You may balk at the concept of paying for a dating app, but others certainly

Kehinde Wiley wonders aloud if he’ll ever reach a career moment of such import and gravity as his famous 2018 portrait of Barack Obama, which has drawn crowds around the United States

This content originally appeared on Mashable for a US audience and has been adapted for

With all the FOMO-inducing travel posts on social media, it's easy to feel like you're

TL;DR: As of October 3, get the Pro Fit Buddy: A Sports Wellness & Activity

CITY OF INDUSTRY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 24, 2023--

Shakira has spoken candidly about co-parenting her two children with ex Gerard Piqué. The singer, 46, opened up about raising her sons – Milan, 10, and Sasha, eight – in an interview with Billboard published on 21 September. She described some of the challenges she had throughout the last year, while managing her responsibilities as both a singer and mother. “The last time I released an album was six years ago,” she said. “Now I can release music at a faster clip, although sometimes I think being a single mom and the rhythm of a pop star aren’t compatible. I have to put my kids to bed, go to the recording studio; everything is uphill.” Shakira addressed how she’s adjusting to being a single parent, after announcing her breakup with the Spanish soccer star last year. She also expressed how important it is for her to be involved in her sons’ lives. “When you don’t have a husband who can stay home with the kids, it’s constant juggling because I like to be a present mom and I need to be there every moment with my children,” she said. “Take them to school, have breakfast with them, take them to play dates. And aside from that, I have to make money.” The “Waka Waka” singer continued to poke fun at the stresses of being a working mother, noting that she’s only had the chance to go to the gym “a couple of times” throughout the last year. She also quipped about needing to take some downtime in the midst of her busy schedule. “I don’t know how long it’s been since I got a massage. I have torticollis!” she said. “Something’s got to give. My neck. My traps. That’s what gives. It’s hard to do everything.” In June 2022, the Colombian singer and the former professional footballer announced their separation after 11 years of dating. Shakira – who recently moved from Spain to Miami with her children – also reflected on ending her relationship with Piqué. She noted that she once believed in that “till death do us part” with her former partner, describing it as a “dream” she had for herself and her children. She acknowledged that while her relationship didn’t work out, she has continued to move forward in the hopes of finding a marriage that’s similar to her parents’ relationship. “My parents have been together for, I don’t know, 50 years, and they love each other like the first day, with a love that’s unique and unrepeatable. So I know it’s possible,” she said. “My mom doesn’t leave my [sick] father’s side. They still kiss on the mouth. And it has always been my example. It’s what I wanted for myself and my children, but it didn’t happen. If life gives you lemons, you have to make lemonade. That’s what I’m doing: making lemonade.” When asked if she’d one day look back on the challenges that she’s faced “in a positive light”, Shakira said she didn’t think that anything “can compensate for the pain of destroying a family”. However, she still said that her family has kept her motivated, as she’s adjusted to everyday life without Piqué by her side. “Of course, I have to keep going for my children’s sake; that’s my greatest motivation,” she said. “But my biggest dream, more than collecting platinum albums and Grammys, was to raise my sons with their father. Overcome obstacles and grow old together. I know I’m not getting that now.” She also told Billboard that throughout the last year, one surprising thing she’s learned about herself is just how strong she is. Shakira specified that she previously thought that she was “weaker,” given how she “used to crumble before the stupidest problems”. “I’d create a drama because I chipped my tooth or that kind of stuff. But maturing, going through truly difficult things, gives you a sense of perspective and empathy,” she said. “You learn how to value the good moments and how not to amplify the bad ones.” In April, the “Hips Don’t Lie” singer first took to Instagram to reflect on her last nine years living in Spain with Piqué, as she announced her move to Miami. “I settled in Barcelona to give my children stability, the same we are now looking for in another corner of the world next to family, friends and the sea,” she wrote in the post, which was translated from Spanish to English on Instagram. “Today, we start a new chapter in the pursuit of their happiness.” Months before her move, Shakira had also opened up about how she’s been prioritising herself and her children. During an interview with En Punto con Enrique Acevedo in February, she said she experienced a change in perspective, confessing that she once believed that a woman needed a man to complete herself. “I’ve always been very emotionally dependent [on men] – I have to confess this. I was in love with love,” she explained. “One way or another, I’ve managed to learn it from another perspective and feel that I’ll be fine on my own. When a woman has to face [hardships] in life, she comes out stronger. When you come out stronger it means you’re learning to recognise your weaknesses and accept your vulnerability.” She acknowledged how “complete” she feels with her children by her side, adding: “I feel like I can depend on myself and I have two kids who depend on me.” Meanwhile, Piqué broke his silence about his ex in March, only months after he went Instagram official with his new girlfriend, Clara Chia Marti. During an interview with Spanish El Pais, he discussed why he didn’t publicly address his breakup with Shakira. ​​“Everyone has their responsibility to try to do what is best for their children,” he explained. “It is about protecting them. That is the job of all parents with children. That is what I am focused on and that is my job as a father.” Read More Shakira spotlights nanny ‘fired’ by ex Gerard Piqué in new music video Shakira attends VMAs alongside her two sons she shares with ex Gerard Piqué Taylor Swift and SZA lead 2023 MTV Video Music Award nominations Taylor Swift and Shakira lead the charge in slit dresses at the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards Shakira attends VMAs alongside two sons she shares with ex Gerard Piqué Comedian Ashley Blaker on why he wants to ‘change the conversation’ around children with special needs

Surgeons worked all day and into the night to ensure Britain’s first womb transplant went smoothly. Its success is down to meticulous research, years of sharing knowledge between experts around the globe, and the hard work and dedication of doctors Professor Richard Smith, from Imperial College London, and Isabel Quiroga, from the Oxford Transplant Centre. Around 50 babies have been born worldwide as a result of womb transplants, which give women missing a functioning uterus a chance to have a baby. In the first UK case, the operation to remove the womb from the recipient’s 40-year-old sister lasted eight hours and 12 minutes, with surgeons leaving her ovaries behind to prevent pushing her into early menopause. One hour earlier, surgeons began operating on the 34-year-old recipient, preparing her body to receive the donated organ. This operation lasted nine hours and 20 minutes, with the surgical team experiencing some difficulties including a higher-than-expected blood loss of two litres. However, after just 10 days, the recipient was well enough to leave the hospital and has continued to have a good recovery. She is also having regular periods, which shows the womb is working well. Her sister was discharged five days after her donor operation and has also made a good recovery. Removing a womb is a similar operation to a radical hysterectomy, according to Prof Smith, who as well as being a gynaecological surgeon is the clinical lead at the charity Womb Transplant UK. He and Miss Quiroga led the team of more than 30 staff who worked on the transplant one Sunday in February. Prof Smith and Miss Quiroga removed the older sister’s womb, cervix and fallopian tubes, plus crucial blood vessels around the organ. The main vessels are the uterine arteries running into the womb, but the surgeons also aimed to collect some of the larger internal vessels that lead into the smaller branch of the womb. Prof Smith said surgeons doing these operations have to retrieve veins involved in the drainage of the womb. “One of the amazing things is that my surgical skill-mix as a cancer surgeon is to remove organs with a margin of normal tissue, while sealing the vessels as I go,” he said. “Transplant surgical skills are different – that is to remove a normal organ with the best number of non-sealed vessels as you can. “Isabel and I operate together with no ego – it just flows backwards and forwards across the table.” He added: “The day itself was truly humbling. We turned up at 7am at the Churchill transplant centre with the donor and the recipient families, then we went into a pre-op huddle. Those in the huddle included surgeons, nurses, anaesthetists and technicians. Prof Smith and Miss Quiroga worked to remove the womb, before the organ was prepared for transplantation by a “back table” team. “This was an organ which had a very, very unusual blood supply,” Prof Smith said. “In fact, it had a set of blood vessels which I’ve never seen in my entire career. They made my dissection a bit harder than it might have been, but we got there.” In the theatre next door, one hour before the retrieval of the womb was completed, surgeons began to operate on the donor’s younger sister to enable her to receive the womb. Prof Smith and Miss Quiroga switched from donor to recipient and Prof Smith removed the vestiges of the underdeveloped womb the recipient was born with. Meanwhile, the organ was packed and transported between the two theatres under sterile conditions to prevent contamination. A sterile bag with a cold perfusion solution contained the womb, which was then placed into a container with ice. During surgery, ligaments attached to the womb were attached to the recipient to help the womb stay in a relatively fixed place so it does not move around the pelvis. The most important part of the transplant operation was the joining of the very small vessels that give the blood supply to the womb. This was the most delicate and difficult part of the operation and was led by Miss Quiroga. Once all the vessels were connected, the donor’s vaginal cuff – around a 1cm part – was stitched into her sister’s vagina. If and when the recipient is able to complete her family, the womb will be removed six months later to prevent her from needing immunosuppressants for the rest of her life. Prof Smith said: “We know that the chance of failure at the point where the uterus goes in – if you look at the world literature – is 20 per cent to 25 per cent. And that failure is usually on the basis on sepsis and thrombosis. So technically, we are up to the job, but what happens thereafter can be scary. “Once you get to three or four days later, the chance of failure drops to probably less than 10 per cent. “Once you get to two weeks – and at the point where the woman has a period – the chance of her having a baby at that point is very high and the chance of failure has dropped to low. But those first two weeks – it’s very scary as a surgeon to watch and wait.” Biopsies to check the womb was functioning were read in London but then also confirmed by an expert team in the US at Baylor University Medical Centre in Dallas, where other womb transplants have been performed. Prof Smith said the procedure gives new hope to women born with devastating conditions. He said: “You’ve got girls, maybe 14, who have not had periods, they go to the GP and a scan shows there is no uterus. Absolute catastrophe. “Up until now, there’s been no solution for that, other than adoption or surrogacy... That’s not the case now. It’s really exciting.” On whether transgender women may also benefit from the operation, Prof Smith said that was still a long way off. He said the pelvic anatomy, vascular anatomy and shape of the pelvis are different, and there are microbiome issues to overcome. “My own sense is if there are transgender transplants that are going to take place, they are many years off. There are an awful lot of steps to go through. My suspicion is a minimum of 10 to 20 years.” Miss Quiroga said the living donor programme to date in the UK has focused on women with relatives who are willing to give their wombs. “It will come to a point where we will have friends or altruistic donors, like we have with many other transplants, but at the moment we’re only focused on people who have come forward with relatives,” she said. Read More Bursts of activity that make you huff and puff ‘linked to reduced cancer risk’ Fiona Phillips, 62, reveals she has Alzheimer’s disease Woman has all her teeth removed after rare vomiting condition causes them to fall out Bursts of activity that make you huff and puff ‘linked to reduced cancer risk’ Fiona Phillips, 62, reveals she has Alzheimer’s disease Woman has all her teeth removed after rare vomiting condition causes them to fall out

The new iPhone 15 Pro isn't getting the best ratings from users. In fact, a

Dean Gaffney has credited the medical team of ITV’s I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! for catching a sign of bowel cancer early and “saving” his life. The former EastEnders star said he underwent a medical examination in 2020 as he was being considered for an appearance on the show’s Covid-safe version at Gwrych Castle in Wales. The doctors flagged that Gaffney was "losing blood somewhere" after routine blood tests and initially thought he could have anaemia or an iron deficiency. Speaking to the Mirror, Gaffney, 45, admitted he “thought they were being a bit over the top”, but following a colonoscopy, doctors found a number of polyps in his large intestine and referred him for surgery immediately. “There is no doubt I’m A Celeb and its medical team saved my life. I might not be here today if it wasn’t for them finding what they did,” he said. Gaffney divulged that he was admitted to hospital “within hours” and was “under general anaesthetic” when “they took it out”. Recalling the moments after he woke up from the surgery, Gaffney said the doctor told him: “Had you not come to us today, in three years that could have turned to bowel cancer. You’ve been very lucky.” “I still remember his exact words,” Gaffney said. “I feel so, so lucky. It’s made me so careful about checking my stools.” Gaffney wants to raise awareness around bowel cancer, following in the footsteps of the late Dame Deborah James, who died last June of the disease. He described the Bowelbabe activist and fundraiser as “an inspiration to so many”. “I have so much respect for her fight and the awareness she raised for bowel cancer,” he said. “If I can do a small fraction of that for men, it’d make me very happy.” Detailing what the doctors had found in his large intestine, Gaffney said the polyps were “massive” and one was “20mm, which is big for a polyp”. “They didn’t mess about, they put me under general anaesthetic, operated and burned the polyps away. When I came round, I could see the doctors were slightly angry with me and it was serious,” he continued. “They didn’t mince their words and said how lucky I was it had been found now. I was stunned.” The doctors wanted to know why Gaffney had not noticed blood in his stool, to which he replied that he did not “make a habit of looking at my stools”. “Any time I’ve ever seen a bit of red I just think, maybe I’ve had peri-peri sauce,” he added. “I’m so grateful to the people on the show for bringing it to my attention. I check my stools all the time now. I’d urge others to do it too.” Read More Pierce Brosnan says he simply ‘doesn’t get angry’ Bowel cancer ‘red flags’ that can show two years before diagnosis Hairy Bikers star Dave Myers says one food has helped him return to work after cancer treatment GB News in ‘significant breach’ of Ofcom rules over Covid vaccine claims Ex-Corrie star Chris Fountain shares updates after heart surgery for ‘mini-stroke’ Bo Jackson says he will undergo procedure after year-long battle with chronic hiccups

Elon Musk's Twitter is now X. The rebrand, which was made official on Monday, has

TL;DR: As of September 13, get The 2023 Machine Learning for Absolute Beginners E-Degree Program