Category Archives: Uncategorized

Liam Payne, Former One Direction Singer, Has Died Aged 31

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The singer was reportedly found dead in Buenos Aires after reportedly falling from the third story of a hotel, according to ABC and TMZ.

Alberto Crescenti, the head of the state emergency medical system has said that the circumstances of the singer’s death are being investigated and an autopsy will take place.

Liam was part of One Direction’s original line-up, formed on X Factor in 2010, alongside Zayn Malik, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan and Harry Styles. The band went on an indefinite break in 2015, with Liam pursuing a solo career.

He shared a son called Bear with singer Cheryl, who was a judge on X Factor.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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Nick Jonas Flees From Stage After Laser Pointer Aimed At His Head During Prague Concert

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Nick Jonas bolted off stage during a Jonas Brothers concert in Prague on Tuesday night after a laser pointer was aimed at his head, causing the show to be stopped for several minutes.

Footage of the incident circulated afterward on social media showing a frightened Jonas running backstage while frantically flashing a “time out” sign with his hands.

A representative for Prague’s O2 Arena confirmed in a statement to Variety on Wednesday that the concert had been delayed and noted that laser pointers are prohibited at the venue.

“We can confirm that the Jonas Brothers’ performance had to be interrupted for several minutes due to the use of a prohibited laser pointer by the person,” the spokesperson said. “The organising service responded to this fact. After a few minutes, the band continued their performance.”

Crowded concert venues have also become the targets of planned violence.

In August, several of Taylor Swift’s shows in Vienna were cancelled when authorities discovered threats of a terrorist attack at the venue. A 19-year-old man with links to ISIS was subsequently arrested for the reported plot, which officials said was intended to kill “tens of thousands.”

The Jonas Brothers will perform again on Wednesday in Krakow, Poland, wrapping up the European leg of their “Five Albums, One Night” tour.

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Unearthed Video Of Rachel Reeves Laying Into Tory Tax Hike Returns To Haunt Her Ahead Of Budget

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An unearthed video of Rachel Reeves laying into the Tories for putting up National Insurance has come back to haunt the chancellor.

She and Keir Starmer have both repeatedly refused to rule out increasing the NI rate paid by employers in the forthcoming Budget.

But speaking in the Commons in 2021, Reeves, who was then shadow chancellor, said: “It is so worrying that at this crucial time, the prime minister and chancellor concocted a new jobs tax to arrive in the spring.

“Despite all of their election promises to cut National Insurance contributions, they’re actually raising them against the strong advice of business and trades unions.

“The Conservative government’s actions will make each new recruit more expensive and increase the costs to business.

“The decision to saddle employers and workers with a job tax takes money out of people’s pockets when our economic recovery is not yet established or secure, and only adds to the pressure on businesses after a testing year and a half.”

Labour’s election manifesto said: ”[We] will not increase taxes on working people, which is why we will not increase National Insurance, the basic, higher, or additional rates of income tax, or VAT.”

However, speaking on Monday, Reeves insisted that putting up the employers’ rate of NI would not break that pledge.

She said: “We are going to need to sort of close that gap between what government is spending and bringing in through tax receipts. But we are going to be a government that sticks to our manifesto commitments, including that one.”

Asked directly on Monday whether it would break the manifesto promise, the prime minister told the BBC: “It was very clear from the manifesto that what we were saying was we’re not going to raise tax for working people. And it wasn’t just the manifesto, we said it repeatedly in the campaign, and we intend to keep the promises that we made in our manifesto.”

Meanwhile, the chancellor today dropped another huge hint that taxes will rise in the Budget on October 30.

She told a cabinet meeting that “there would have to be difficult decisions on spending, welfare, and tax”.

A Labour spokesperson said: “The chancellor told cabinet the Budget would focus on putting the public finances on a strong footing and being honest with the British people about the scale of the challenge.”

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The Latest Maternity Leave Figures Sum Up Why Birth Rates Are Falling In The UK

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Just weeks after the former women and equalities minister, Kemi Badenoch, said that maternity pay is ‘excessive’, new research from Pregnant Then Screwed, and Women in DataⓇ has revealed that 4 in 10 mothers took just 12 weeks or less following the birth of their most recent child — thanks to the low maternity pay in the UK.

According to Citizen’s Advice, statutory maternity pay lasts up to 39 weeks, made up of: 6 weeks getting 90% of your average weekly pay (before tax), 33 weeks getting either £184.03 a week or 90% of your average weekly pay (before tax) – whichever is less. Which is a staggering 43% of the national living wage.

Excessive isn’t quite the word, really.

The UK’s fertility rate is falling faster than any other G7 nation

Given how poorly parents are treated once they’ve had children, it’s perhaps no surprise that the UK’s fertility rate is falling faster than any other G7 nation – with austerity thought to be ‘principal factor’.

If we can’t afford to look after our babies once they are born, it makes sense that many people are choosing to not have their own children at all.

One person on X said: “Most adults now have to live with parents through their 20s, commonly through their 30s.

“Millennials are the first generation to be poorer than the last in over 200 years, and have had an adulthood of austerity, recession, and a pandemic. Why would they have kids?”

More maternity support is essential

Pregnant Then Screwed is calling on the government to increase the rate of statutory maternity pay and maternity allowance to the national living wage. An amount which is widely regarded as the absolute minimum someone needs to live on.

In a press statement, the charity said: “We know that maternity leave more than 12 weeks has huge benefits for a mother and her child. It decreases rates of maternal physical and mental health issues, decreases infant mortality and improves rates of breastfeeding.”

Joeli Brearley, CEO and Founder of Pregnant Then Screwed commented, “The perinatal period is critically important to the health and well-being of a mother and her child, and I think we should all be deeply concerned that due to severe hardship, we are now seeing a degeneration and a degradation of this vital period.

“Ultimately, It is a false economy to not pay parental leave at a rate on which families can survive and thrive.

“We need a government that will listen to parents, creating policies which ensure they can survive and thrive, particularly in those early days. Right now we are falling way behind our European counterparts, and it is not only this generation which is suffering the consequences, but it will be the next.’’

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Vladimir Putin Personally Ordered The Salisbury Poison Attack, UK Government Believes

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Vladimir Putin personally ordered the Salisbury Novichok poisonings, the UK government and one of the victims told an inquiry into the attack today.

Former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal, who offered up Moscow secrets to the UK and his daughter Yulia fell unconscious back in 2018 after touching the nerve agent which had been placed on the front door handle of their home.

Both of them, along with a police officer who went to visit them, fell critically ill but recovered.

Four months later, a member of the public, Dawn Sturgess, died after being exposed to the poison after her partner found a counterfeit perfume bottle which authorities believe was used to smuggle the nerve agent in.

Her partner also fell ill but recovered.

Skripal, who has not spoken publicly since the incident, sent a statement to the inquiry into Sturgess’s death today which pinned the blame squarely on the Russian president.

He said: “I believe Putin makes all important decisions himself. I therefore think he must have at least given permission for the attack.”

He added: “I have read that Putin is personal[ly] very interested in poison and likes reading books about it.”

However, Skripal admitted he had no concrete evidence to back up his claim.

“I do not know for certain how Putin personally viewed me. As far as I know I never spoke to him, although I was in the same room as him two times many years ago,” he said.

He added: “I never thought the Russian regime would try to murder me in Great Britain”.

A senior foreign office official, Jonathan Allen, also gave a statement to the inquiry suggesting the UK government had come to a similar conclusion based on “current assessments”.

“In light of the required seniority under Russian law to approve assassinations of suspected terrorists outside Russia, and that this incident concerned a politically sensitive target (Mr Skripal was a UK citizen, and was targeted on UK soil), it is HMG’s view that President Putin authorised the operation,” Allen’s statement read.

Three Russians – and alleged GRU military intelligence officers – have been charged in absentia by the UK over the attempted murder of the Skripals, although all three deny it, along with the Kremlin.

No formal case has been brought against them over Sturgess’s death.

Lawyers for her family called for Putin not to “cower behind the walls of the Kremlin” and to look her relatives “in the eyes and answer the evidence against him”.

However the legal representatives acknowledged the chances of that were “very very small”, seeing as there is an International Criminal Court arrest warrant out for Putin over his alleged involvement in the abduction of Ukrainian children in the regional war.

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Nightmare Before Christmas’ Director Has Settled The Debate Of Whether It Is A Halloween Film

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If you’re from a certain generation, you’ve likely spent the final months of the year in an ongoing debate about whether the 1993 flick The Nightmare Before Christmas counts as a Halloween or Christmas film.

No, you can’t say both.

Unlike most silly debates, there are two healthy points of view here — the film is exploring the themes of Christmas and what it means to families and communties.

However, crucially… It’s set in a place called Halloween Town which is inhabited by traditionally scary creatures that count down to Halloween every year.

However, the director of The Nightmare Before Christmas weighed in on this debate and I’m sorry to all the Christmas fans but you might be disappointed…

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If you’ve ever found yourself embroiled in this debate, we have exactly the bit of trivia you need.

When the director was asked whether he considers it to be a Christmas or Halloween film at a 2015 Q&A at Colorado’s Telluride Horror Show film festival, he said: “Oh, boy, it’s a Halloween movie.”

So that’s that. We can debate over other things this festive season, like whether Love Actually is good, actually.

While we’re on the topic of The Nightmare Before Christmas…

It was Henry Sellick that directed the film and not Tim Burton, as many people believe. Tim wrote the story but the direction was all down to Henry, who also directed Coraline.

Speaking about this common misconception in 2022, Henry said: ”[It] was a little unfair because it wasn’t called Tim Burton’s [The Nightmare Before Christmas] until three weeks before the film came out.

“And I would have been fine with that, if that’s what I signed up for. But Tim was in LA making two features while I directed that film.”

Let’s consider the record straight: it’s a Halloween film, directed by Henry Sellick.

Happy Halloween!

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