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Daily Mirror
14 hours ago
- Health
- Daily Mirror
Court rules 72-year-old British couple are parents of US-born surrogate toddler
Mrs Justice Gwynneth Knowles said the retired husband and wife used his sperm and a donor egg to conceive the child, known as B, paying more than £150,000 to a California surrogate agency Two 72-year-olds have been made the legal parents of a 14-month-old boy who was born using a surrogate in the States. In a ruling last month, Mrs Justice Gwynneth Knowles said that the retired husband and wife had used his sperm and a donor egg to conceive the child, known as B, paying more than £150,000 to a surrogate and agency in California. The couple, who cannot be named and have cared for the boy since birth, asked the High Court for a parental order in July 2024, which was granted in March. Giving her reasons for granting the order in the written ruling, the judge said that the "appropriate" arrangements had been made in case one of the pair died or became incapacitated before the child was an adult, describing B as a "much loved and cherished little boy". She also said that it was "not the purpose of this judgment to moralise about the wisdom of having a baby through surrogacy at an advanced age", but that the court should make sure that the child's future care had been planned "in case the worst should happen". Mrs Justice Gwynneth Knowles said: "It is an undeniable fact that, when B goes to school at the age of five, they will likely both be 76 years old and both will likely be 82 years old when B starts secondary school. Put starkly, Mr and Mrs K will both be 89 years old when B reaches his majority. "They have begun parenting at a time in their lives when, despite their current good health, it is foreseeable that their health will decline and that one or both of them will become seriously incapacitated or die before B reaches his majority." In her 12-page ruling, the judge said that the couple previously had a son in 1993 through IVF who had died shortly before his 27th birthday from cancer, adding that the pair were "adamant" that having B was not an attempt to replace their older son. Mrs Justice Gwynneth Knowles said it was best for the boy's welfare to make the retired couple his legal parents, adding: "The absence of a parental order would deny B the social and emotional benefits of the formal and informal recognition of his relationship and family life with Mr and Mrs K." The judge also said she had drawn attention to the "reality of what is likely to befall" the child, "namely the experience of loss and grief". She continued: "That experience may strike B at a time in his childhood when he is ill-prepared to understand or come to terms with it, upending his daily life and placing him in the care of adults to whom he is not emotionally close. "No matter how fit a person of Mr and Mrs K's age may be now, health and life itself are undoubtedly at the mercy of an ageing process which becomes more ever more cruel and capricious as the years go by." America is consistently the most popular international surrogacy destination for British and UK-resident intended parents. According to English Family Court statistics, around a hundred children each year born through US surrogacy are granted a UK parental order to secure their parentage and British nationality. It makes the States the place of birth for around half of all children granted UK parental orders following international surrogacy, with the other half born across dozens of different and constantly shifting destinations.
Scotsman
18 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Scotsman
Alan Cumming to reprise iconic High Life role in major new 'unashamedly Scottish' musical 'romp'
The new play comes 30 years after the cult TV comedy series was originally aired Sign up to our Arts and Culture newsletter, get the latest news and reviews from our specialist arts writers Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... It was a hit Scottish series which ran for just six episodes and a pilot, gaining cult status before being axed due to one of its stars' burgeoning Hollywood career. Now Alan Cumming and Forbes Masson are to reprise their original High Life roles in an 'unashamedly Scottish' stage musical version of the cult 1990s TV series. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad NTS Mr Cumming and Mr Masson will star as Sebastian Flight and Steve McCracken in High Life The Musical, which will tour Scotland next year. Siobhan Redmond and Patrick Ryecart will also star as Shona Spurtle and Captain Hilary Duff. The High Life was first commissioned and broadcast by the BBC 30 years ago, created by and featuring Mr Cumming and Mr Masson, who met as students at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, now the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Taking place in the fictional Air Scotia airline flying out of Prestwick Airport, the High Life centres around air stewards Steve, Sebastian and Shona. Launched as an initial pilot in 1994 and a series of six episodes which were broadcast in early 1995, it was understood a second series was never made due to Mr Cumming's increasingly successful career, which has seen him act in productions including James Bond hit Golden Eye and TV show The Good Wife. He has also hosted the US version of The Traitors, filmed in Scotland. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Mr Cumming and Mr Masson told The Scotsman the idea to create the play initially came from the National Theatre of Scotland, which has commissioned the production. 'It's a really good idea, it makes total sense,' says Mr Cumming. 'A Scottish property that was loved, turning it into a theatrical version of that, it's a no brainer.' However, years passed and the pair admit they 'didn't get it together', until a chance meeting with Scottish stage writer Jonny McKnight created the 'spark' which saw the project come to fruition. 'I was doing a show in Glasgow and Forbes came to see it the same night as Johnny McKnight came to see it,' recalls Mr Cumming., Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'We had such a laugh, the three of us. It was such fun. Then the next day, Johnny called me up said, 'Hey, have you guys ever thought of doing a musical of the High Life? 'I said, 'You know what, we have, Johnny. And would you like to help us write it?' The production will be touring Scotland in spring 2026, with previews and opening performance at Dundee Rep Theatre from 28 March, the onward touring to HMT Aberdeen, Festival Theatre, Edinburgh, Eden Court Theatre and King's Theatre Glasgow until 18 May 2026. The stage show, which will feature new and original music, focuses on the sale of Air Scotia. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Mr Cumming hopes the musical will retain the 'bit scrappy, bit surreal' atmosphere of the original show, but admitted some more serious issues are touched upon, due to Flight and McCracken's more mature age. He says: 'People are obviously coming with reminisce and fondness. People really love it, so I think they will be coming with that love, but also to see what [the characters] are up to now.' Both characters still work as air stewards, but Mr Masson admits their advancing age has changed the focus of the show. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'Both of the main protagonists, Steve and Sebastian, are now over 60, so there are all the things that come with that, and all of the reminiscences and the sudden realisation that their lives are now in their autumn years,' he says. 'Scotland has changed as well [since the original show] and it's about how the characters embrace the present and the future, but also remember what the past taught us. Age is a big theme in it.' Mr Cumming adds: 'It's a celebration of a show that was a huge success 30 years ago. We're doing in a different form. We're older, we're coming back together.' He says he was 'surprised by how little' material was 'potentially offensive', 30 years later, but admits that some cultural references have had to be updated, recalling a part in the script which mentioned a Stanley cup - the cult water bottle propelled to fame on social media. 'Neither of us had any idea what that was,' he admits. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The pair, who began their working life together when they formed comedy double act Victor and Barry in 1982, describe the concept as 'really surreal', and 'unashamedly Scottish'. They describe the new show as a 'romp', freed of restrictions implemented on the original series by the London-based BBC. 'It's that long Scottish tradition of surreal comedy,' Mr Masson says. 'And the show is really bonkers. 'We're playing with silly ideas and it's great that we can be unashamedly Scottish, because it's a Scottish tour, it's a Scottish show, we're not having to water it down in any way, as we had to do slightly when we did the TV show. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'We stood our ground, but because the TV show was made in London, there was a lot of things that London people didn't understand. And that was quite good, in a way, because they didn't understand a lot of the swearing.' NTS Mr Cumming adds: 'I think we are leaning into our Scottishness a bit more than we would have done.' Recently chronicled in the book Victor and Barry's Kelvinside Compendium – A Meander Down Memory Close, a 40th anniversary celebration of their birth, Mr Cumming and Mr Masson's original characters were morphed into the High Life's Steve and Sebastian. As well as cult fans of the show, Mr Cumming and Mr Masson hope to attract a new audience too young to remember it the first time around. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad However, they say they are unlikely to do future High Life spin offs - although don't rule out working together in the future.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Diddy kidnapped ex-aide in plot to kill Kid Cudi, trial hears
One of Sean 'Diddy' Combs' former employees has testified the hip-hop mogul kidnapped her at gunpoint, then broke into rapper Kid Cudi's home in a plot to kill his love rival. Capricorn Clark, who worked on-and-off for Mr Combs for more than a decade, told his trial that the defendant and a security guard had shown up to her apartment in 2011 and forced her to drive with them to Kid Cudi's home. "Get dressed," she recalled Mr Combs saying. "We're going to go kill this [expletive]." She also told the court Diddy threatened to kill her on her very first day working for him. Mr Combs, 55, has pleaded not guilty to racketeering, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution. The incident was first discussed in the trial last week when Kid Cudi, whose legal name is Scott Mescudi, took the stand to testify against Mr Combs. He detailed his relationship with Mr Combs' ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura, an alleged break-in at his Los Angeles home and an incident in which his Porsche was damaged by a Molotov cocktail, which he believed Mr Combs orchestrated. Mr Combs is facing possible life in prison if convicted on federal charges of racketeering, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution. Kid Cudi testifies at Diddy trial about Molotov cocktail attack Diddy a 'mastermind'? How Cassie's testimony builds the case against him What is Sean 'Diddy' Combs charged with and how long will his trial last? The rapper has separately denied accusations in a barrage of civil lawsuits that echo some of the claims made in his criminal case. In her testimony on Tuesday, Ms Clark - who was global brand director for Mr Combs' Bad Boy Entertainment - said the hip-hop mogul had arrived at her home in 2011 after he discovered Ms Ventura was in a relationship with Mr Mescudi. Mr Combs was holding a gun in his hand when he arrived, she said, and appeared "livid" and told her "we're going to kill" Mr Mescudi. She told the court he forced her to get into a car and go with them against her will, the BBC's US partner CBS News reported. Under cross-examination by Mr Combs' lawyer, Ms Clark denied that she went with him voluntarily. Once they arrived at Mr Mescudi's home, Mr Combs and a security guard went inside while she called Ms Ventura from the car and told her what was unfolding. When Mr Combs returned and caught her on the phone he became more angry, Ms Clark said, adding that they sped off as Mr Mescudi arrived back at his home. Afterwards, the court heard that the defendant had told Ms Clark he would not let her go until she and Ms Ventura persuaded Mr Mescudi that Mr Combs was not involved in the break-in at his LA home. "If you don't convince him of that I'll kill all you," Mr Combs told Ms Clark, she testified. Ms Clark also described the difficult working relationship she had with Mr Combs over the years. On her very first day in the job, she testified, Mr Combs threatened to kill her as he warned that her past work for other rappers had better not become a problem for him. But, she told the court, despite the tumult she also felt like his protector and wanted to remain in his circle. "He broke the ceiling of what we were allowed to do as black people in the business world." Get all the latest trial updates on the BBC Sounds 'Diddy on Trial' podcast available wherever you get your BBC podcasts. Kid Cudi testifies at Diddy trial about Molotov cocktail attack Was Diddy a 'mastermind'? How ex Cassie's testimony builds the sex trafficking case against him What is Sean 'Diddy' Combs charged with and how long will his trial last? Kid Cudi: 'Porsche destroyed by Molotov cocktail'
Business Mayor
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Business Mayor
NYT Connections hints and answers for Tuesday, May 27 (game #716)
Looking for a different day? A new NYT Connections puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Monday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Connections hints and answers for Monday, May 26 (game #715). Good morning! Let's play Connections, the NYT's clever word game that challenges you to group answers in various categories. It can be tough, so read on if you need Connections hints. What should you do once you've finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I've also got daily Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too, while Marc's Wordle today page covers the original viral word game. SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Connections today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers. NYT Connections today (game #716) – today's words (Image credit: New York Times) Today's NYT Connections words are… CAROUSEL CANDELABRA COASTER CLOCK SLIDE GATE RECORD TEACUP BEAST PICK LOUNGE PANCAKE STRUM FRISBEE BEND FOOD COURT NYT Connections today (game #716) – hint #1 – group hints What are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups? YELLOW: Circular Circular GREEN: As seen at LAX As seen at LAX BLUE: Ways to play with six strings Ways to play with six strings PURPLE: Be Our Guest Need more clues? We're firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four theme answers are for today's NYT Connections puzzles… NYT Connections today (game #716) – hint #2 – group answers What are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups? YELLOW: ROUND FLAT THINGS GREEN: AIRPORT FEATURES BLUE: GUITAR PLAYING TECHNIQUES PURPLE: WHAT CHARACTERS WERE TRANSFORMED INTO IN 'BEAUTY AND THE BEAST' Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM. Today's best Get Better At Wordle deals NYT Connections today (game #716) – the answers (Image credit: New York Times) The answers to today's Connections, game #716, are… YELLOW: ROUND FLAT THINGS COASTER, FRISBEE, PANCAKE, RECORD COASTER, FRISBEE, PANCAKE, RECORD GREEN: AIRPORT FEATURES CAROUSEL, FOOD COURT, GATE, LOUNGE CAROUSEL, FOOD COURT, GATE, LOUNGE BLUE: GUITAR PLAYING TECHNIQUES BEND, PICK, SLIDE, STRUM BEND, PICK, SLIDE, STRUM PURPLE: WHAT CHARACTERS WERE TRANSFORMED INTO IN 'BEAUTY AND THE BEAST' BEAST, CANDELABRA, CLOCK, TEACUP My rating: Moderate Moderate My score: 1 mistake You could argue that a FRISBEE isn't strictly flat, unlike the other three ROUND FLAT THINGS, but it's close enough and this yellow was an easy spot, before I had to do some thinking. My mistake came in putting together a group of fairground rides – SLIDE, CAROUSEL, TEACUP and BEAST. Of these, BEAST was the one that didn't feel right – so I began thinking of other things that it could mean and after dismissing Mr as the link landed on Beauty & The Beast and some of the other characters in the fairytale. STRUM, SLIDE and PICK both felt like they had something to do with guitars but I took a risk with BEND, having completely overlooked the much more obvious AIRPORT FEATURES. How did you do today? Let me know in the comments below. Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Monday, May 26, game #715) YELLOW: ITEMS IN A LINEN CLOSET PILLOWCASE, SHEET, TOWEL, WASHCLOTH PILLOWCASE, SHEET, TOWEL, WASHCLOTH GREEN: DIAMETRIC COUNTER, OPPOSITE, POLAR, REVERSE COUNTER, OPPOSITE, POLAR, REVERSE BLUE: LINGERIE GARTER, HOSE, SLIP, TEDDY GARTER, HOSE, SLIP, TEDDY PURPLE: CARD GAMES WITH FIRST LETTER CHANGED DIN, FRIDGE, GUMMY, JOKER NYT Connections is one of several increasingly popular word games made by the New York Times. It challenges you to find groups of four items that share something in common, and each group has a different difficulty level: green is easy, yellow a little harder, blue often quite tough and purple usually very difficult. On the plus side, you don't technically need to solve the final one, as you'll be able to answer that one by a process of elimination. What's more, you can make up to four mistakes, which gives you a little bit of breathing room. It's a little more involved than something like Wordle, however, and there are plenty of opportunities for the game to trip you up with tricks. For instance, watch out for homophones and other word games that could disguise the answers. It's playable for free via the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile. READ SOURCE
The Citizen
3 days ago
- The Citizen
Principal and teachers ‘arrested' in front of students
Principal and teachers 'arrested' in front of students VAALPARK – On May 14, the classroom tables shook as students laughed when Lumiére Primary School held their Break the Rules Day. Learners decided the fate of their beloved teachers and, by unanimous vote, selected which teachers should be arrested. The 'culprits', a few brave souls who took up the challenge, were the principal Mr Kriel, Mr Wickus, Miss Hanli, Miss Christie, and Miss Lizzy. With sirens blaring and a real police van on the scene, the 'arrests' happened in front of cheering learners who thoroughly enjoyed the fun-filled day. The learners owe a lot to @PublicEyeVaalpark, because it's not every day that you see your principal being driven away in a police van while you sit on the grass enjoying popcorn. At Caxton, we employ humans to generate daily fresh news, not AI intervention. Happy reading!
