceutical investor who had just agreed to lead the UK's Vaccine Taskforce, a team of private sector experts assembled to secure vaccine doses for the British public. She wanted him to join. "She wanted my contacts. She knew that I knew everybody in the industry," Bates, a lobbyist who heads the UK BioIndustry Association, told CNN. "Kate Bingham said to me, 'we've never made a vaccine that's worked against a human coronavirus. This is a long shot.'" Compelled by a sense of national duty in a time of crisis, Bates agreed to help. By that time, the British government had one of the highest national death tolls globally, having dragged its feet to … [Read more...] about Vaccine rollout is a much-needed win for UK after bungling its pandemic response

He captivated readers around the world with Captain Corelli's Mandolin, his tale of a doomed love affair set in wartime Greece . But it seems that best-selling author Louis de Bernieres no longer melts hearts north of the England-Scotland border. For I can disclose that he has just been unceremoniously sacked as Patron of the British Banjo Mandolin and Guitar Federation because of, he believes, his views about how to resolve the question of Scottish independence. 'I have actually been 'cancelled',' he says. 'I had a letter published in the Times about how the rest of the UK ought to have a say in whether we wanted independence from the Scots. Best-selling author Louis de Bernieres has just been unceremoniously sacked as Patron of the British Banjo Mandolin and Guitar Federation 'Some Scottish snowflakes protested to the BMG [the Federation] and I was fired.' The Federation, whose aim is 'to promote the performance and education of banjo, mandolin and guitar', … [Read more...] about SEBASTIAN SHAKESPEARE: Captain Corelli’s Mandonlin author gets sacked as patron of banjo society!

Pupils dilated, eyes twitching and beads of sweat drip from his face. Overlooking the driveway of his mother's spare room, drug mule Vinny Jordan has a high-powered rifle in his arms. He is waiting. Waiting for someone to come down the driveway and steal the drugs, take his money and his life. Someone is out to get him. He knows it so intensely he is ready to pull the trigger on the next person who pulls up. READ MORE: After blowing $100k and nearly 15 years in and out of prison for meth dealing, Rex is ready to give up the drug Rehabilitated 'P' dealer and addict wants to be remembered for more than drugs You don't want to be the one who loses a stash of drugs; drugs that belong to a gang. ”I thank God no-one came in the driveway. I honestly believe I would have shot someone that night.” At the time, Jordan, 45, was a debt collector in a biker gang. He also had a raging methamphetamine addiction. Gang life gave him access to a free flowing stream of drugs. … [Read more...] about Settling old debts: Meth, guns, gangs, and the long road back

When Netflix suggested I might like to preside over a conversation between Sophia Loren and Frank Langella , two titans of the screen and stage, it felt churlish to turn the opportunity down. They both appear in films handled by the streamer this year; Loren makes her return to screens after more than a decade away in The Life Ahead , directed by her son Edoardo Ponti, and Frank Langella delivers a blistering turn as Judge Julius Hoffman in Aaron Sorkin’s The Trial of the Chicago 7 . And what to say about two of the most accomplished actors of their generation that hasn’t been better spoken by the many decades of extraordinary work both of them have authored? Frank Langella, of course, made his name in the theater, where he has won no fewer than four Tony Awards for performances in plays by Peter Morgan, Florian Zeller, Edward Albee and Ivan Turgenev. He has brought some of those plays to the screen, notably reprising the roles of Dracula and Richard Nixon in … [Read more...] about In Conversation: Sophia Loren And Frank Langella, Two Titans Of Screen And Stage, Look Back On Their Predestined Drive To Perform

Next While a lot has been said about Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's 1941 escape from British India and his perilous 90-day submarine voyage, his marriage continues to remain a secret. In the second part of his four-part interview to Arthur Pais, biographer Sugata Bose talks about Netaji's love story. Part I: Grand nephew turns Netaji's biographer I t was in 1993 that a historian handed over to the author some 165 letters written by Subhas Chandra Bose to his wife Emilie, whom he secretly married in Austria. This came as a huge and pleasant surprise to Sugata Bose, he admits. "The last major biography of Netaji was published in 1990. Brothers Against the Raj by Leonard Gordon is a very good book but unfortunately he did not have access to the correspondence between Netaji and Emilie," the author said. Tell us about the letters. We all knew about the relationship and the marriage when we were growing up but the fact that there were so … [Read more...] about ‘Netaji had a romantic, deeply emotional side to him’

PRINCE Harry and Meghan Markle's bombshell Oprah interview could burn the couple's final bridge with Prince Philip and the Queen, it has been claimed. Royal expert Victoria Murphy said the Oprah interview put the popularity of the monarchy on the line. But she said the row had gone beyond criticism of the institution — and could burn any personal bridges Harry and Meghan still have. "There's only so much you can separate the individuals and the people from their roles and the positions that they have within "The Firm", and if you're attacking one, then you're also attacking the other," she added. The news comes as the Duke of Edinburgh, who is just three months from his 100th birthday, underwent surgery for a pre-existing heart condition. A statement from Buckingham Palace said: "The Duke of Edinburgh yesterday underwent a successful procedure for a pre-existing heart condition at St Bartholomew’s Hospital. "His Royal Highness will remain in hospital for … [Read more...] about Prince Philip latest news – Harry and Meghan ‘could burn final bridge’ with stricken Duke and Queen with Oprah interview

In mid-February, Dr. Phil aired an episode about a 56-year-old woman named JoLynn with an alcohol addiction. But unlike other shows — or even an old Oprah episode — she isn’t coiffed or remotely prepared for the interview. She’s very clearly intoxicated, disheveled, and isn’t wearing any shoes. She rambles and at one point, starts to walk away from her chair. When Phil McGraw (more commonly known as Dr. Phil) asks her repeatedly where she’s going, she looks like a lost child. “I don’t know,” she says, over and over again. It’s not entirely clear why she came to McGraw of all people for help, and the show seems far more inclined to zero in on her confusion and intoxication. Dr. Phil premiered nearly 20 years ago as an Oprah Winfrey–endorsed platform for McGraw. McGraw holds a doctorate in psychology, but stopped renewing his license in 2006, and has never held a valid psychology license in California, where the show is filmed. (A spokesperson for Dr. Phil confirmed that he … [Read more...] about It’s Time To Cancel “Dr. Phil”