Saturday, March 21

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Why is everyone talking about the Ballerina Farm trad wife interview?
World News

Why is everyone talking about the Ballerina Farm trad wife interview?

Hannah and Daniel Neeleman with their eight children. Photo: Ballerina Farm/Instagram Two days ago, Hannah Neeleman, a Mormon mother of eight children, posted a video on TikTok to her two million followers. It was date night and Neeleman and her husband, Daniel, walked through the long grass in between mooing cows on their Utah ranch. "When we started our farm, I was swept up in the beauty of learning to make food from scratch," said Neeleman in a voiceover as she and her husband kissed and cuddled their baby. "It's the world we created and I couldn't love it more," she added. It seemed like perfect eye candy for the trad wife trend, where modern women take on the role of traditional wives. But for many followers, the video felt like a response to a recent profile in the Times of London...
Raghav Juyal: `Gyaarah Gyaarah` was my first project as an actor which…
Entertainment, Movies

Raghav Juyal: `Gyaarah Gyaarah` was my first project as an actor which…

The upcoming ZEE5 series `Gyaarah Gyaarah` boasts of a stellar ensemble cast including Raghav Juyal, Kritika Kamra and Dhairya Karwa. Produced by Guneet Monga and Karan Johar, Gyaarah Gyaarah tells the riveting tale of two police officers from different eras connected by a mysterious walkie-talkie and the butterfly effect it causes on the past and present. A senior detective Shaurya Anthwal, played by Dhairya Karwa, from the 1990s and a young police officer Yug Arya, portrayed by Raghav Juyal, find themselves linked by a perplexing communication tool that springs to life at 11:11 PM for a fleeting 60 seconds. At the center of this temporal whirlwind is a determined woman Vamika Rawat, played by Kritika Kamra, once mentored by the senior detective Shaurya Anthwal before he mysteriously disa...
Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh killed in Iran, Hamas says in statement
World News

Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh killed in Iran, Hamas says in statement

Ismael Haniyeh, Palestinian leader of the militant group Hamas, surrounded by lawmakers flashes the victory sign during the swearing in ceremony for the new Iranian President, at the parliament in Tehran on July 30, 2024. Photo: AFP Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed in Iran on Wednesday, the Palestinian militant group Hamas and Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards said in separate statements. The Islamist faction mourned the death of Haniyeh, who it said was killed in "a treacherous Zionist raid on his residence in Tehran". Hanieh attended Iran's new president's swearing in ceremony on Tuesday. "Early this morning, the residence of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran was struck, resulting in his and one of his body guards' martyrdom. The cause is under investigation and will be announced soon," ...
Business confidence improves for first time in six months
Business

Business confidence improves for first time in six months

(file image) Photo: RNZ / Rebekah Parsons-King Business confidence jumped for the first time in six months as firms expect activity to improve from its lows and inflation to come down. ANZ's monthly business outlook showed headline confidence up 21 points to a net 27 percent in July, while firms' activity outlook rose 4 points. However, reported past activity fell further as firms continued to struggle in challenging economic conditions. ANZ chief economist Sharon Zollner said the survey was a mixed bag, as forward-looking indicators picked up, but past activity showed most sectors were doing it tough. "Most sectors continue to deteriorate, with construction and retail the weakest sectors by quite some margin. The economy-wide indicator is looking very soft," she said. The improvement i...
US carries out strike in Iraq in months
World News

US carries out strike in Iraq in months

By Ahmed Rasheed, Idrees Ali and Phil Stewart, Reuters Humvees and vehicles of the combined Iraqi forces and Hashed Al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization units) inside the town of Tal Afar, west of Mosul, on 25 August, 2017. Photo: AFP / Ahmad Al-Rubaye The United States on has carried out a strike in Iraq in self defence, US officials told Reuters, as regional tensions rose after an Israeli airstrike in Beirut that Israel said killed Hezbollah's most senior commander. Iraqi police and medical sources said the strike inside a base south of Baghdad used by Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) killed four members of the group that contains several Iran-aligned armed militias, and wounded four others. In a statement after the blasts, the Popular Mobilization Forces made no accusation abou...
William van Cutsem: Prince William’s “brotherlike” BFF — and latest hire
Life Style

William van Cutsem: Prince William’s “brotherlike” BFF — and latest hire

He’s the BFF of our future king who’s been there through all his big life milestones: the childhood friend Prince William used to go shooting with on the Sandringham Estate; the confidante he selected to be Prince George’s godfather; and the man by his side when he stood as an usher at the Duke of Westminster’s wedding last month, pictured smiling next to each other in their suits outside Chester Cathedral. Perhaps it’s little surprise, then, that William van Cutsem, 45, is the man the trusted by the Duke of Wales, 42, to become his colleague at the Duchy estate. The father-of-two will take on the role of adviser to the council at the 130,000-acre estate the duke inherited last year — a nod to his background as a chartered surveyor, and his unique position as the prince’s most loyal friend...
Building consents for new residences drop to five-year low
Business

Building consents for new residences drop to five-year low

Building consents for new residences have fallen to a five-year low as a slowing economy and high costs knock demand. Stats NZ said consents for June were down 14 percent on May, and about 24 percent on a year ago driven by a slump in apartments, town houses, and retirement village units. "The number of both apartments and retirement village units consented in the year ended June 2024 is the lowest in the last nine years," Stats NZ construction and property statistics manager Michael Heslop said. The annual number of consents has fallen from a peak of 51,000 in mid-2022 to 33,600 in the year ended June. The sharpest declines occurred across the country but most pronounced in Auckland down 27 percent, Wellington down 36 percent, and Canterbury down 16 percent. The business and commercial se...
Black Ferns Sevens hero Sarah Hirini made match-winning play with possible broken cheekbone
World News

Black Ferns Sevens hero Sarah Hirini made match-winning play with possible broken cheekbone

Right before she made the break that sealed an Olympic gold medal, Sarah Hirini took a heavy knock to her face. Pinned down on their own line and clinging to a 14-12 lead, Hirini broke through the Canadian defensive line and charged downfield. She did not have the legs to go end-to-end, but the Black Ferns managed to get it wide and in the next phase of play Hirini threw the last pass to Stacey Waaka who slid in for the match winning try. It's likely the Black Ferns Sevens co-captain was carrying a broken cheekbone through those match-winning plays. Hirini was sent for an assessment soon after receiving her second successive gold medal with the champion Sevens team. It was just another brutal injury Hirini sustained for her team. An inspirational leader in the Black Ferns Sevens team, S...
Sweet Valley High author Francine Pascal dies at 92
World News

Sweet Valley High author Francine Pascal dies at 92

Pascal's popular book series about identical US twins Elizabeth and Jessica Wakefield. Photo: Random House By Emma Saunders of the BBC Sweet Valley High author Francine Pascal has died at the age of 92. Her agent Amy Bekower told the BBC she died on Sunday. Pascal died of lymphoma in hospital in New York, her daughter Laurie Wenk-Pascal confirmed to the New York Times. Pascal's popular book series about identical US twins Elizabeth and Jessica Wakefield was a hit around the world with its tales of teen romance, friendship and sibling rivalry. Set in the fictional Los Angeles suburb of Sweet Valley, the first book from the series was published in 1983, with 180 more produced over the following 20 years. There were also several spin-offs, including Sweet Valley Twins and Sweet Valley Univ...
Officers hurt and police van set alight in Southport, UK
World News

Officers hurt and police van set alight in Southport, UK

By Angela Ferguson, Lesley Hitchen, Callum May & PA Media, BBC News Smoke billows from a fire started by protesters as riot police stand guard after disturbances near the Southport Islamic Society Mosque in Southport, northwest England, on July 30, 2024, a day after a deadly child knife attack. Photo: AFP / ROLAND LLOYD PARRY Several officers have been injured and a police van set on fire during a protest just hours after a vigil took place to remember the victims of a knife attack in which three children were killed. The protest, which police said was believed to involve English Defence League supporters, began only a few streets away from the vigil location, near to a mosque on St Luke's Road in Southport. Merseyside Police said a number of officers had been injured, police veh...