Author: Press Room

BANGKOK: Thailand will legalise abortion up to 20 weeks, the government said on Tuesday (Sep 27), relaxing pregnant people’s access to the previously restricted medical procedure. Terminations remained illegal in the kingdom – except under incidents of rape or threat to the mother’s life – until February last year when it was lifted for women up to 12 weeks pregnant. However, there remains intense stigma around the procedure in the Buddhist-majority country, scarred by a 2010 case when around 2,000 illegally aborted foetuses were discovered in a temple. Terminations of up to 20 weeks would now be permitted, a government statement…

In 2016, Victoria Gibbs felt stunned when she returned from a vacation in Mexico with a serious sunburn.“That was highly unusual for me. With my darker complexion the sun has never really been an issue,” Gibbs, 37, of Manhattan, told TODAY. “I just shrugged it off.”At the time, she was training for a national yoga competition, practicing twice a day for 90 minutes. While she should have been in peak physical health, she began experiencing other odd symptoms, including night sweats, sleeping 12 hours a day and blood blisters on her fingertips. She visited urgent care clinics but no one had…

Backstreet Boys’ AJ McLean is back — with a vengeance. The singer, who has been in and out of rehab since 2001, is celebrating being one-year sober and an impressive body transformation. He’s feeling strong on the inside, too. “Drinking caused weight gain, but it also weighed down my mental state,” McLean, 44, told TODAY. McLean, who said he is “in the best shape” of his life, started by making small diet changes. The first two things to go were alcohol and fast food. It wasn’t easy, and McLean struggled in the beginning. In those tough moments, he said he’d ask himself…

Studies have shown that the dietary habits of pregnant people can influence the response of newborns and infants to the odor and taste of food items, suggesting that fetuses are able to sense flavors while in the womb.A new study used ultrasound scans to examine the facial expressions of fetuses after their mothers ate kale or carrot powder to directly assess whether they could sense flavors.The fetuses showed a higher rate of cry-face expressions in response to the bitter kale flavor and more laughter-face expressions after being exposed to the sweeter carrot flavor.This study provides direct evidence that the fetus…

What’s the number one quality you look for in an airline? After a chaotic summer at Europe’s airports, punctuality is probably up there.But there’s much more that goes into a good experience in the skies. Now with seven years at the top of the league table, Qatar Airlines appears to have the winning formula according to its passengers.The Gulf state’s national carrier was voted the ‘World’s Best Airline’ at the 2022 World Airline Awards last Friday. Known as ‘the Oscars of the aviation industry’, it is run by UK-based consultancy Skytrax, with all awards based on a global customer satisfaction…

While scrolling on TikTok, you might land on videos about the “pelvic floor” or “pelvic floor therapy” filled with advice and exercises. The TikTok hashtag #pelvicfloor has garnered over 578 million views so far. Some of the videos are from physical therapists trying to educate and spread awareness, but many are not — and before you know it, you may be diagnosing yourself with a pelvic floor problem in between watching videos about NyQuil chicken and the corn kid.So what is pelvic floor therapy and who can benefit from it? We spoke to experts to find out. What is the pelvic…

Fall officially began last week, and pop singer Mahmood is already breaking out his coziest jackets. While attending the Burberry spring 2023 show in London on Monday, Mahmood kept things deliberately casual and streetwear-oriented by shedding the typical blazer for a delightfully large and shaggy overcoat. His google-style white sunglasses also keep things feeling youthful and fresh.The look, designed by Ricardo Tisci at Burberry, perfectly embodies a key trend for fall—texture, texture, texture. Last winter, mohair was all the rage. Mohammed’s poodle-adjacent fuzzy jacket feels like a natural next step in the trend of über-comfy glamour for chill weather.The playful…

More than 600 flights to and from the Canary Islands were cancelled over the weekend as Storm Hermine battered the Atlantic archipelago.Hermine was expected to hit the popular holiday destination over the weekend as a tropical storm but was downgraded to a tropical depression on Sunday.After three days of torrential rain and flooding, the extreme weather has finally calmed down.But a number of travellers remain on the islands, with some airlines organising ‘rescue flights’ to address the backlog of cancelled trips.Why were flights to the Canary Islands cancelled?On Sunday, Eurocontrol – Europe’s air traffic control authority – declared a ‘zero…

Spain could soon introduce a digital nomad visa that would give non-EU nationals the chance to live and work there for up to five years.If the scheme is approved, the country will join a number of other European nations that have introduced some form of digital nomad scheme in the last few years including Italy, Greece and Croatia.When plans were first announced back in January, the country was hoping to “attract and retain international and national talents by helping remote workers and digital nomads set up in Spain,” according to Economic Affairs Minister Nadia Calviño.With some of the best internet…

In the aftermath of its aggression against Ukraine, Russia is intensifying plans to use its central bank digital currency (CBDC), the digital ruble, in the country’s trade with China. The development could encourage other nations across the world to use CBDCs in mutual settlements with foreign partners, accelerating global crypto adoption.Anatoly Aksakov, a Russian lawmaker and the head of the financial committee of the Duma, the lower house of Russia’s parliament, said that, after the CBDC is launched early next year, Moscow intends to use the digital ruble to decrease its reliance on western financial institutions.“The topic of digital financial…