HANOI, Vietnam--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jun 1, 2023--

Comedian Russell Brand has been interviewed by British police over three alleged sexual offenses

Ex-England youth international Ashleigh Plumptre insists it was a simple choice to switch allegiances to Nigeria, who on Monday night could knock her native country out of the World Cup. Leicestershire born and raised Plumptre, 25, has represented England from under-15 to under-23 level, but in January 2022 received FIFA’s approval to join the Super Falcons. Plumptre, who three weeks ago left Leicester after making 79 appearances for the Women’s Super League side, grew up with a half-Nigerian dad whose own father was born in Lagos. The defender said: “For me, it wasn’t difficult because I knew exactly what I wanted from football and I think that just came down from understanding who I am. On my journey, I’ve learned more about myself and I know what I want from football. “And I always say, ‘for me, it’s more than just playing.’ It sounds really weird but I always say I’m not obsessed with football, specifically, I’m obsessed with what I can learn about myself from playing. “And that’s why playing for Nigeria would probably be the most fulfilling thing I could do. “Not to say that my experiences were ever bad with England, they never were, but it was just more that my life went on a different course. “And I’m like, hmm, this is important for me, for my sister, for my family and for the young people who identify as being mixed heritage.” In an interview for the Nigerian Football Federation, Plumptre describes her younger half-sister Bayleigh Bisi as having a darker skin tone and different hair texture, which initially led to her more strongly resonating with their Nigerian heritage. Plumptre feels her own journey is entwined with her sibling’s – going so far as to say that the road to this World Cup, which saw world number 40 Nigeria oust Olympic champions Canada en route to the knockouts, is one shared by them both. She added: “I feel like people have different reasons for wanting to play for a different country. “For me, obviously, I grew up playing for England and I enjoyed my time with them but I always say it was always more of a life decision than a football decision. “I felt like I had a responsibility to try and play for Nigeria, if I could. “And that just came from experiences within family. I’ve got my younger sister, I used to coach an under-12s team with girls with mixed heritage girls, and I feel like I have a responsibility to learn about my heritage and I have the privilege of being able to play football and use that to be able to learn, so it came about like that for me.” Nigeria have contested all nine World Cups, reaching the quarter-finals in 1999. Should they wish to equal or better that feat they will have to find their way past European champions England. Plumptre is prepared to face the Lionesses, a side which includes several former team-mates. She said: “I was like, ‘it’s gonna end up that way’. I know a lot of the players, I grew up playing with a lot of them, play against them. So I would completely relish that opportunity. I would love to play them.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Harry Kane puts speculation to one side with four goals in Tottenham friendly Dozens of triathletes stuck down with diarrhoea and vomiting after ‘swimming in s**t’ Finn Russell expects different challenge from full-strength France next week

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Et tu, Billy?

Erin O’Connor wowed on the front row at the Roksanda spring/summer catwalk show. The British model, 45, wore an acid yellow and white high-necked maxi dress, topped with a floor-length pink cape and black cat-eye sunglasses. Veteran actor Vanessa Redgrave joined O’Connor at the show, which was held at London’s famous Barbican Centre. The 86-year-old Oscar winner, wearing a mint green gathered blouse and white trousers, was greeted by fashion editor Anna Wintour on arrival. Fashion designer Roksanda Ilincic said she was inspired by 15th-century fresco paintings from the monasteries of her native Serbia, for her SS24 collection. In a departure from her usual rainbow of rich colours, the designer focused on lighter hues such as ivory, pastel pink and lime, as well as some bold royal blue looks and all-black ensembles. There was no shortage of the glamour for which Roksanda is known, with a slew of stunning evening dresses on show. Many were made from silky fabrics with gathered or cape detailing, while others were trimmed with feathers or long tassels that swayed as the models walked the runway. Alongside the slinky column gowns, full-skirted dresses were crafted from structured textiles including latex, and high-heeled satin court shoes came with feathery trims. Tailored ensembles included oversized two-piece suits in black and ivory, sleeveless blazers and deconstructed trench coats. The collection was also influenced by the brutalist design of the Barbican, with round sculptural headpieces – taken from Serbian culture – echoing the circular outdoor show space. Adding to the air of sophistication, the show was soundtracked by an a cappella performance from an opera singer. The beauty look played on the popular ‘quiet luxury’ trend. “It’s not a ‘no make-up make-up’,” Sharryn Hinchliffe, executive director of global artistry at MAC, said backstage. “There’s something very decadent about it. We’re doing a beautiful satin finish skin with a glassy eye and a glossy lip.” She added: “Roksanda is so elegant and very luxe, so we wanted to not take away from any of the clothes, but just to almost have the skin like an adornment.” The show concluded with a stunning final look; a powder pink structured gown with a voluminous train. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Action needed to protect women from birth trauma – MP Imagination and hard work in children trumps obedience – research finds 7 ways you could be damaging your eye health without even realising

The husband of the owner and operator of the Bronx day care where a 1-year-child died of suspected fentanyl exposure has been captured by authorities in Mexico, multiple US law enforcement sources familiar with the search told CNN on Tuesday.

Several tweets criticized the 'Titanic' director for what they perceived as an inappropriate display of his 'expertise' at such a tragic time

Meta’s new Threads app will not let people leave without deleting their whole Instagram account, its rules warn. The app launched just hours ago and appears to have already received tens of millions of signups. It came at a particularly difficult time for Twitter – which has been limiting how many posts people can see – and has tight integration with Instagram, which makes it easy to sign up. However, people are not able to reverse that signup process once it has happened, users have found. If someone starts using Threads, and then wants to leave again, they will be forced to delete their entire Instagram account. Threads users can “deactivate” their profile, which will stop posts and interactions with other people’s posts from being shown. But that data will continue to live on parent company Meta’s servers, and will remain connected to the Instagram account it came from. Users can also delete all of their individual posts on Threads. As on most social networks, that has to be done one-by-one, with a user scrolling through their own account and deleting each post individually. But it is not possible to fully delete it without getting rid of all Instagram data. “Your Threads profile is part of your Instagram account, and may be deleted at any time by deleting your Instagram account,” a supplemental privacy policy published for Threads warns. Meta has said that it is working on the problem, presumably with a view to allowing people to get rid of their Threads account without deleting all of their data. The issue is just one of a range of problems that users have identified on the first day with Instagram’s Threads app. Many other users have complained, for instance, that there is no way to see only posts from accounts that they have actually followed. Instagram has built Threads to recommend posts from other accounts it thinks users are interested in, too – presumably in an attempt to ensure that the news feed is full up even when users start using the app. Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, has also confirmed on Threads that the company is working on that feature too. Mr Mosseri faced sharp criticism in recent months over the increasing amount of algorithmically chosen content being pushed into users feeds on the normal version of Instagram. Read More Threads: What it’s like to use Instagram’s new Twitter rival How to get and use ‘Threads’, the biggest new social app Mark Zuckerberg launches his ‘Twitter killer’ app called Threads

Former world number one Simona Halep has been charged with a further breach of anti-doping rules, the International Tennis Integrity...

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Apple Inc.’s new $3,499 Vision Pro headset looks just as sleek in person as in its promotional videos,