In a galaxy not-so far away, "Star Wars" fans will soon have the chance to buy the head of C-3PO when it goes under the hammer next month as part of a huge movie memorabilia auction.

It’s officially spooky season, the time to play those creepy, crawly, jump scare-y games. You

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The term ‘soft life’ is trending on TikTok, with the #softlifeera tag clocking 12.2million views. While not brand new, it seems a growing number of social media users are leaning towards the lifestyle concept – but what does soft life actually mean and how can it benefit people? Where does the trend come from? As the wording suggests, soft life is all about veering away from stress and struggle and embracing a more easy and enriched life. But this isn’t just about life looking ‘perfect’ on social media. “Soft life isn’t new, however I’m really grateful to see its resurgence,” said Chlöe Pierre, founder of wellness platform thy.self and author of Take Care: The Black Women’s Guide To Wellness. “Essentially to me, especially as a black woman, soft life is about making choices that can avoid me having to live a much longer, and unsustainable, life in hardship. For me it’s about wellness in general, and sustainable wellness. “My only concern when seeing trends [on social media] is that they are inclusive, and generally they aren’t. First and foremost, soft life is a choice – and it’s a privilege to be able to make that choice,” Pierre added. “Originally, the soft life kind of movement had origins in places like Nigeria and other places around the continent, but was popularised via America and a lot of African American women, [who were often] fictional characters on TV. Because there weren’t, especially not in the UK, reachable or visible representations of black women and women of colour that had amassed a wealth, and therefore the privilege of living a ‘soft life’.”Permission to live a soft life For Dr Evelyn Okpanachi, author of The Emotionally Empowered Woman, it makes sense people are increasingly leaning towards the trend. “Collectively, we are still tired. We have had the Covid era, austerity and more, and we simply want to live and breathe a little. This is why we are leaning towards it more right now. Collectively, we are breathing a sigh of relief,” said Okpanachi. “Most people associate the soft life with booking last-minute flights, mojitos on the beach, dining at nice restaurants and all of the externalities. It is in part, but it a lot deeper than that. “Soft life is living life on your terms. Creating a career you want, the business you want, and looking after yourself holistically. This starts with empowering yourself to succeed by elevating your mindset and knowing you deserve to live a soft life.” Nothing comes easy Okpanachi noted the work that can be involved, however. “In order to enter the soft life era, the average person tends to go through an element of stress. Nothing comes easy,” she explained. “It is essentially about purposely creating a lifestyle with minimal stress and setting boundaries – boundary setting is key. It’s embracing the things that serve you and letting go/eliminating the things that don’t. We all deserve to live a soft life, and we all should. But we have to put the work in to attain it.” This is something social media can often miss out. As Pierre noted, influencers or celebrities may “show you one side of their life – you don’t get to see the struggle they have had to get to that point, or to maintain that lifestyle they have in front of the camera”. Making space for a softer lifeFor many, the dilemma is making these things a reality when work takes up so much energy, along with caring/parenting duties, health challenges and everything else. Pierre discusses in her book about how our identities can be “very wrapped up” in work, which can make it so much more draining – especially for black women who have faced “more hardship in the workplace, compared to other demographics”. Setting “clear expectations and intentions” for yourself can be helpful, she added, and getting to know yourself better. “So making clear expectations about who I am, what I will accept, and what I want – and having the belief that I don’t have to go through too much hardship, that it’s not a benchmark for who I am,” Pierre explained. “This can even be applied to dating.” Ditch the guilt Donna Noble, yoga teacher and author of Teaching Body Positive Yoga: A Guide To Inclusivity, Language And Props, also believes making things intentional is key for how people can embrace the soft life in their everyday routines. “[People] can prioritise their me-time and be intentional about it – for instance, meditating, journaling or doing yoga as soon as they get up (before the rest of the world invades their space), as this will set you up nicely for the rest of the day,” said Noble. “I believe rest and self-care are part of our birth-right – no feeling guilty for just being and not doing. Normalise taking the pause, and that it can be the most powerful thing we do in our day.” For those who struggle to put themselves first, Noble suggested taking time to work on giving yourself permission. “The key here is a shift in perspective and empowerment – you’ve got to discover the precious gem that is your wellbeing. Society’s old scripts may try to hold us back, but rewriting the narrative is where the magic happens,” she said. “Giving ourselves a permission slip to prioritise self-care isn’t just a luxury; it’s a necessity. It’s about understanding that nurturing ourselves isn’t selfish; it’s the foundation for health and wellbeing.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Kim Kardashian teased as the face of a major fashion brand Shoppers make seven big impulse buys per year on average – survey Even 4,000 steps a day could ‘reduce risk of death’ – study

The collapse of the Black Sea export corridor, which allowed the export of more than 32 million tonnes of Ukrainian grain over the past year, should have little immediate impact but over the medium term...

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The state of South Carolina has outlawed abortion at roughly six weeks of pregnancy, extending the sweeping restrictions and outright bans on abortion care across the entire US South, and threatening legal access to care for millions of Americans. Republican Governor Henry McMaster signed legislation into law on 25 May after the bill’s final passage earlier this week. It goes into effect immediately. Republican lawmakers in neighbouring North Carolina recently voted to override the Democratic governor’s veto of a bill outlawing abortion at 12 weeks of pregnancy, restricting abortion access in a state that has been a haven for abortion care in the year after the US Supreme Court’s decision to reverse Roe v Wade. More than a dozen states, mostly in the South, have outlawed most abortions or severely restricted access within the year after the Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which revoked a constitutional right to abortion care that was affirmed for nearly half a century. Abortion rights restrictions in North Carolina and a six-week ban in South Carolina dramatically change the map for abortion access in the US, where abortions are banned in most cases from Texas to West Virginia and along the Gulf Coast, making legal access to care out of reach altogether across the Deep South. Abortion rights advocates and civil rights groups have filed a lawsuit to challenge South Carolina’s law in court. The lawsuit comes just four months after the state’s Supreme Court permanently struck down a nearly identical law, which the court determined ran afoul of the state’s constitution. Restrictions on abortion care “must be reasonable and it must be meaningful in that the time frames imposed must afford a woman sufficient time to determine she is pregnant and to take reasonable steps to terminate that pregnancy,” Justice Kaye Hearn wrote in the majority opinion on 5 January. “Six weeks is, quite simply, not a reasonable period of time for these two things to occur,” the judge added. Jenny Black, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, said in a statement that South Carolina lawmakers “have once again trampled on our right to make private health care decisions, ignoring warnings from health care providers and precedent set by the state’s highest court just a few months ago.” “The decision of if, when, and how to have a child is deeply personal, and politicians making that decision for anyone else is government overreach of the highest order,” she added. “We will always fight for our patients’ ability to make their own decisions about their bodies and access the health care they need. We urge the court to take swift action to block this dangerous ban on abortion.” Governor McMcaster has pledged to defend the law in court. “We stand ready to defend this legislation against any challenges and are confident we will succeed,” he said in a statement. “The right to life must be preserved, and we will do everything we can to protect it.” Read More Mother forced to give birth to stillborn son joins lawsuit against Texas abortion ban Senator who voted for anti-trans bill that passed by one vote admits she wasn’t paying attention Twitter's launch of DeSantis' presidential bid underscores platform's rightward shift under Musk Timeline: How Georgia and South Carolina nuclear reactors ran so far off course Georgia nuclear rebirth arrives 7 years late, $17B over cost

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