Monday, April 13

Life Style

The Bigger Life Festival: Your 2025 Begins Here
Life Style

The Bigger Life Festival: Your 2025 Begins Here

Welcome to The Bigger Life Festival – where every session opens a door to possibility, every expert offers practical insights, and participants are inspired to take meaningful steps toward their goals.Starting January 27th, 2025, we're inviting you to explore the art of living well. Through carefully curated live online sessions, you'll delve into health, lifestyle, personal growth, and career development – each one designed to inspire and provide actionable tools to create your bigger life.Looking for a thoughtful gift idea? Treat someone to the inspiration and tools they need to make 2025 their best year yet with a Bigger Life Festival Pass.The full programme and expert lineup will be announced soon – don’t miss your chance to be part of this transformative experience.Designed for Your S...
Top gift-giving brands to shop at for everyone on your Christmas list
Life Style

Top gift-giving brands to shop at for everyone on your Christmas list

‘Tis the holiday shopping season, and with Christmas fast approaching there’s no time like the present to get all your loved one’s gifts ticked off the list. Whether you’ve got an abundance of buys for friends and family still to get or you’re looking for that extra-special something to show your partner how much you care, we’re here to help with ideas. Women are arguably the easiest to buy for at Christmas. But if you’re struggling for inspiration, beauty gifts always go down well. We’ve found some beautifully wrapped made-for-pampering gift sets at L’OCCITANE, and for skincare-obsessives, you can’t beat the skin-rejuvenating products at Medik8 - with so many bestsellers.Fashion finds are another winning gift idea for women. If you can’t make the budget stretch to cashmere, try Gap’s Cash...
Horoscope today: Your daily guide for Wednesday, December 4, 2024
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Horoscope today: Your daily guide for Wednesday, December 4, 2024

Aries 0904 470 1141 (65p per minute)*Taurus 0904 470 1142 (65p per minute)*Gemini 0904 470 1143 (65p per minute)*Cancer 0904 470 1144 (65p per minute)*Leo 0904 470 1145 (65p per minute)*Virgo 0904 470 1146 (65p per minute)*Libra 0904 470 1147 (65p per minute)*Scorpio 0904 470 1148 (65p per minute)*Sagittarius 0904 470 1149 (65p per minute)*Capricorn 0904 470 1150 (65p per minute)*Aquarius 0904 470 1151 (65p per minute)*Pisces 0904 470 1152 (65p per minute)**Astro line horoscopes are updated every Friday. Calls cost 65p per minute plus your telephone company’s network access charge and will last approximately five minutes. You must be over 18 and have the bill payer’s permission. Service provided by Spoke. Customer service: 0333 202 3390 Source link
The Trafalgar Square Christmas tree: The good, the bad and the ugly
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The Trafalgar Square Christmas tree: The good, the bad and the ugly

Every December, Christmas traditions take over London – whether you’re in the mood for disappointing light switch-ons, stress-inducing shopping centre trips or Instagram-worthy ice rinks. Another Christmas tradition is that of the Trafalgar Square Christmas tree. Since 1947, the people of Oslo have gifted London with a Norwegian spruce tree as a thank-you for Britain’s support during WWII. It’s a thoughtful gesture, but each year the tree provides Londoners with some light comic relief thanks to its appearance. On Monday, December 2, the 77th Norwegian spruce – also known as the Queen of the Forest – was erected, and it wasn’t long before the taunts rolled in. “It’s here. Well half of it anyway,” said one X user. “Hopefully it looks better when it’s up”,” said another of its flat branches,...
Embrace your introversion: A masterclass with Richard Etienne
Life Style

Embrace your introversion: A masterclass with Richard Etienne

This new year, leave behind the pressure to be someone you're not and step into 2025 with quiet confidence. Introversion is not a weakness – it's a unique strength that can propel you to remarkable achievements when embraced fully.In this empowering 90-minute masterclass, personal branding expert Richard Etienne, a Masterclasses favourite, will help you embrace your introversion as a superpower. You’ll discover how to make an impact without being the loudest voice in the room and create a personal brand that feels authentic and effective – the perfect way to kick off your most confident year yet.Identify and overcome self-sabotaging habits and communication barriers. Define and strengthen your personal brand to stand out authentically. Promote yourself effectively, both online and in perso...
What is the ‘luxury car tax’ and is your vehicle affected?
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What is the ‘luxury car tax’ and is your vehicle affected?

Electric car owners will have to pay thousands in luxury vehicle taxes starting next year.The news comes after October’s Budget, where it was announced there will be an increase to first-year tax rates for petrol, diesel and hybrid vehicles in order to push consumers towards electric vehicles (EVs).Since 2020, zero-emission motors have been free from the fee, however, Labour is carrying out Tory plans to reinstate them starting in April.Which cars will be subject to the ‘luxury car tax’?The plans state that EVs with a list price of more than £40,000 that are registered after April 1 will be subject to additional vehicle excise duty (VED), much like traditional vehicles. It is due for five years from the beginning of the second year of ownership and will cost £425 annually.For the start of ...
Following your senses in Oman: the beauty of the Frankincense trail
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Following your senses in Oman: the beauty of the Frankincense trail

Luban is harvested from the gnarled Boswellia Sacra tree, which grows in abundance in the sheltered Dhofar area. Using a special technique, with a knife called a Manqaf, a cut is made in the trunk, after which the sap slowly oozes out in tear-shaped droplets. Once it hardens, it is cut from the tree bark. At the height of the Frankincense Trail in the 4th century BC, it was one of the most precious commodities in the world – made immortal, of course, in the biblical story of the three wise men gifting it to baby Jesus. At the time, Dhofar’s ancient city of Sumhuram was a hub of activity with ships setting sail across the Arabian Sea, to trade the resin in the east, in ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt, and in the west, in Greece and Rome. Source link
12 Best Christmas hotel stays near London for a weekend break: from Somerset to Amsterdam
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12 Best Christmas hotel stays near London for a weekend break: from Somerset to Amsterdam

Whichever week you choose to visit, Amsterdam nails December. Already underway, there’s the Amsterdam Light Festival to make the city sparkle, and mid-month, the brown cafés pouring bock beers are at their cosiest, while on New Year’s Eve the city residents light firecrackers en masse. And in the heart of the chic Nine Streets neighbourhood, The Pulitzer makes the perfect festive base. It is housed in 25 canal houses linked by lifts, passages and a stunning glass-walled courtyard for a truly unique stay. Come the last week of November, the wonderfully eclectic interiors by creative director Jacu Strauss, are given a new pièce de résistance in the form of the courtyard Christmas tree. This year’s was designed by Jenny Packham, adorned with giant pearl ‘earrings’. The perfect place for a fes...
Harness the power of visualisation: Goal setting for 2025
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Harness the power of visualisation: Goal setting for 2025

Have you ever noticed how your best-laid plans often fade by February? That's because traditional goal-setting misses something crucial: the connection between your deepest values and daily choices.In this opening session of The Bigger Life Festival, wellbeing expert Ciara McGinley shares powerful visualisation and intention-setting practices that actually work. No 5am starts or rigid routines required – just clear, practical tools to help you map out a purposeful 2025.Uncover your core values through focused visualization techniquesCreate a practical roadmap that aligns your everyday decisions with your goals so you can live more intentionally Master a versatile visualisation tool for moments when you need clarityIdentify concrete actions you can take today toward your desired futureCulti...
Dating across the political divide: Meet the couples who’ve done it
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Dating across the political divide: Meet the couples who’ve done it

“Politics, and society in general, is becoming more polarised, and the period between 2015 and 2019 saw many political happenings that were extremely divisive — the Brexit referendum, Trump being elected in the US, Corbyn becoming leader of the Labour Party,” says Dr Natasha McKeever, says Dr Natasha McKeever, a philosophy and ethics lecturer at the University of Leeds and co-director of the Centre for Love, Sex and Relationships alongside Dr Luke Brunning. “Politics was very much at the forefront of many people’s minds during that period, and many felt the need to decide which side of various debates they were on.” Source link