Category Archives: Life and style

What the chauffeur saw: what is it really like driving the rich and famous?

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From princesses on shopping sprees to celebrities having sex in the back of the car, the men and women at the wheel have seen it all. And, just occasionally, the secrets spill out …

In the early hours of one morning, nearly a decade ago, chauffeur Jayne Amelia Larson found herself trying to extricate the son of one of the wealthiest men in Los Angeles from the back of her car. The then-chauffeur had been driving the twentysomething party boy up and down Santa Monica Boulevard in her Lincoln Town car as he tried to procure a “transvestite prostitute” for his girlfriend who, he said, “wanted to convert a gay guy”. After several hours, he threw up on the back seat and fell into a drunken slumber, then woke up and tried to urinate in the car.

“He’d been in rehab again and again,” says Larson, recalling the incident that took place just weeks into her new career. “Another driver I later met had been his family’s driver, and said the kid repeatedly did stuff in the car you would not believe, like he went to the bathroom there because he was just so wasted. And I don’t mean in a clean way; I mean in an awful way.”

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They look cute, but should we rescue Romania’s street dogs?

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Well-meaning Britons are saving abused dogs from hellish public pounds and death by cannibalism. So why are they making some experts anxious?

On a dank, dreary winter afternoon, I have come to a farmyard in Essex, just outside the M25, to meet – among others – Karine, Anna, Tommy Lee and Eskimo Joe. Tommy Lee and Eskimo Joe are from Romania, and are dogs. Rescue animals, hoping (if dogs can hope) to be adopted. Tommy Lee is missing a front leg – most probably from a traffic accident in Brasov, Transylvania – but is cheerful, inquisitive and friendly. Eskimo Joe is older, a little overweight, obstinate, camera-shy, resigned. I worry that potential adopters might not fall in love with Eskimo Joe.

Karine and Anna Hauser are Swiss-Finnish sisters (human) and run the charity Love Underdogs. Animal lovers, they were originally visiting a sanctuary in Romania for abused bears from all over the world. But they couldn’t ignore the dogs, and started to work with a shelter in Brasov, 100 miles north of Bucharest, and to bring to the UK for rehoming some of the most unwanted, abused and neglected ones. Love Underdogs is just one of dozens of charities in Britain importing rescue dogs from abroad – from Greece, Cyprus, Bosnia, and particularly from Romania, which has one of the biggest street-dog problems in Europe.

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I lost 13 stone – now I know the truth about obesity

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For years, I swallowed all the theories about fat, believing I could be obese and fit. Here are five dangerous myths, debunked

As far back as I can remember, I was overweight. My parents were morbidly obese, just like three of my grandparents (my maternal grandmother was “only” obese – in other words, just fat). In my teenage years, I tried every diet going, and would sometimes lose weight, only to put it all on again. Eventually I concluded that so-called “normal” weight just wasn’t realistic for me. It would mean a life of permanent hunger.

I also decided such a life wasn’t necessary: excess weight was demonised without reason. I might be fat, but I didn’t smoke, drink, consume fast food or red meat. And I was physically fit. I decided to set other priorities in my life; I trained as a psychotherapist, got married and started renovating an old house.

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Six ways to raise a resilient child

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Want to help your children deal with stress and adversity? It’s easier than you think

Helping our children navigate the stresses and strains of daily life is more important than ever. Figures released in November last year by NHS Digital show a worrying rise in young people’s mental health problems; sadly, my experience as a GP confirms this. One in eight children aged between five and 19 in England has a diagnosable mental health condition; the prevalence of emotional disorders, including anxiety and depression, has risen by 48% since 2004. “The pressures young people face range from school stress, bullying and worries about job and housing prospects, to concerns around body image,” says Emma Saddleton, helpline manager at the charity YoungMinds.

While we may not be able to remove all these challenges, we can pass on skills to help young people cope with stress and adversity. “It’s what’s known as resilience,” Saddleton says. “The ability to overcome difficult experiences and be shaped positively by them.” Our brains respond to the information around us, so resilience can be taught, modelled and nurtured at any age. “By doing this, through strong support networks and encouraging communication, we can help young people understand when they feel down and know what they can do to make themselves feel better,” she adds.

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Schoolgirls in Kenya to face compulsory tests for pregnancy and FGM

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Girls in Narok County will be made to reveal identities of babies’ fathers and tell police about female genital mutilation

Plans to subject schoolgirls in Kenya to mandatory tests for female genital mutilation and pregnancy are a violation of victims’ privacy, campaigners have warned.

All girls returning to school this week in Narok, Kenya, will be examined at local health facilities as part of a countywide crackdown.

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Netflix warns viewers against Bird Box challenge meme: ‘Do not end up in hospital’

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The streaming giant has cautioned those mimicking Sandra Bullock’s character by walking around blindfolded to try not to injure themselves

Last week Netflix claimed that 45 million of its subscribers had streamed the Sandra Bullock thriller Bird Box in its first week of release: a record for original movie content on the platform.

Five days later, on 2 January, they issued a public health warning in the interests of keeping as many of those subscribers alive as possible. The service was responding to a growing social media fad for the Bird Box challenge, in which people emulate characters in the film who must perform every task blindfolded, lest lurking monsters drive them to suicide.

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The dark history of Santa’s city: how Rovaniemi rose from the ashes

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After the Finnish city was razed to the ground by the German army in the second world war, architect Alvar Aalto rebuilt it to a reindeer-shaped street grid. Then Santa came to town …

As soon as you land at Rovaniemi airport in Lapland you see a reindeer. Not a real one, admittedly, but somebody in a Rudolf suit cheerily greeting passengers who have just arrived. A couple of miles from “Santa’s official airport” lies Santa Claus Village, an amusement park complete with elves, real reindeers, huskies, shops and restaurants that draws more than 600,000 visitors a year to this isolated spot at the edge of the Arctic Circle.

There are reindeer everywhere in Rovaniemi: humans dressed as them at the airport, real ones pulling sleighs at Santa Claus Village and statues of them throughout the city centre.

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