Category Archives: Relationships

World’s longest-married couple reveals key to a lasting relationship: ‘We love each other’

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Eleanor Gittens, 107, and Lyle Gittens, 108, of Miami met at a basketball game in 1941 and have been married for 83 years

A Miami husband and wife who recently attained the title of world’s longest-married couple say they managed that feat just by loving one another.

“We love each other,” Eleanor Gittens, 107, said to LongeviQuest when the website specializing on people who are in their second century of life asked what was the secret to her 83 years of marriage to her husband, Lyle.

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Horror film digitally altered in China to make gay couple straight

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Viewers outraged after same-sex wedding scene changed in Together, starring Dave Franco and Alison Brie

An Australian horror film featuring a scene with a same-sex wedding was reportedly digitally altered for release in mainland China, transforming the gay couple into a heterosexual one, provoking outrage from viewers who spotted the change.

The critically acclaimed film Together, starring Dave Franco and Alison Brie, was released in selected cinemas in China on 12 September. It follows the journey of a young couple who move to the countryside and encounter mysterious and grotesque changes to their bodies.

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Secondary schools in England to tackle ‘incel’ culture and teach positive role models

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Government says new guidance will challenge ‘manosphere’ myths as DfE reports epidemic-scale misogyny

Secondary school pupils in England are to be taught about “incel” culture and the links between pornography and misogyny as part of long-awaited statutory government guidance due to be published on Tuesday.

It will include a new focus on positive role models for boys and challenge “myths about women and relationships that are spread online in the ‘manosphere’”, but will warn schools against “stigmatising boys for being boys”.

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From homework to housework, how British attitudes have changed since the 1930s

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Study shows women today are happier being women – but getting up to go to work remains as punishing as ever

The mundane tasks of everyday life, such as homework after school and household chores at the weekend, may not have changed in the past 80 years, but societal attitudes towards them could not be more different.

A study by the Policy Institute at King’s College London (KCL), comparing public attitudes now and in the 1930s and 40s, reveals how significantly views on everyday life in Britain have shifted over the decades.

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‘Are we dating the same guy?’: Women turn to Facebook to uncover cheating and violence

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Experts say use of groups to warn others about dangerous men is indictment on governments’ failure to keep women safe

“Any info on Chris* please? Thanks.” The words in a Facebook post, above three pictures of a man. In the comments, a woman replies: “He was also posted a few days ago by someone.”

Further down, a second woman replies: “I’m shaking, I’m his fiancee.”

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Counselling charity Relate set to be rescued from insolvency

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Deal under which Family Action takes over Relate’s counselling services will save up to 185 jobs, say administrators

Britain’s biggest relationship counselling charity looks likely to be rescued from insolvency under plans for it to be taken over.

Last month, Relate was put into administration after a collapse in its funding from NHS, school and local authority contracts.

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Counselling charity Relate set to be rescued from insolvency

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Deal under which Family Action takes over Relate’s counselling services will save up to 185 jobs, say administrators

Britain’s biggest relationship counselling charity looks likely to be rescued from insolvency under plans for it to be taken over.

Last month, Relate was put into administration after a collapse in its funding from NHS, school and local authority contracts.

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‘Throuples’ dating app Feeld nearly doubles turnover to £39.5m

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Platform run from industrial estate in Cumbria and catering to alternative relationships has expanded globally

A dating app aimed at alternative relationships nearly doubled its revenues last year as non-monogamous, queer and kinky users helped the UK-based business expand its reach across the world.

Feeld, founded by an entrepreneur couple in an open relationship, has said it is “on a mission to elevate the human experience of sexuality and relationships” from its registered office on an industrial estate in Carlisle, Cumbria.

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‘Written in the stars’: Norwegian princess and California shaman tie the knot, with Netflix in waiting

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Unconventional marriage of Princess Märtha Louise and Durek Vellet celebrated with three-day schedule of events and a documentary to follow

She is the clairvoyant daughter of one of Europe’s longest-serving monarchs; he is a self-styled sixth-generation shaman from California. The wedding of Princess Märtha Louise of Norway to Durek Verrett on Saturday on Saturday afternoon wasn’t your conventional royal affair, but that didn’t stop spectators lining the overcast streets of Geiranger in the hope of catching a glimpse of the bride.

The eldest daughter of Crown Prince Harald and Queen Sonja, 52-year-old Märtha Louise is fourth in line to the Norwegian throne. She married Verrett, 49, in a traditional church of Norway ceremony attended by royals and celebrities at the four-star Hotel Union in a small village beneath the Geiranger fjord.

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TikTok has matchmaking service for staff to play cupid for co-workers

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Meet Cute on company’s intranet allows employees to advertise family and acquaintances to colleagues

TikTok has an internal matchmaking service for employees to introduce their colleagues to friends and family members, it has been revealed.

The channel, called Meet Cute, sits on the workplace tool used by thousands of TikTok employees around the world for document hosting, video conferencing. It also helps people find a potential romantic partner from among their colleagues.

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‘Dramatic rise’ in number of women freezing eggs in UK

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Experts say restrictions on socialising during Covid crisis may have led more women to seek to preserve fertility

There has been a dramatic rise in the number of women freezing their eggs in the UK, while more single people are opting for IVF, figures show.

A report from the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HEFA) found that more people than ever are undergoing procedures, with egg- and embryo-freezing the fastest-growing fertility treatments in Britain.

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‘Own the feels’: New Zealand government tries to help teens recover from breakups

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Love Better campaign includes a video that encourages teenagers to delete their exes on social media

“OK, I’m doing it. I’m officially deleting my ex from all my socials,” a young woman says, looking determinedly into her phone screen. She leans closer and whispers: “I’m moving on.”

The footage appears in a New Zealand government video which affirms the universal truth that “breakups suck”, as part of an unusual new campaign to support young people through their experience of being dumped and suggest healthy ways to process their feelings.

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French philosopher urges people to rebel – by making friends

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Geoffroy de Lagasnerie says focus on friendships over relationships or family is radical act in today’s society

Building your life around close friendships rather than family or romance is a joyous and necessary act of rebellion, and governments should put in place “friendship ministries” to radically rethink the way society is organised, a key French philosopher has argued.

Geoffroy de Lagasnerie this week publishes a manifesto for friendship, 3 Une Aspiration au Dehors, detailing his close friendship with two other writers, Didier Eribon and Édouard Louis. The three friends eat together in the evening, speak many times daily, wish each other goodnight and good morning every day and synch their schedules to make sure they prioritise friendship moments, namely meeting up for long chats. He described the friendship as the centre of their lives, “one long discussion that never ends”.

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Register of tutor-student relations proposed for England campuses

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Academics may face dismissal if relations involving romance, sex or financial dependency are not reported

Universities in England could face sanctions if intimate relationships between staff and the students they have academic responsibilities for are not disclosed, under plans by the higher education watchdog.

Academics who refuse to report relationships with their students that involve sexual activity, romantic intimacy or financial dependency, should be dismissed, the Office for Students (OfS) has proposed.

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More Australian teenagers are sexually active and for one-third it’s unwanted

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Exclusive: National survey of young people also finds fewer than half used a condom during their latest sexual experience

More young Australians are sexually active than in previous years and, while many of them report positive experiences, a national survey of high school students found condom use is falling and there are still high rates of unwanted sex.

The seventh federally funded national survey of Australian secondary students and sexual health on Thursday published findings of its survey of 6,841 students from years 9 to 12 in government, Catholic and independent schools throughout 2021.

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Indonesia passes legislation banning sex outside marriage

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Rights groups say amended criminal code underscores shift towards fundamentalism

Indonesia’s parliament has overhauled the country’s criminal code to outlaw sex outside marriage and curtail free speech, in a dramatic setback to freedoms in the world’s third-largest democracy.

Passed with support from all political parties, the draconian legislation has shocked not only rights activists but also the country’s booming tourism sector, which relies on a stream of visitors to its tropical islands.

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How we met: ‘I was trying to have a baby alone when we matched on a dating app’

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Emmy was on en route to Athens to try artificial insemination when she started chatting to Andy. Now they have a child together

After turning 30 in 2018, Emmy made the life-changing decision to have a baby alone. “I had always really wanted children,” she says. “But when I did a fertility MOT, I discovered I had low egg reserves.” Single, and reluctant to wait for a suitable partner to come along, she began the process of IVF. “I naively thought it would work, but I had a couple of miscarriages in the early stages.”

In February 2020, she travelled to Athens to try artificial insemination by a donor. “I’ve lived and worked in Greece and loved it. It was cheaper and I had friends to stay with,” she says. Before she landed, she matched on a dating app with a man from Liverpool called Andy, and they began to chat. “I’d been single for about four years and was quite happy in my own world,” he says. “But I was open to meeting someone and I found Emmy really engaging.”

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You be the judge: is it OK for my boyfriend to keep butter in the cupboard?

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She thinks butter belongs in the fridge; he thinks it’s fine sitting out. We air both sides of a domestic disagreement – and ask you to deliver a verdict
• If you have a disagreement you’d like settled, or want to be part of our jury, click here

My boyfriend insists on keeping butter in the ‘pantry’. To me it’s strange and unhygienic

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How we met: ‘She was giving out free footballs, and I thought she was really beautiful’

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Nick met Tess in Bordeaux while watching Wales in the Euros. But it was only when she made a dash to their airport to see him off that they shared their first kiss


In January 2016, Nick’s mother died. He had only been living in Bristol for six months when it happened. “It was difficult because I didn’t know many people,” he says. A week later, his girlfriend dumped him by text. “It was a really bad time. I’d relocated from my home town of Wrexham to be a theatre operations manager, but I was lonely,” he says.

He decided to cheer himself up with a trip to France to watch Euro 2016, so, that summer, he travelled to Bordeaux with a friend. “We weren’t able to get tickets, but the city had set up massive fan zones with huge screens for watching the games,” he says. “We were supporting Wales in their game against Slovakia.” All around, there were promotional stands giving out free merchandise. That’s when Nick spotted Tess, a French student who was working as a host at the event.

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