Latest news with #OPINION
The Irish Sun
26-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Irish Sun
Love Island shock as TWO couples split up and shocked Emily finds out about Conor's kiss with Megan
TWO couples split in tonight's Love Island and Emily is shocked to find out about Conor's kiss with Megan. In Wednesday night's episode of Love Island, Advertisement 3 Emily finds out about Conor and Megan's secret snog tonight Credit: Shutterstock 3 Ben cools things off with Yasmin after fans were convinced they had sex Credit: Shutterstock 3 And Alima makes it clear she's done with Remell after the sleepover Credit: Shutterstock Tommy and Megan have been coupled up since the start, and And Ben comes clean after pulling Emily to the snug for a chat. Clearly more taken aback by Megan's lack of girl code, she says: 'That's quite intense... I thought Megan was more into Tommy to the point where she wouldn't have done that.' Emily later tells Tommy and Harry: 'I don't expect anything from him, but from her [Megan], I would've expected more.' Advertisement More on Love Island But she and Conor aren't the only couple to face drama tonight, with Ben then bluntly tells Yasmin: 'I feel like we went from 0 to 100 real quick and I'm going to be taking a step back.' His change of tone comes after Meanwhile Advertisement Most read in Love Island OPINION Alima says: 'I just hope you know that it's done between us. At this point I want to try and be civil…there's no going back.' Remell responds: 'So you don't want to hear what I have to say?' Love Island fans rant 'get her out' as they accuse villa girl of 'faking' her tears Alima later continues: 'This is why I was struggling to open up to you…why did you have to share a bed with her?' LOVE ISLAND CONTINUES TONIGHT AT 9PM ON ITV2 AND ITVX Advertisement
The Irish Sun
14-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Irish Sun
Love Island fans furious over ‘double standards' after Helena's raunchy sex confession
LOVE Island viewers have been left outraged over 'double standards' following Helena's raunchy sex confession. It comes after fans called for Advertisement 5 Love Island fans have slammed Harry's "double standards" Credit: Eroteme 5 Helena had previously opened up about having had a threesome Credit: Eroteme 5 She was left shocked back at the villa upon hearing Harry's comments Credit: Eroteme In yesterday's episode, Helena admitted she previously had a threesome with two men. Meanwhile, Harry, who she is currently coupled with, discussed this with the other lads. It was during a boys' night away from the villa, where they were Those watching at home were not impressed and felt his remarks were unfair - while it came just a day after to spend the night. Advertisement Read more on Love Island Harry told the others - unaware Helena was listening from the villa: 'For me, with Helena, it's like, I don't know if she's just a good time girl. Like, as I know, the more I'm getting to know her, like… 'I'm having a good time, but I wanna have a long time. "What I'm learning about her lifestyle, and like, what she does, like, she goes out a lot. We had the conversations - you were all there. She had a threesome. 'I don't think that really worries me. Because like, I can guarantee I've done worse, sort of thing. But I think it did surprise me a little bit. Advertisement Most read in Love Island OPINION 'What I'm learning about her lifestyle, and like, what she does, like, she goes out a lot. We had the conversations - you were all there. She had a threesome. 'I don't think that really worries me. Because like, I can guarantee I've done worse, sort of thing. But I think it did surprise me a little bit. Watch as Meg erupts in sweary rant and Helena storms off after watching the boys on Love Island 'It's not I wanted to take a step back or anything. It was just more like, okay, I need to learn more, just to figure out what she's gonna really be like.' Back in the villa, Helena raged: 'F**k me. Oh, my dirty laundry, is it?' Advertisement Harry continued: 'But if she's still there, if she's still in that phase of her life where it's like, she wants to have a good time, then it might not be the right time for me and her.' One fan said: "Yayyyy double standards." Another remarked: "He didn't care about her background when they went to the hideaway." A third shared: "What's Harry's surname? Ah yes Double-Standard, my bad I forgot." Advertisement While a fourth remarked: "Wow, the judgement of that boy when 'hes done worse' the putdown before the brag is wild! Must be from the insecurity of going thin in the front talking!" A fifth chimed in: "Hmm double standards eh one rule for a guy and one for the girl." Elsewhere, Helena chose to recouple with Harry - despite him expressing an interest in Shakira still. Love Island 2025 full lineup : A 30-year-old footballer with charm to spare. : A model and motivational speaker who has overcome adversity after suffering life-changing burns in an accident. : A 22-year-old Manchester-based model, ready to turn heads. : A boxer with striking model looks, seeking love in the villa. : A payroll specialist from Southampton, looking for someone tall and stylish. : International business graduate with brains and ambition. : A gym enthusiast with a big heart. : A Londoner with celebrity connections, aiming to find someone funny or Northern. : An Irish actress already drawing comparisons to Maura Higgins. : A personal trainer and semi-pro footballer, following in his footballer father's footsteps. : A towering 6'5' personal trainer. : A 25-year-old Irish rugby pro : Love Island's first bombshell revealed as sexy Las Vegas pool party waitress. : Beauty salon owner from Devon who runs 12 aesthetics clinics, boasting a famous clientele including former Love Islanders Departures : : Axed after an arrest over a machete attack emerged. He was released with no further action taken and denies any wrongdoing. Outraged fans demanded Harry be booted out, with one penning: 'Get harry out of here what the f**K.' Advertisement Another fumed: 'Harry, with his terrible attitude and haircut, must go home.' And a third added: "I feel sorry for Helena being talked about in a dehumanising and misogynistic manner." Love Island airs on ITV2 and ITVX. 5 Viewers weren't impressed with Harry's comments Credit: Eroteme Advertisement 5 It came just one night after they spent the night together in the hideaway Credit: Eroteme
USA Today
23-05-2025
- Health
- USA Today
We can and should make it easier for everyone to become an organ donor
We can and should make it easier for everyone to become an organ donor | OPINION Organ donation is kindness; it is a quiet, generous act that can save up to eight lives and heal many more. Show Caption Hide Caption This mom turned the loss of her son into a life-changing gift In Memphis, Tennesee, a grieving mom who donated her late son's organs meets the woman saved by his kidney, sharing an emotional moment of connection. Every day in America, 13 people die waiting for an organ transplant. They are children, parents, neighbors, and friends—ordinary people in extraordinary need. And yet, there is something extraordinary we can all do to help: register our decision to be an organ, eye and tissue donor. Surveys consistently show that 90% of Americans support organ donation. But only slightly more than half of Americans are registered donors. The reasons are often simple: people forget, they're not asked, they think they have to wait for their next DMV visit, or they just don't know how to register. The act itself is simple: one decision, one click, one profound act of generosity. And now, that opportunity is closer than ever – embedded directly in the digital spaces many of us already use to manage our health: patient portals. Patient portals – where we all check our lab results, schedule appointments, and message our doctors – have quietly become a fixture of modern healthcare. Their potential goes beyond convenience. They are emerging as powerful tools for patients and the public good. More: Sorry, but a 3-year-old's horrific drowning death was not 'unimaginable' | Opinion Donate Life America is working with global healthcare software company, Epic, to provide a trusted pathway to register your lifesaving decision through MyChart. MyChart serves as the patient portal for 180 million people in the United States. By adding organ donor registration directly into patient portals, Epic and its health system partners are making it easier for people to turn generosity into action. Now, when patients log in to review a lab result or talk with their doctor, they might see a question: Would you like to register as an organ, eye and tissue donor? It's an invitation to make a meaningful, lifesaving choice at a time when people are already thinking about their health, life, and values. This matters. When a person has registered their donation decision, it brings comfort and clarity to grieving loved ones who don't have to guess what they would have wanted. It's a gesture of compassion that echoes far beyond the individual. Organ donation is kindness; it is a quiet, generous act that can save up to eight lives and heal many more. It transcends politics, religion, race, and age. It's one of the most compassionate choices a person can make. We often think of change as something large, sweeping, and difficult. But sometimes, change begins with something small. A login. A question. A decision to say yes, and one click. If your health system gives you the opportunity to say yes to donation through your MyChart patient portal, take it. And if it doesn't, encourage them to do so. This is an infrastructure of hope we can, and should, build together. Because somewhere, someone is waiting. And you could be the reason they live. David Fleming is the President and CEO, of Donate Life America (DLA) a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization with a mission to educate, inspire and activate the public to say yes to registering their decision to be an organ, eye and tissue donor. Learn more at
News.com.au
01-05-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
12 months on since Channel 7 $100million change
OPINION Media executives from across the board were astonished when a little known newspaper editor from Fremantle became the most senior news executive at Kerry Stokes' Seven West Media empire in 2024. Anthony De Ceglie's appointment was hailed by Seven's one-week-in-the-chair CEO Jeff Howard as evidence the company was going to 'think differently' about news. The appointment followed months of turmoil at Seven after the network's Spotlight unit was exposed for offering cocaine and sex worker inducements to Bruce Lehrmann for his exclusive interview. The scandal felled some of the company's most senior journalists. Seven veterans were sceptical that a slick talker in his thirties who had never worked a day in TV could do the job. Twelve months on casts an eye over De Ceglie's first year in the role and the accomplishments to date of Seven's big-talking 'change agent'. MANAGEMENT STYLE 'I am big on how I lead a team …' De Ceglie, May 2024. Under pressure from Seven's bean-counters to cut costs, the 38-year-old TV rookie's first weeks were spent dispassionately wielding the axe. Seven had to strip $100 million in costs out of the business and De Ceglie seemingly didn't baulk at the task, quickly slashing his share of 150 jobs. In his first three months in the role, the newly dubbed Director of News and Current Affairs and Editor-in-Chief of Seven West Media presided over the loss of more than 300-years of industry experience from Seven's newsrooms. Gone were some of the best content creators in the business including Sydney news director Neil Warren, Melbourne news director Shaun Menegola, Brisbane news director Michael Coombes, senior producer Richard Cunningham, Sydney crime reporter Robert Ovadia (in controversial circumstances), Melbourne crime reporter Cameron Baud, Queensland weatherman Paul Burt and much-loved Queensland newsreader Sharyn Ghidella, a veteran of 38 years. Ghidella would refer to her shock sacking as 'a miserable affair'. In De Ceglie's shell-shocked newsrooms some staff quickly took the view that the news chief had set his sights on anyone older than himself. Having disassembled the senior news management team, De Ceglie set about promoting a team of young producers, many of them incredibly green, to replace news producers with decades of experience some of whom wrote the handbook on news production. While his predecessor Craig McPherson was renowned for being a 'tough but fair' boss, as morale has sunk some staff working for De Ceglie have reported not knowing where they stand their new boss. GRADE: B- 'I'd like to see us probably be a bit bolder and a bit braver to capture new audiences,' De Ceglie, May 2024. To create content for TikTok, social media and YouTube, De Ceglie, who regards himself to be a 'non stop innovator', set his sights on Seven's most prestigious property, its 6pm evening news bulletin. Targeting a younger audience, in July 2024 the innovator introduced a satirical segment hosted by comedian Mark Humphries to Seven's Friday night news bulletin. Dubbed The 6.57pm News, the segment, De Ceglie said, would be 'taking the piss' out of news events and political spin. The news boss's hope was the spot would attract younger viewers to Seven's news hour and steal some away from rival Nine, however from day one the segment faced tough criticism both inside and outside the network. From within Seven came the fear the segment would dumb down Seven's top-rating news and compromise the bulletin's integrity. There was also concern the segment ate into the Friday night sports report on the eve of weekend of AFL and cricket matches which Seven had long promoted within its news bulletin. Outside Seven there was fury Humphries could be retained when dozens of Seven reporters had been brutally sacked. The segment was axed over the '24/'25 summer break, not long after De Ceglie pointed to its success on TikTok where, on one occasion anyway, Humphries celebrated three million views with a spot about Donald Trump. Also dispatched a few months after its premiere was an astrology segment with Natasha 'Astrotash' Weber. Despite the fails, De Ceglie vowed to continue trying new things. Sadly for viewers, he made good on this promise during Seven's federal election debate this week. The debate featured a musical sting employed to notify speakers – in this case PM Anthony Albanese and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton – they needed to wind up their arguments or be drowned out by music. Such a device, famously used in Academy Awards coverages, needs to be used sparingly, if at all, or it can swamp a political argument, lead to confusion on the studio floor between the nation's two top politicians (and the moderator Mark Riley) and disrespect Seven's ageing at-home audience many of whom would be confounded by the noise. It also managed to make Seven chairman Kerry Stokes's political ally, Peter Dutton, look completely stressed out of his mind. Is it any wonder we hear an unimpressed Stokes has subsequently relayed his dissatisfaction to those in charge. GRADE: D '(Seven's) been number one nationally since 2015,' De Ceglie, May 2024. Despite the loss of senior news producers and his broadcasting inexperience, De Ceglie seems to have never been in doubt that Seven would hold onto its hard-won ratings lead over Nine. Turns out it couldn't and two months into his tenure, Seven had lost its lead over rival Nine in the critical 6pm to 7pm (five cities metro, total people) timeslot. Seven hadn't experienced a five week losing streak since 2015. It had then contributed to the sacking of Seven's then news boss. By December Nine had claimed the 6pm news hour for the first time in nine long years. In the year to date, January 1 to April 29, Seven is winning by the slimmest of margins. Seven's stats put it ahead of Nine by just 300 viewers, 827,100 to 826,800. In the same period last year Seven was outstripping Nine by almost 40,000 viewers, 781,200 to 741,600. While both Seven and Nine's audiences have increased overall, Nine has made serious gains in the 6pm news hour. Traditionally Nine wins Sydney and Melbourne markets, Seven wins Adelaide and Perth and the battle for the nation rests in Brisbane. However, since axing newsreader Ghidella in Queensland and Brisbane sports reader Shane Webcke in August – and then, in November, shutting down its Gold Coast bulletin – Nine has extended its lead in Brisbane and now wins there convincingly. A similar shift has also been observed in Melbourne. On the bright side (now there's a catchy name for a news segment that is really just an old-segment, rebranded), Seven's breakfast show Sunrise maintains its years long lead over Nine's Today show, an achievement that De Ceglie himself attributes to Seven's director of morning television Sarah Stinson. Current affairs flagship Spotlight meanwhile continues to be beaten in the ratings by Nine's 60 Minutes and concedes its timeslot to Nine's MAFS. GRADE – D- 'Stop worrying about the ratings, instead worry about the journalism' De Ceglie, October, 2024. has struggled to think of any big yarns Seven has broken since De Ceglie took over. We're happy to upgrade the mark if any are brought to our attention. GRADE – E PRESENTATION/SELF-PROMOTION: '(My) track record hopefully speaks for itself..' De Ceglie, May 2024 Since taking the chair a year ago, De Ceglie has proved himself, given more interviews than some news bosses grant in a decade. He accepted an invitation to address the Melbourne Press Club, strutted the boards at a Packer Foundation event and generally made himself accessible to mainstream and trade media. De Ceglie, or 'ADC' as the millennial has styled himself, is presentable and confident and keen to rub shoulders with industry powerbrokers. He's also said to be on daily speaking terms with Seven chairman Stokes, irritating fellow senior Seven executives. GRADE – B His trip to Vegas in late February, as a guest of the NRL, was cause for surprise however Seven has in recent years seen itself as a future partner of the NRL and De Ceglie has no plans to miss a networking opportunity. Attendance is solid, though his absence over Easter in the lead-up to the Federal Election and following the Pope's death raised eyebrows (he was working from home in Perth). De Ceglie is a father to two youngsters and often heads off early to collect his children from school, perhaps a first for an Australian network news boss who has oversight of the 6pm evening news bulletin.
USA Today
11-02-2025
- Politics
- USA Today
Renaming Fort Liberty to Fort Bragg is about politics, not honor
OPINION Hear this story AI-assisted summary Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth changed the name of Fort Liberty back to Fort Bragg, but claims it now honors a WWII soldier named Bragg instead of the Confederate general. The name change could cost taxpayers millions and reverses a decision made after a lengthy community process. The back-and-forth over military base names highlights the dysfunction of American politics rather than honoring heroes. Is 'Fort Liberty' back to 'Fort Bragg?' If you let Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth tell it, we are. He signed a memorandom yesterday that changes the name from Liberty back to Bragg, reversing a federal renaming process that had been years in the making and completed in June 2023. But the 'Bragg' referred to will no longer be incompetent Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg. According to Hegseth's memo, Bragg will now honor Pfc. Roland L. Bragg, who earned a Silver Star during World War II's Battle of the Bulge. Hegseth's move is too cute by half. The decision to name the post after the World War II private gets around the 2020 law, which prohibits naming any military assets after Confederates. Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle. A gift to Trump The problem is that it preserves the letter of the law and violates the spirit. The point of the name change is that America should not honor people who fought against the United States, its flag and its Constitution. Though a different Bragg is referred to, people will still call the installation 'Fort Bragg' not 'Fort Roland L. Bragg,' and generations of people will still think it refers to Braxton, not Roland. OpinionI oversaw the change to Fort Liberty from Fort Bragg. Here is why there is no better name. It is a very conscientious wink to lingering racists and pro-Confederates in our country. These people will see the name 'Fort Bragg' as continuing to honor their gray-clad 'hero,' not the World War II soldier. They will also see it as a 'win' for Trump. I was there in the Crown Arena last October when Trump at a campaign rally vowed to revert Fort Liberty's name back to Bragg. Many roared in approval. A soldier who stood to ask a softball question of Trump referred to being stationed at 'Liberty' and the crowd bullied him into saying 'Bragg' instead. I thought it was a low moment. What active-duty soldiers should call the post right now seems to be up in the air. The Fort Liberty website still says Fort Liberty. The Fayetteville-Liberty community took time to come up with a new name Now, I know a number of people who served at Bragg and who wanted the name to stay the same had no nefarious reason — they just have a nostalgic attachment to the name that it bore when they served here. I get that. But what should gall even them is the process; the way this is playing out now honors no one. The 2020 law change in the defense budget sought to strip the names of Confederates from the former Bragg and other installations and military assets because it was an opportunity to recognize American heroes who actually fought for the country, instead of those who fought against the country for the privilege of holding other human beings as slaves. People in our community worked months, holding community meetings where all sorts of emotions and ideas were wrestled with. We finally reached a compromise on 'Liberty' thanks in part to the powerful words of a Gold Star mom. Only to have it all upended by one person to fulfill a promise his boss made on the campaign trail. Trump and his team ran over our military community for a photo op and a social media told-ya-so. North Carolina taxpayers get hit twice on this deal, all for politics Any way that you slice it, the name change will cost money, and North Carolina taxpayers could get hit coming and going. The change from Bragg to Liberty in 2023 cost $6 million. In addition to the federal dollars a new name change will require, a change would dump a currently unfunded mandate on North Carolina taxpayers as the state Department of Transportation will have to redo all the road signs it changed less than two years ago. The bill back then was half a million. This is a presidential administration supposedly so serious about cost-cutting that it has frozen funding for international relief, threatening food delivery and medical treatments across the globe, and threatens to slash money for life-saving research conducted at universities like our own UNC-Chapel Hill and Duke University. The money wasted on a new name change for purely political purposes illustrates brilliantly that politicians are never interested in reducing spending — they only want to change the focus of spending to enact their priorities and not the other side's. A monument to the U.S.'s fractured politics When 'Liberty' was announced as the name, I lamented that the local committee had not chosen anyone to honor one from our long roster of worthy candidates. They included Matthew 'Bunker' Ridgway, a leader of the 82nd Airborne Division and then-new XVII Airborne Corps in World War II; Cpl. Rudy Hernandez, a Korean War vet and Medal of Honor recipient; Gen. James Gavin, who led the 82nd Airborne during the D-Day invasion; and Hugh Shelton, a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and former Bragg commander. Though I have since warmed up to Liberty, I do wonder now if we had named the post for someone, might it have protected the post from so casual a decision as the Trump Administration has now made? In other words, to change the name back would have required stripping the name of a military legend. Already, I have seen online a mix of internet trolls and serious people now calling for all the Confederate names to come back for posts that had former names like Hood, Benning, Lee and Polk. In those cases, the Trump Administration will have to find another non-Rebel to slyly name the bases after. Or one supposes it can simply just ignore the law, which is also possible and has been the administration's M.O. with many of its executive orders that move the power of the purse to the president, not with Congress, where the founders wrote that it should be. At any rate, to give Americans whiplash, bobbing back and forth between military installation names is not about honoring heroism anymore. It instead just makes military installations the latest monuments to the country's broken politics. Opinion Editor Myron B. Pitts can be reached at mpitts@
