Latest news with #Jacob
Sunday World
14 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Sunday World
Curvy Style influencer Sinead O'Brien on navigating grief after a double family tragedy
'I have good days and bad days but I never panic about it, that's just life.' 'I busted my zip on my dress for the VIP Awards. I need my own show, honest to God,' she laughs. 'I put up weight since my wedding and sure I put on the dress, I was like, be grand. And then no, the zip just literally went on me. I've just gone to have it altered, it's all fine, but there's always a drama.' It's been three years since we caught up with the Vacious founder, who's brought shapewear and body positivity to the masses. The last time we spoke, things were equally dramatic: the model was just days away from welcoming her darling baby boy, Jacob, into the world alongside husband Simon. But not even imminent labour could stop the fabulously unfiltered and fiercely uplifting Limerick native from picking up the phone. 'Jacob is three at the end of June. It's crazy. He's three going on 23 now, to be honest with you.' Laughing, the much-adored influencer adds: 'He's so much craic. He's so much fun and that bit older and his speech has come on so much.' And true to form, Sinead never does anything by halves. When she gave birth to Jacob on a brilliant summer's day in June, it wasn't the only arrival. Sinead's Vacious range of shapewear has been a big hit with women . 'Looking back, I don't think I ever took maternity leave for Jacob because I had only just launched Vacious. So I really couldn't take my foot off the pedal at the time because we had just launched the swimwear. "There was no way I could just say, 'OK, bye everyone.' I remember, sure, I was in the throes of labour there literally in the maternity ward and I'm like, 'did we sell any swimsuits?' I always say we had two launches that day,' she grins. Known for her honesty and relatability when it comes to motherhood and beyond, becoming a mum, she admits, was a crash course in chaos. 'I didn't know what I was doing. I remember I used to get little bits for Jacob before he was born. I got this big long brush, and I was like, that looks like a weird hairbrush. "And it was actually for cleaning the bottles. I put it online and the laugh that people got, they loved to see how clueless I was. 'I remember Simon practising how to change a nappy on a teddy bear. I mean we were that bad. We really were because yes, I have nieces, but I was like the cool auntie that waited until they were older to bring them to McDonald's. 'It truly does come to you naturally in the end,' she adds reassuringly. 'And my mom always said she couldn't get over how much of a good mam I was from the very start.' But the joy of Jacob's arrival was soon followed by unimaginable heartbreak. In 2023, Sinead lost her brother-in-law, former Ireland rugby player Tom Tierney, suddenly. Just nine days later, her beloved dad, Dobs, also sadly passed away. 'I'm a singer and I sang at Tom's funeral and then nine days later I went to put on that same dress to sing at my dad's funeral and it was still wet on the rad. There was no time in between whatsoever.' Reminiscing about the unbreakable bond she shared with her father, she recalls: 'My dad had great craic with me on Instagram. "He used to get collabs and all, he'd have people messaging saying, 'no, we want your dad.' "He would come on and he'd do little hauls with me and, do you know what, people loved is him and my mom's relationship because you could tell the way he'd look at her how much he loved her.' From heartwarming videos to sentimental posts, Sinead's Instagram remains a living scrapbook of moments with her father — memories cherished not only by her followers but by her son, Jacob. Sinead's Vacious range of shapewear has been a big hit with women . 'I've so many videos of him on my Instagram still that I often just look back on and it's lovely to have them and especially for Jacob. "I was the first one to have a boy in the family. My dad is surrounded by women all his life, so Jacob got to meet him, which was very important to me.' Navigating grief as best she can, the shapewear founder explains: 'I find the further out it gets, the more difficult it gets because you just realise they're not coming back. The first year you're almost running on adrenaline. Then the other days you learn how to manage.' In what should have been a joyful lead-up to her wedding in Portugal last September, Sinead was met with the crushing reality that both her dad and brother-in-law would be absent on the day. 'Everyone used to say to me, 'you're going to miss your dad so much for walking you up the aisle.' Which of course I did. But I have to say that anytime I pictured myself ever getting married, always, always, the thing that came into my head was the speeches. 'And for me, because my dad was such a larger than life character, it tore me up a bit more inside knowing that he wouldn't be standing up there talking about me, which is what he loved to do. 'So I wrote what I called a letter from heaven and it wasn't morbid, it was like him speaking to the crowd as if it was him. I just asked everyone to close their eyes, pretend it's my dad, and honestly you would've forgotten that it was me. And it was funny and witty and everyone was crying, but it was beautiful. So that was a really, really special moment.' Funnelling her energy and passion into her business, for the entrepreneur, shapewear is about more than smoothing lines — it's about building a mindset. 'I have women that contact me on a daily basis and say, 'I haven't been confident enough to go on a date with my husband because I didn't feel good, now I feel like I could take over the world.' Shapewear is a feeling that you get. It's what it does for you. It gives you confidence.' Read more Empowering women of all shapes and sizes is at the heart of Sinead's mission, and she's not shy about calling out the fashion industry for lagging behind. 'The fact that we go to size 28 I think is phenomenal. And I don't shout about that enough. I think there's no excuse for brands anymore at this point. I think it's honestly disgraceful that even at this stage, if I was going to a wedding, I can't walk onto a shop floor, I have to go online because they mainly only stock up to 16. There's no excuse for it.' Her frustration is clear, but so is her resolve to be part of the solution. 'You shouldn't have to be categorised at all. I mean, size eight to 28, they're just dress sizes and you are who you are. It's just the physical shops need to get their s**t together.' And while she champions self-love and body acceptance, Sinead is refreshingly candid about her own body image. 'I'll be completely honest with you now. I have good days and bad days. I lost weight before the wedding. I actually lost two stone and I walked every day and I was the healthiest and fittest I ever was.' Post-wedding life, however, brought some familiar fluctuations — and she embraces them with her trademark humour and perspective. 'Since then I've put back on a stone and look like that. The first thing I said to you today was I broke the bloody zip and the dress. I will never panic about these things. The dress can be fixed. 'I am bigger than I was now before my wedding. But I'm more than happy to go to the VIP side of awards because I know I look good regardless of what size I am. Because it's all about shapewear and also, where you are in your head. 'And yes, I definitely do want to get that weight back down because I did feel better. 'But the point I'm trying to make is you don't have to get upset or panic yourself when you do fall back a bit. That's life and it's normal.'
USA Today
a day ago
- Politics
- USA Today
Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, is the marriage equality ruling next?
Michael and Jacob clicked. They met online in 2020 (one lived in Pennsylvania, the other in Arizona), met in person in 2022 and by December they were a couple. They had talked of getting married in 2027, or 2028. There was no hurry. Then came Election Day: Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. A few weeks later, Michael got a text from his partner: "We need to talk." The upshot: Michael Tribbey and Jacob Rainey flew to Los Angeles for a rush wedding on Jan. 3. "We realized we need to get married before the new administration comes in, because we don't know what kind of shenanigans are going to come in with marriage equality,' Tribbey told the which is a part of the USA TODAY Network Such concerns are on the minds of many as Pride Month 2025 gets underway. Could the federal recognition of gay marriage go away, just as the federal right to abortion did? Will protections against LGBTQ+ discriminations be lifted? Those things haven't happened yet. They may not happen. There are laws in place, both at the state and national levels, to make it harder for them to happen. But who could say, in light of the anti-DEI policies of the new administration, and the past actions of the Supreme Court, that they couldn't happen?' "Some of it is unlikely, but I don't think any of it is impossible," said Rick Kavin, a political science teacher whose courses "Law and Politics" and "LGBTQ+ Politics in America" are offered at Rutgers University. "It's way more likely than it was five years ago, that's for sure," he said. "I think anything's on the table at this point." Gay married couples, this year, are worried about things that might have seemed fanciful just a year ago. And not without reason, said Brielle Winslow-Majette, deputy director of Garden State Equality, a statewide LGBTQ advocacy group based in Montclair and Asbury Park, New Jersey. "I think that's a valid concern," she said. "Based on things we've heard the Supreme Court say in the past, I think they're going after anything that's not traditional. I wouldn't be surprised if same-sex marriage was on the docket." Which is why, as Pride Month launches with the usual parades, celebrations, festivals and music events, it is also looking nervously over its shoulder. 'There are things percolating' The anti-DEI sentiments out of Washington are affecting Pride events on a national level. Mastercard, Pepsi, Nissan and PwC have pulled their sponsorship of NYC Pride. Anheuser-Busch, Comcast and Diageo pulled out of San Francisco Pride. Booz Allen Hamilton and Deloitte withdrew from WorldPride, Washington, D.C. It all begs the question: Could Obergefell v. Hodges, the 2015 Supreme Court ruling that legalized same-sex marriage, be simply overturned by the court's current 6-3 conservative majority, as Roe v. Wade was in 2022? "I think there may be a try," Winslow-Majette said. "I don't think it is far-fetched to say that it could happen." There are rumblings. Kim Davis, the Kentucky clerk who was successfully sued in 2015 by a same-sex couple to whom she denied a marriage license, plans to fight the $100,000 judgment in court. But her lawyers plan to go further. They want to make the case a judgment on Obergefell itself. Such a test-case – that, or another like it – could end up, sooner or later, in the Supreme Court. Sounds unlikely? So did the 2022 Dobbs decision overturning the constitutional right to abortion. Until it happened. "There are things percolating," Kavin said. "You're probably going to see something just like that, where a county clerk refuses to issue a license, they're held in contempt and they sue, and it works its way up the courts." 'Scary, but real' Some LGBTQ+ households are starting to ask themselves: What's your plan of action? What's your escape route? (Some, Kavin said, are talking of Canada). Others aren't as concerned. And some couples, like Michael and Jacob, have rushed into matrimony while the door is still open. It would be easier, they reasoned, for the government to prevent their marriage than to un-marry them after the fact. Still it was hard, Tribbey said, to have to suddenly alter their life plans, and to stage a hurried wedding without the preferred trappings, and without most of their respective families. "I found a small chapel that does wedding ceremonies in L.A.," Tribbey said. "I wanted something that was a little nice. I didn't just want a shoebox to be married in." Perhaps, he said, they can have a more elaborate re-commitment ceremony in 2030 or so, when all of this has blown over. If it blows over. Meanwhile, already-married gay couples shouldn't be complacent, Kavin said. "For folks who are currently married, don't just rely on that marriage," he said. "Make sure your will is in order, that your health proxy is set up, that everything is clearly spelled out. What you would want if something happens to you, if you die, if you share children, particularly if they're adopted children? Have that in order. Have your documents in order. Which is scary, but real." If a worst-case scenario is barreling down on the LGBTQ+ community, it will encounter speed bumps. In New Jersey, for example, there is strong pro-equality language in the marriage statutes. "In 2022, they rewrote the marriage laws to be gender-neutral," Kavin said, "in anticipation that something might change on the federal level. New Jersey has very strong protections, but obviously many states don't." Federally, the Respect for Marriage Act, signed into law by President Joe Biden, also in 2022, requires federal and state governments to recognize same-sex and interracial marriages, according to the laws of the state where the marriage occurred. Until that is overturned, all existing marriages will have to be recognized, nationwide. But that wouldn't prevent new laws, forbidding new marriages. "While I don't think you would see existing marriages voided, it's very, very possible that you would see the end of the licensing of new marriages," Kavin said. Moreover, federal laws can be annulled. The Dobbs decision, reversing Roe v. Wade, was one example. The majority 2022 opinion on Dobbs pronounced that its legal argument was confined specifically to abortion. But in his separate, "concurrent" opinion, justice Clarence Thomas argued that, on the contrary, it ought to be applied more broadly. "He specifically singled out not only Obergefell, which is the marriage case, but also Lawrence v. Texas from 2003, which is the sodomy case," Kavin said. "So he's specifically citing these examples of cases that should be reexamined." Whether such a thing happens may depend not just on the vigor of conservatives in pursuing the case, but also, conversely, on the public's willingness to push back.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Valerien Ismael's unprecedented transfer wish as Blackburn Rovers wait continues
Blackburn Rovers' wait for a summer signing breakthrough continues, though they are not the only Championship club yet to break their duck. Only six signings have been announced so far across the division, including three loan deal that have been turned permanent. The three 'Citys' have been active with Jacob joining Norwich, Gustavo Puerto to Hull and Alfons Sampsted to Birmingham. The other three deals are free transfers; Hector Kyprianou to Watford plus Daniel Iversen and Jordan Thompson to Preston North End. Advertisement The summer transfer window doesn't officially open until Sunday, June 1. It will close again on Tuesday, June 10 because of the Club World Cup and then re-open on Monday, June 16 until deadline day on Monday, September 1. Valerien Ismael was adamant he wanted new faces through the door by the start of pre-season. That means it will be a busy June for Rovers if they're to meet expectations. READ MORE: Ex-Blackburn Rovers star Adam Wharton suffers setback after FA Cup final injury Negotiations are on going to sign Modipo Sagnan, a key target to bolster their centre-back options. Much will depend on the final decisions of Danny Batth and Andi Weimann as to whether they have to recruit another this window. Advertisement Talks with the out-of-contract pair remain ongoing but, as reported by The LT this week, there is a growing belief they will decide to join Derby County and reunite with John Eustace. That would be a blow and surely add to Rudy Gestede's shopping list. This time last year, there were nine deals confirmed in the Championship waiting to be officially processed when the window opened on June 14, and then there were only 21 more before the start of July. Rovers did not get their first player through the door until right at the end of the month with Makhtar Gueye signing on July 30. Ninety per cent of all signings in the Championship were announced after July 1. In fact, 50 per cent of deals were done after August 1, nearly 40 per cent were done after the first game of the season on August 10 and 25 per cent in the last two days of the window, as per number crunching from Stoke-on-Trent Live. Rovers' earliest business in recent seasons was, ironically, in the summer of 2023, where the start of the end began for Jon Dahl Tomasson. Niall Ennis penned a four-year deal on May 26 whilst Sondre Tronstad and Arnor Sigurdsson were confirmed before the end of June. They then had to wait until August to finish their business after issues in India became apparent. Players remain on holiday and the Championship season has only just officially concluded after the play-off final. But now things will begin to gear up. Maybe not in terms of 'done deals' but negotiations, agent talks and speculation.
TimesLIVE
2 days ago
- TimesLIVE
'My children live with the consequences of my actions' — Denise Zimba longs for her kids
Denise met Jacob in Cape Town in 2015. Their first daughter was born in July 2019 and they married seven months later. In 2022 the family relocated to Munich, Germany. Their second child was born there in 2023 and Denise filed for divorce in September that year. Two months later, the family came to SA for a two-month holiday. Denise opted to not return to Germany with the children, alleging attempted assault and infidelity. The Johannesburg high court ordered her to return her two daughters, aged one and four, to Jakob in Germany, saying because the children had been living there, they had to be returned to that country. The judgment cited The Hague Convention on the civil aspects of international child abduction which provides for an 'internationally agreed mechanism for dealing with the global phenomenon of child abduction', judge Maletsatsi Mahalelo said in her judgment. 'I did not abduct my children. We both agreed the children and I would stay in SA after a round table meeting with my estranged husband and my family, only for him to return to Germany and open the case. It was a shock to me and my family. My family was willing to discuss matters with his family. He said he would relay the message. That never happened,' she told the Sunday Times. 'I was four months post-partum and financially dependent on my estranged husband. My career had been halted for the longest time. I had to fight for my girls to remain with me, their primary caregiver, during my divorce. My girls were four years and four months at the time.'
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Business Standard
2 days ago
- Business
- Business Standard
Asia's jet fuel exports to US West Coast to hit 1-year high in May
Asia's jet fuel exports to the US West Coast are expected to hit at least a one-year high in May, according to shiptracking data and three trade sources, as refinery outages in California boosted prices and import demand. The exports for May, mostly from South Korea, are pegged at nearly 600,000 metric tons (4.28 million barrels), according to shiptracking data from Kpler and estimates from two of the sources. The exports were last at similar levels in February of last year, the Kpler data showed. "The main reason behind the increasing volume of imports into the USWC region is primarily associated with unexpected outages in local refineries," said consultancy Wood Mackenzie's research analyst Rodrigo Jacob. The surge in imports comes at the start of the American summer travel season, potentially impacting travel costs and highlighting the vulnerabilities of US West Coast supply. Motorist association AAA said near-record numbers of domestic airline passengers were expected to have flown over the May 22-26 Memorial Day holiday period this year. This year's forecast represents a 2 per cent increase over last year and is just shy of 2005's record of 3.64 million passengers, AAA said. Outages at refineries in California owned by PBF Energy and Valero Energy since early this year have limited overall US West Coast fuel production. "These outages combined with a decline in local inventories, drove local prices higher and triggered increased interest from traders in sourcing cargoes for import, predominantly from North Asia," Jacob said. ARBITRAGE The strength in US jet fuel prices against Asia's opened the arbitrage window last month, traders said. The spread averaged more than $17 a barrel in April, Reuters calculations showed, while the average cost of chartering a medium-range vessel carrying 300,000 barrels of jet fuel for the roughly 30-day voyage was $5.50 a barrel, ship broking data showed, providing a good margin for Asian sellers. In the near term, strong jet fuel supply from China could depress benchmark prices in Singapore and keep arbitrage export trade to the US open, said Matias Togni, an analyst at market insights provider Next Barrel. China's jet fuel exports hit a 13-month high in April, official customs data showed, while industry estimates for May volumes were above 2 million tons. "China prioritised jet fuel above other products in their export quotas, flooding Singapore storage tanks and forcing South Korea to redirect their flows towards the US West Coast," Togni said. However, US West Coast refinery use rates rose to a two-month high of 82.6 per cent in the week ended on May 16, US government data showed, potentially limiting import demand for June. Still, the permanent closure of two refineries on the US West Coast from end-2025 could lift the region's jet fuel imports by up to 100,000 tons per month, analysts said.
