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THERE'S no denying that the coronavirus crisis has turned all our worlds upside down - but for Lauren Arris Cartwright, life is basically unrecognisable now. In March last year, the retail worker hopped on a plane from her home in Northern Ireland to visit a guy she'd been casually dating who lived in Manchester. Before the trip, Lauren, 27, had only been on four dates with Dan after they'd been introduced at a friend's wedding. Speaking to the Manchester Evening News , Lauren explained: "When driving to the airport on the Friday, my dad jokingly said 'you better come back on Monday'." However the following week, the UK went into total lockdown - and Lauren and Dan's found they'd accidentally jumped a few steps ahead in their relationship and spent months living in each other's pockets. "It was really hard at first," Lauren said. "All I had with me was just a few bits of clothing, makeup and my toothbrush – it really wasn’t ideal!" Unsurprisingly, Lauren found … [Read more...] about I accidentally moved in with a guy I barely knew in lockdown after just four dates – now I’m never flying home

Tony Hendra has died at the age of 79. The satirist and star of This Is Spinal Tap had been diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), in 2019. Wife Carla Hendra confirmed to The New York Times her husband's cause of death. He was best known for starring as the inept manager in cult classic, This Is Spinal Tap. Tony was British but have lived for many years in the United States. He had begun writing and performing while still a student at Cambridge University, working in the same circles as the future stars of Monty Python, such as John Cleese and Graham Chapman. In 1964, Tony and performing partner Nick Ullett took their act to the US, where he forged a career in acting, stand-up comedy, writing and publishing. He was named managing editor of humour magazine National Lampoon in the early 70s, solidifying his position in American satire. National Lampoon's Lemming, which Tony co-wrote, became an off-Broadway hit, Chevy Chase, John … [Read more...] about Tony Hendra dead: This Is Spinal Tap star dies aged 79 from Lou Gehrig’s disease

It was an ordinary Wednesday morning when I woke up on 13 March, 1996. It was snowing and I shivered as I pulled on my red school uniform sweater. We’d moved to Scotland three years earlier – my mum, my stepdad and my 11-year-old brother Joe. I loved my school. I was a happy-go-lucky kid and very settled. Dunblane was a safe, close-knit community. Neighbours were friendly and Joe and I had the freedom to play in the park and walk to school by ourselves. After we’d waved Mum goodbye at home, we walked the short distance to school and Joe went off to his class, which was in a prefab structure on the site, and I went to mine, Primary Four, which was a classroom in the main building. The school had a large gym in the middle and a big field at the back. It was coming up to 9.30am and our class was walking through a corridor to the music room, called the “GP room”, to practise singing for a big assembly later that week. But something wasn’t right. I was standing next to my … [Read more...] about ‘I tried to take my life after Dunblane horror – but now I have my happy family’

Philip Whiteside, news reporter Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is a British-Iranian woman who has been in jail in Iran for five years. The Iranian regime claims she was working against the state when she was arrested on a visit to the country to see her parents with her daughter. Here is a timeline of events that have left a family split apart and resulted in diplomacy at the highest level. October 2010 Joins Thomson Reuters Foundation Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe joins the Thomson Reuters Foundation, a charity that says it promotes "socio-economic progress" and the rule of law through a series of training programmes. Advertisement Before the move, she worked for BBC Media Action for around 18 months, the corporation's international development charity which uses "the power of media and communication to help reduce poverty and support people in understanding their rights". June 2014 Birth of her daughter Gabriella, the only daughter of Mrs … [Read more...] about Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe: The five-year fight for freedom

If you're in the process of buying a home, then chances are you'll have been nervously waiting on Chancellor Rishi Sunak's every word last Wednesday to find out if the stamp duty holiday was being extended. In the end it turned out the leaks were true. The Chancellor extended the stamp duty holiday by three months . This matters because over 300,000 people were said to be stuck waiting for their home purchases to go through before the end of March. If the extension hadn't happened, then they could have been out of pocket. In fact, the stamp duty holiday was extended to the end of June, with further reduced discounts available to the end of September for people living in England and Northern Ireland. This has led to loads of readers contacting me to ask if this is a good time to buy a property. House prices are unpredictable at best – and for every optimist there's a pessimist with a different view. Here’s an overview so if you’re thinking about making a move, you have all … [Read more...] about Is the stamp duty holiday the right time to buy a house? Pros and cons explained