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Flex Mami’s period manifesto

Flex Mami has been yapping into the internet for years now. It’s what I personally know and love her for, but right now Flex is yapping with a serious agenda. She’s on a mission to break down period taboos so that everyone else feels more comfortable, confident and in control when it comes to menstruation....

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I was not expecting a Will Ferrell movie to teach me about allyship

I’ve been a fan of Will Ferrell for as long as I can remember, and I don’t think this is a particularly unique experience.  The comedian has been making the world laugh since the 90s, from his SNL sketches to his ridiculous movie roles and outrageous interviews. When I heard that he was releasing a...

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Lana Del Rey has married an alligator swamp tour guide and yes you read that correctly

In what just might be one of my favourite pop culture stories of the year, singer/icon Lana Del Rey has married an alligator swamp tour guide.  Honestly, why the hell not? According to Daily Mail, “The unlikely couple exchanged vows by the water in Des Allemandes, Louisiana — the same bayou where Dufrene (the groom)...

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She lived with us for 9 wonderful years’ – Luis Enrique opens up on death of his daughter in heartbreaking interview

LUIS ENRIQUE has opened up about the heartbreaking death of his daughter Xana.

The Paris Saint-Germain manager’s beloved daughter tragically passed away at the age of nine in 2019.

ERR0CD Berlin, Germany. 06th June, 2015. Barcelona's head coach Luis Enrique and his daughter Xana celebrate after winning the UEFA Champions League final soccer match between Juventus FC and FC Barcelona at Olympiastadion in Berlin, Germany, 06 June 2015. Photo: Ina Fassbender/dpa/Alamy Live News
Luis Enrique has spoken beautifully about keeping daughter Xana’s ‘memory alive’

Less than a year after taking over as Spain manager, Enrique would step away from the role in June 2019 for personal reasons.

Two months later, Enrique shared the news of Xana’s death after her five-month battle with osteosarcoma, a rare bone cancer.

The former Barcelona and Real Madrid midfielder has again paid a heartfelt tribute to his youngest daughter.

Enrique opened up about her passing in a profoundly moving segment in the third episode of his documentary You Haven’t Got a Clue.

He said: “Can I consider myself fortunate or unfortunate? I consider myself fortunate, very fortunate.

“My daughter Xana came to live with us for nine wonderful years. We have a thousand memories of her, videos, incredible things.

“My mother couldn’t keep photos of Xana.

“Until I came home and asked, ‘Why are there no photos of Xana, Mom?’ ‘I can’t, I can’t, she used to say.

“‘Mom, you have to put up photos of Xana, Xana is alive,’ I replied.”

Enrique added: “Physically, she may not be here, but spiritually she is.

“Because every day we talk about her, we laugh, and we remember because I think Xana still sees us.”

The images of Xana that accompanied his words reflect the happiness she radiated, which Enrique vowed to keep alive in his memory.

The Champions League winning manager with Barca returned to his Spain job to replace interim coach Robert Moreno ahead of Euro 2020.

He lost on penalties to eventual champs Italy in the semi-finals and stepped down after Spain lost another shootout to Morocco in the Round of 16 in the Qatar World Cup.

Back in November 2022, after his Spain side drew 1-1 with Germany in the group stage in Qatar, Enrique paid tribute to Xana ahead of what would have been her 13th birthday.

He said: “It was a special day for me and my family.

“Obviously we don’t have our daughter with us physically anymore, but she is still present every day.

“We remember her a lot, we laugh and think about how she would act in each situation that we experience.”

Enrique also thanked the medical team who treated his daughter “for their dedication and treatment”.

Barcelona Coach Luis Enrique and his daughter Xana Martinez celebrate winning the UEFA Champions League Final between Barcelona and Juventus at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin, Germany. Photo: Visionhaus/Ben Radford (Photo by Ben Radford/Corbis via Getty Images)
Xana Enrique passed away following a battle with osteosarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer in 2019

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UK’s youngest lottery winner welcomes her FIFTH baby years after blowing £1.8m jackpot on boob jobs & drugs

BRITAIN’s youngest ever lotto winner has welcomed her fifth child, gushing: “I count my blessings every day.”

Callie Rogers – who famously scooped £1.8m in 2003 aged 16, but blew it on drugs and cosmetic surgery – has finally found happiness with a new baby – and a new man.

a woman with a tattoo on her neck takes a selfie
Callie Rogers has welcomed her fifth child
Facebook
a woman is holding up a cheque for one million eight hundred and seventy five thousand pounds
She became Britain’s youngest ever lotto winner when she was 16-years-old in 2003
Rex
a man and a woman are posing for a picture in front of a sign that says check
Facebook
The mum-of-five welcomed her baby with new partner Lee Matthews[/caption]

Now 37, Callie has shared heartwarming photos of her newborn daughter Navie-Nicola on her Facebook page.

Snaps include one the tot at five weeks old in August, captioned: “The Best five Weeks Of Life Loving You Our Little Bean”, and another captioned “Mammys precious girl”.

Pals gushed over the arrival, with one writing: “Awww how beautiful she is, you’ve been blessed with beautiful babies Cal” and another commenting “Cuteness overload!”

The Sun can also reveal that Callie is in a relationship with Lee Matthews, 35.

The pair posted a loved-up selfie on social media in March announcing that they are a couple – prompting well-wishes from pals, with some joking that Lee is “punching above his weight.”

Callie’s baby joy comes after a rollercoaster two decades.

She first made headlines when she became Britain’s youngest ever lotto winner in 2003 soon after turning 16.

Over the next nine years she reportedly splurged the lot on plastic surgery, cocaine and clothes.

She also gave hundreds of thousands to friends and family – some of whom she said she later realised were using her.

The mum has also battled depression and twice attempted suicide.

Callie, who has four other children, later voiced regret at not having saved more of her winnings as they would have helped her support son Blake, 12, who has cerebral palsy.

She has also admitted that she was not “equipped” for winning the huge sum aged 16, saying in a previous interview: “I was buying houses when I didn’t have the first idea about the responsibilities involved.

“I didn’t know how to pay a bill because I’d never had to. I didn’t know what council tax was.”

The National Lottery has since increased the minimum age for players to 18.

In 2018 dog-sitters Marie Hind and Jayde Quayle were jailed after assaulting Callie after a night out.

The lotto winner was left with broken ribs, smashed teeth, concussion and permanent damage to her sight following the horror attack.

And in 2021, after crashing her car while on cocaine, Callie was pepper sprayed and hit with a driving ban.

She refused to provide a breath sample and appeared at Workington Magistrates Court where she was banned from getting behind the wheel for 22 months and given an 11-week curfew.

Friends seem delighted that Callie, of Workington, Cumbria, appears to have found joy at last.

They rushed to congratulate her when she and beau Lee revealed on social media that they are in a relationship, declaring the pair “cute” and “lovely”, and another writing: “Chuffed for you Callie.”

And the photos of Navie-Nicola have clocked up dozens of ‘likes’, with pals labelling a photo of Callie’s older daughter Georgia gazing at her little sister as “adorable”.

a woman with blue hair is wearing a black crop top and pants
Callie’s baby joy comes after a rollercoaster two decades
Facebook
a man and a woman are posing for a picture and the man has a tag on his shirt that says glow
Friends seem delighted that Callie, of Workington, Cumbria, appears to have found joy at last
Facebook
a woman holds up a one million eight hundred and seventy five thousand pounds check
PA:Press Association
Over the next nine years after winning Callie reportedly splurged the lot on plastic surgery, cocaine and clothes[/caption]
a woman in a black dress holds a glass of yellow liquid
News Group Newspapers Ltd
She also gave hundreds of thousands to friends and family – some of whom she said she later realised were using her[/caption]

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Drivers go wild for ‘great’ £13 gadget to keep car warm WITHOUT wasting petrol on heating – snap it up before winter

DRIVERS have been hailing a £13 gadget which can keep your car warm this winter without wasting petrol on heating.

The handy device can also keep your motor fresh and even de-fog your windscreen.

a person wearing gloves and a scarf is removing snow from a car windshield
Getty
Drivers may well be looking for ways to keep their cars warm this winter[/caption]

Winter is well and truly on the way, with the UK seeing temperatures drop and heavy rain sweep in over recent weeks.

While the Met Office is suggesting the mercury could bounce back as high as 22C in the coming days, Brits wouldn’t expect to see much more of that at this time of year.

With that in mind, motorists are righty looking to get their cars ready for the colder months and it seems there’s a new bit of tech on the rise.

Most modern cars are fitted with air conditioning, which includes heater functions, and many even have a special button to de-mist the windscreen.

But the problem with running your air con is that it is powered by a driver belt attached to a crankshaft on the engine.

As such, the more you use the blower, the harder the engine has to work to keep a consistent power output.

This makes your motor less fuel efficient, slashing its mpg rating.

And with the cost of petrol at almost 135p per litre on average, this could end up costing you at the pumps.

Instead, some drivers are opting for an aftermarket heater unit as a more efficient way of staying warm.

Available for as little as £13 on Amazon, the device is about the size of a mobile phone and can be placed on an adhesive stand on your dashboard.

Instead of relying directly on the engine, it plugs into the cigarette lighter or charger socket and is powered by the battery.

While the battery does derive charge from the engine, it’s more efficient to recharge the battery via the alternator than it is to run the air con for an extensive period.

The new gadget has two modes, allowing you to channel hot air or “natural” air to keep things fresh.

And the stand can rotate through 360 degrees with a 60-degree tilt, allowing you to keep the air flowing to any part of the cabin.

It can even be directed forwards to defrost your windscreen on chilly days in seconds.

The heater enjoys a 100% five-star rating on Amazon, with one customer saying it’s a “great product”.

It comes after a dad revealed how he built his young son a fully driveable Rolls-Royce made completely out of wood.

a device that is on the dashboard of a car
Amazon
This plug-in heater is more fuel efficient than air con and costs just £13[/caption]

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English train station an hour from London that looks like it is Harry Potter – with riverside pub next door

A TINY English train station that is barely used is like something Harry Potter.

Chappel & Wakes Colne railway station in Colchester is around an hour from London, travelling to Liverpool Street station.

a brick building with a sign that says entrance store
Alamy
Chappel & Wakes Colne railway station is just over an hour from London[/caption]
an aerial view of a bridge surrounded by trees and houses
Alamy
Trains go over the Chappel Viaduct, compared to the one in Harry Potter[/caption]
a train going over a bridge with purple flowers in the foreground
In the summer you can see a field of blue linseed oil bearing flowers
Alamy

Just over 28,000 people use it a year, working out to around 77 passengers a day.

However, the train station is right next to the Chappel Viaduct, a huge brick structure measuring 1,066ft.

Built in the 1840s, trains run over the top of the viaduct, which is above a field of blue linseed oil bearing flowers during the summer.

Costing more than £2million to build in today’s money, it is one of the UK’s largest brick-built structures still standing.

Many may see the resemblance to the Glenfinnan Viaduct in Scotland, made famous for featuring in the Harry Potter films when used by the Hogwarts Express.

And the Essex viaduct has boomed in popularity by social media users who take pictures in one of the 32 arches, stretching 30ft tall.

Earlier this year, the viaduct celebrated its 175th anniversary of train routes, which launched in 1849.

Otherwise there is nearby The Swan Inn pub right on the river, whose beer garden is right underneath the viaduct.

One previous tourist wrote: “The location is beautiful and we had a short walk afterwards under the viaduct – a hidden gem of Victorian Essex.”

If you fancy visiting, the station has just one platform with a single track.

Thankfully, just one train runs an hour in each direction so there is rarely a battle for the track.

Platforms two and three are home to the East Anglian Railway Museum.

The attraction has themed events including Thomas the Tank Engine day outs as well as Steam train days.

Sun Travel's favourite train journeys in the world

Sun Travel's journalists have taken their fare share of train journeys on their travels and here they share their most memorable rail experiences.

Davos to Geneva, Switzerland

“After a ski holiday in Davos, I took the scenic train back to Geneva Airport. The snow-covered mountains and tiny alpine villages that we passed were so beautiful that it felt like a moving picture was playing beyond the glass.” – Caroline McGuire

Tokyo to Kyoto by Shinkansen

“Nothing quite beats the Shinkansen bullet train, one of the fastest in the world. It hardly feels like you’re whizzing along at speed until you look outside and see the trees a green blur. Make sure to book seat D or E too – as you’ll have the best view of Mount Fuji along the way.” Kara Godfrey

London to Paris by Eurostar

“Those who have never travelled on the Eurostar may wonder what’s so special about a seemingly ordinary train that takes you across the channel. You won’t have to waste a moment and can tick off all the top attractions from the Louvre to the Champs-Élysées which are both less than five kilometres from the Gare du Nord.” – Sophie Swietochowski

Glasgow to Fort William by Scotrail

“From mountain landscapes and serene lochs to the wistful moors, I spent my three-hour journey from Glasgow to Fort William gazing out the window. Sit on the left-hand side of the train for the best views overlooking Loch Lomond.” – Hope Brotherton

Beijing to Ulaanbatar

“The Trans-Mongolian Express is truly a train journey like no other. It starts amid the chaos of central Beijing before the city’s high-rises give way to crumbling ancient villages and eventually the vast vacant plains of Mongolia, via the Gobi desert. The deep orange sunset seen in the middle of the desert is among the best I’ve witnessed anywhere.” – Ryan Gray

Also in the UK is the Knaresborough Viaduct, built in 1851 that is often compared to a fairytale.

And here is the new scenic train that launched across the north of the UK this year.

a train is going over a brick bridge
Alamy
The arches have become popular on social media[/caption]

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