Global house price downturn fades, most markets to rise in 2024: Reuters poll
By Hari Kishan BENGALURU The recent downturn in global property prices is mostly over with average home prices
2023-09-01 21:49
What to stream this weekend: Indiana Jones, 'One Piece,' 'The Menu' and tunes from NCT and Icona Pop
This week’s new entertainment releases include an album from the 20-member K-pop super group NCT, ”Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” swings into streaming
2023-09-01 21:47
Canadian factory PMI falls to three-year low as output slows
By Fergal Smith TORONTO Contraction in Canada's manufacturing sector gathered pace in August as production and new orders
2023-09-01 21:46
What ACC expansion means for remaining Pac-12 schools without a home
With Cal, Stanford and SMU joining the ACC, what does this mean for the final two remaining Pac-12 holdovers in Oregon State and Washington State?
2023-09-01 21:45
Samuel Newey: British volunteer killed in Ukraine a 'selfless warrior'
The family of Samuel Newey says they have been left devastated and heartbroken by his death.
2023-09-01 21:24
The worst Champions League 'groups of death' ever
The toughest Champions League groups of death in the competition's history, with the likes of Real Madrid, Manchester United and Manchester City frequently populating these fiendishly tricky matchups
2023-09-01 21:23
Woman bullied over skin blistering disorder writing books to stop other children ‘feeling like freaks’
A woman who was born with a rare inherited skin blistering disorder which caused her to get “bullied” and feel “like a freak” throughout her childhood and teenage years, as well as forcing her onto a soft food diet of “bananas and custard” for weeks at a time, now writes inclusive children’s books with a focus on disability to encourage “other children to grow up with confidence”. Vie Portland, a 52-year-old confidence coach, author and speaker from Winchester, was born with epidermolysis bullosa simplex generalised intermediate but was not formally diagnosed with the skin condition until she was 28. According to the NHS, epidermolysis bullosa (EB) is a rare inherited skin disorder that causes the skin to become very fragile, and any trauma or friction to the skin can cause painful blisters. Vie is yet to find a treatment that helps her condition, and her feet are regularly covered with huge internal blisters which feel like she has “stones under (her) skin.” Her condition even means that she cannot eat “anything acidic or too peppery” and often spends weeks eating “just bananas and custard”. She has also developed thoracic outlet syndrome, chronic bursitis, and often has spasms, because of walking with a limp to try to ease the pain. Now, Vie writes inclusive children’s books to raise awareness about living with a disability, because she grew up “afraid that there was no one else like (her)”, and hopes to write a book about someone with her condition next. Vie told PA Real Life: “So it feels like I’ve got stones under my skin all the time on my feet and it doesn’t matter how much you try to explain that to someone people just don’t get it. “Even things like if I meet friends for a drink in a lovely pub garden – I’ll be in agony because of walking on gravel and it takes so much energy out of me. “I can’t eat anything acidic or too peppery – sometimes I have to eat just bananas and custard for weeks.” Vie was born with the skin condition, saying: “I was born with no skin on my bottom and had some skin missing on my left foot. “The charity that works with people that have EB wasn’t around then – I spoke to someone recently from Debra, the charity, and they said if you looked at all the people on a double-decker bus, you’d expect to find at least one person with psoriasis. “But, you’d have to wait for over 700 buses before you met someone with EB.” As a child, Vie regularly had huge blisters all over her feet and the back of her heels. She explained: “I remember wearing jelly shoes one summer, and heat and friction are two of my triggers. “Throughout the day, blisters grew around the rubber shoes and I had to have the pair of shoes cut off my feet – it was excruciating.” When Vie was a teenager, she was very self-conscious of her condition, she explained: “I was in constant pain, and I struggled with all shoes and walking anywhere. “We’re always told not to pop blisters, but when you have EB they tell you to pop them because they get so big. “I didn’t know that at the time and it was just so painful. “People were noticing how I walk and I was embarrassed to show my feet – I didn’t have a normal childhood because of this. “Even something as simple as opening a bottle makes several layers of skin come off and cause me to have raw skin all over my hands, I was told this was weird by other people.” Doctors were baffled by Vie’s condition, over the years, she was told she had different types of eczema and even that she was allergic to her own sweat. But, at age 28, she was diagnosed with EB by a dermatologist in London. She said: “I just grew up believing that it was my fault and I was afraid that there was no one else like me.” “It all just made sense. “They even took pictures of my feet for a medical journal because it was so rare.” After getting her diagnosis, Vie began researching the charity DEBRA, which specialises in EB. She said: “I started finding out that there were people like me – it was amazing, growing up, I was bullied and felt like a freak.” Since then, Vie has sadly not been able to find a treatment that helps her condition. “There’s no cure for EB but things have moved on a lot over the past 20 years,” she said. “We have special types of dressings and creams which can help alleviate the pain.” On top of this, because Vie has been walking “unusually” for most of her life, she has developed thoracic outlet syndrome, chronic bursitis, and often has spasms. Vie said: “It can be frustrating at times because it just feels like no one will ever understand what it is like. “For most people, blisters are a bit painful, but it’s all right, but for me, it’s one of the worst pains in the world.” Now, Vie is focussing on raising awareness about living with a disability, and has recently written two inclusive children’s books called ‘Where Are We Going?’ and ‘Who Am I?’. She said: “I want other children to grow up with confidence and not to feel like a freak like me. “Children aren’t born with prejudice and I think it’s really important to teach them about all of our amazing cultures and worlds. “In my books, I don’t explicitly say the character is disabled until the discussion questions at the end – I want the character to be accepted and not defined by their disability. “I think people have more in common with each other than things that are different, and that’s a beautiful thing. “I’m hoping to write a book about someone with my condition – that’s my next plan.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Fraser Franks undergoing heart surgery – four years after ‘hidden’ condition cut short football career 4 viral TikTok make-up trends you’ll actually want to try Childhood Cancer Awareness Month: What are the warning signs that your child might have cancer?
2023-09-01 21:23
Louisiana professor asked students to paint their faces to fulfil his ‘clown fetish’
A Louisiana professor has been accused of using his students to fulfil a self-described “clown fetish” by painting their faces or asking them to paint their own. Joseph Tokosh would regularly post about his fetish on social media platforms, such as Facebook, Reddit and YouTube, while working as an assistant geography professor at Nicholls State University in Louisiana. In March, Mr Tokosh resigned from his position just before student journalists exposed his behaviour in their student-run newspaper, The Nicholls Worth. Sally-Anne Torres, managing editor for the newspaper, reported that six students had come forward to claim Mr Tokosh would offer them bonus points in class if they allowed him to paint their faces. A post on a Reddit forum also surfaced where Mr Tokosh, under the username Joeography, shared photos of several women wearing white face paint. In another Reddit post, seen by USA Today, Mr Tokosh wrote: “I have a facepaint fetish and convince the cute girls in my classes to let me paint their faces.” Before Mr Tokosh resigned from the university in late March, a few students had already reported his behaviour to campus police. Bradley Price, a student who took Mr Tokosh’s East Asia class online, alleged that the professor had set an assignment where all students had to paint their faces and take photos of themselves. “You had to send in multiple pictures of how you did it from multiple angles and also write down the process of it. The relevancy he gave it was that it was a Japanese style of makeup; it was for students to get a better understanding of their culture,” Mr Price said, according to USA Today. Mr Price said he completed the assignment by getting a female friend to help him and submitted it to Mr Tokosh. The professor came back and told Mr Price he would get bonus points if he could convince his friend to also paint her face. After learning about Mr Tokosh’s clown “fetish”, Mr Price said he was “disgusted”. “I feel frankly disgusted and disappointed that Nicholls couldn’t do a proper background check on this professor because this is unacceptable,” he said. “How could this have got past any reasonable check?” Mr Tokosh did have a police report on file before arriving at Nicholls State University, after pleading no contest to a theft charge at Kent State University in 2017 for entering a colleague’s office and taking a USB drive. The police report also detailed another incident of face paint fetishism. A Kent State student, who was 18 at the time, had reported seeing a post by Mr Tokosh on a Facebook group meant for new students to meet each other. In it, he had allegedly made a cash offer to anyone who would agree to let him paint their faces. The student said she agreed as she was in need of more money and had an interest in movie makeup, according to USA Today. Mr Tokosh then allegedly offered to pick her up and take her to the geography department at the university to paint her face. She told police she had stopped responding to his messages after becoming uncomfortable with the situation – which then caused Mr Tokosh to become annoyed and refuse to leave her alone. The student then filed a police report about the professor. “I felt like the school would want to know about it,” she said, according to USA Today. “I thought maybe they could prevent anything bad from happening since other girls would go with him.” However, she said that there was never a follow-up by campus police. Following that incident, the professor tried to defend his actions in a video interview with student-run KNSU TV at Nicholls. He said the face paint assignment was for students to “actually come up with their own face paint and makeup design inspired by a culture, and they implement it”. He left Kent State University following the theft charge. In a statement to Fox News Digital, a Nicholls State University spokesperson said about the latest allegations: “Nicholls State University is proud that our student journalists brought this situation to light. We take the safety and security of our student population very seriously. “Once this was brought to the university’s attention, we acted appropriately to remove Joseph Tokosh from the classroom and did not renew his contract. He is no longer affiliated with Nicholls State University.” Read More UNC shooting updates: Students demand gun control with powerful newspaper front page after Chapel Hill attack Mother convicted of killing malnourished baby by giving him cow’s milk could have life sentence commuted Louisiana woman arrested for stabbing grandfather in face because he asked her to take a shower
2023-09-01 21:21
'The Equalizer 3' reloads Denzel Washington as the McCall to call in a pinch
Although the comparison doesn't set the bar terribly high, "The Equalizer 3" might be the best in this Denzel Washington film series, not by honoring its TV roots but rather embracing an old western formula -- specifically, "Shane." The "final chapter" thus carries a bit more dramatic heft, while still offering plenty of, um, equalizing to satisfy those hungry for it.
2023-09-01 21:18
USMNT gossip: McKennie to stay, Cardoso to stay, Pefok joins Gladbach
It is transfer deadline day in Europe but the USMNT gossip is that the players linked with moves could be set to stay at their clubs.
2023-09-01 20:59
Country Garden: How bad are the Chinese property developer's debt problems?
By Xie Yu HONG KONG (Reuters) -China is grappling with a slowdown that has rattled global markets, with the spotlight
2023-09-01 20:57
Chris Eubank Jr, Liam Smith and the revelation that changed everything
The last fight between Liam Smith and Chris Eubank Jr finished in chaos and confusion back in January. It was perhaps the only way the fight and the week could finish; there was a capacity crowd of just under 20,000 in Manchester and a ring packed with screaming people. On Saturday they do it all again and this time, it is serious. Manchester is once again the venue. Eubank Jr was dropped twice in the fourth but was up on unsteady legs, insisting he could continue, when it was called off after 69 unforgettable seconds. Eubank Jr was actually steered back to his own corner by Smith’s trainer, Joe McNally. It was an act of compassion surrounded by a night of hate and violence. The fight was stopped at the right time. Eubank Jr has since sacked his trainer from the night, Roy Jones Jr, and hired Brian BoMac McIntyre, who works with Terence Crawford. BoMac runs a strict gym and that is, probably, what Eubank Jr after 13 years as a professional and 35 fights desperately needs. It is never too late to learn in the boxing business. Smith returned to the Rotunda gym, arguably one of the most successful amateur boxing clubs in the world, and continued to prepare under the guidance of McNally. Smith and his party insist there will be more of the same when the bell sounds, and Eubank and his new gang are confident that they can change the outcome; both have enough to lose and an awful lot to gain from the fight. Smith has nothing to prove, Eubank Jr is under intense pressure. This fight has nothing to do with any parts of their colourful fighting history; this is just about repeat or revenge. The last time, the build-up was ugly and personal and this time it is just strictly business. Smith knows he can knock out Eubank Jr and Eubank Jr knows he can be knocked out. It was, trust me, a revelation to both boxers the way their first fight ended. Eubank Jr has conveniently claimed that he is a different man under BoMac’s glare, a smarter and better prepared fighter. He will need to be because, in the first fight, Smith was in control and looked in control. Sure, there was nothing in the fight up until the point where Smith trapped Eubank Jr in a corner and let his hands go. Eubank Jr slumped to the canvas, regained his feet, was dropped again and then got up one more time and was ready, so he claimed, to continue. He was not, it had to be stopped and that is where Saturday’s fight starts. The bad blood remains, the bragging rights are clear and the motive for revenge could not be any higher. At a time of pandering and preening YouTube boxers, crossover fights that only make sense at the bank, this second instalment is genuinely an old-school fight. There is no belt for family pride and that is a pity because that is the backdrop to this fight. Smith and his fighting brothers, Eubank Jr and his fighting father, uncles and cousins. Smith is confident that he can do it all again and Eubank Jr with the influence of BoMac is equally convinced that the result will be different. They can each look you in the eye and they would pass any test of truth – this is personal and that makes the most memorable fights. Smith at his best can do it all again, but Eubank Jr is fighting for his very survival. This is boxing at the very extreme. Watch Smith vs Eubank Jr 2 on Sky Sports Box Office on Saturday 2 September, live from the AO Arena in Manchester Read More Chris Eubank Jr on Liam Smith, adrenalin, and how to be ‘box office’ Eubank vs Smith 2 live stream: How to watch fight online and on TV this weekend Liam Smith: ‘Chris Eubank Jr is a nightmare – not for me, for other people’ Chris Eubank Jr and Liam Smith in heated debate over decisive factor in rematch Eddie Nketiah wins England call-up – Thursday’s sporting social Chris Eubank Jr on Liam Smith, adrenalin, and how to be ‘box office’
2023-09-01 20:54
