Softball pitching sensation Jordy Bahl has announced she is transferring to Nebraska after leading Oklahoma to its third straight national title

Naomi Watts has admitted that going through menopause in her mid-thirties felt like “the end of her worth”. Watts, now 55, said she thought of menopause as “equating to the end” of her career, when she experienced it three years after her breakthrough performance in David Lynch’s 2001 psychological thriller Mulholland Drive. In an interview with Times Radio on Thursday, the two-time Oscar-nominated actor added that the lack of conversation around menopause – or the end of menstruation – “told me that you don’t matter anymore”. She continued: “So I kind of spent a lot of time spinning out and turning in on myself, feeling panicked about the end of my career, the end of my worth. If I can’t bring children into the world, my partner will probably leave me. What do I mean? Where’s my purpose?” Watts has been advocating for greater awareness and sensitivity around the subject, with the actor launching her own menopausal beauty brand Stripes last October. In the interview, she noted that, while women come together to discuss their periods, first kisses, or experiences with getting pregnant, the conversation around menopause has remained shrouded in secrecy and shame. However, Watts acknowledged that she wouldn’t have spoken about her own experiences when she was younger. Opening up about her decision to talk about going through early menopause publicly, she said: “Maybe it was just the right timing, maybe that the average age of menopause is 51. Maybe I just had to get past that milestone to actually admit that that was me. However, Watts added, her outlook has since changed because she “got on top of the education” and has a better understanding of it. “I’ve also got my friends,” she continued, underscoring the importance of having a community. “We can moan about it if we have to, laugh about it and share our experiences openly. “I think when the conversation is off the table, that’s the worst part of it,” Watts said. The Impossible actor has previously said that going through early menopause was “incredibly isolating”, with the NHS estimating that premature menopause – before the age of 40 – affects one per cent of women in the UK. The symptoms are the same as perimenopause, or the years of transition leading up to menopause. These usually include changes in the pattern and/or frequency of menstrual cycles, anxiety, mood changes, hot flushes, and hair loss or thinning. Read More ‘It was the most isolating experience’: Meet the women with early menopause Smoking causes 150 cancer cases every single day in UK, study finds Millions of women able to get contraceptive pills over the counter next year Smoking causes 150 cancer cases every single day in UK, study finds Millions of women able to get contraceptive pills over the counter next year Woman with cystic fibrosis had weeks to live – now she’s climbing mountains

'To my dad, thank you. You turned nothing into something and gave me everything,' said Jimmy Buffett's daughter Delaney

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jun 22, 2023--

With new versions of One UI for its phones, tablets, and watches, Samsung is bringing

Real Madrid and England star Jude Bellingham has been named the winner of the 2023 Kopa Trophy.

'It breaks my heart, my niece was one of the teens in the car,' Amanda Ferguson's aunt Michael Noland wrote in a post

Air France’s decision to dramatically thin out its domestic network highlights a trend set in motion even before

Vice Media, the once-high flying digital media company valued at billions of dollars, is set to be acquired out of bankruptcy by three investment companies, including Fortress Investment Group, for $225 million.

Lauren Hemp didn’t need to look; she already had the picture in her head. After 86 minutes of being everywhere for England, Hemp found another burst to turn away from Katrina Gorry and ease into the space, gliding to the left to create room on the right. As Australia backed off, Hemp opened up the angle and reversed the ball back to Alessia Russo - her target all along. Then came the finish, low, controlled, a clinical way to round off a ruthless performance on a gutsy night. Cool, calm and collected, it booked England’s place in the World Cup final and summed up how they beat Australia. “Incredible finish, incredible pass,” Sarina Wiegman said. For the second match in a row, her front two were both on the scoresheet, Hemp and Russo on target in the semi-finals, just as they were in the quarter-finals, just as Wiegman had planned. Except, of course, that no one would have planned for this, in a tournament where rarely anything has gone to script for England and they have been forced to adapt. The Lionesses came into the World Cup with seven forwards and they will likely start Sunday’s final with only two in attacking positions; Hemp and Russo stand as their unlikely combination. But it is a partnership that is a game away from winning the World Cup, and who have come to represent the qualities of this England team: one that battles and digs in from the front, but that has quality to deliver when it counts. Hemp has gone from England’s dynamic winger to a roaming threat in a team that doesn’t play with wide forwards, and who instead offers so much more, covering the work of two positions. “She is just a nuisance,” said Ella Toone. “A nightmare to play against.” Hemp saved her best performance of the World Cup for the semi-finals and led the way to show what England needed as they faced the hosts and an entire nation in Sydney, on what was their biggest night in a generation. “I feel really fearless at the moment,” the 23-year-old said. “I’ve taken up a new role, I guess, in the team, running in behind players and getting the ball, creating something. I feel like I’m playing some of my best football.” Hemp has always been an attacker who has played with a mental picture of what is around her and an understanding of where defenders are. Hemp has always had the pace to hurt teams, the acceleration to just glide away, but Wiegman’s decision to bring the Man City forward inside the touchlines has made her threat more consistent. Unlike the Euros last summer, teams are not able to double-mark her. It has also brought her closer to Russo, who started the tournament isolated, a target for crosses swung into the box but who really just wanted to be involved and have the play near her. “They are complimentary in their qualities,” Wiegman said. With Hemp alongside her, Russo has found her position and her confidence, growing into the tournament like England as they have reached the final. The Lionesses, though, are faced with a decision ahead of Spain on Sunday. England’s deadly duo was their attacking trio, one that could now be reunited against in the World Cup final. James will be available after serving her two-match suspension for stamping on Nigeria’s Michelle Alozie in the last-16. If that was a moment that threatened not only her, but England’s participation in the tournament, then the fact that James is free to play against Spain is thanks to the spirit and resilience of her teammates, as well as the discretion of Fifa’s disciplinary panel. The Lionesses overcame not only the immense challenge of getting through Nigeria with 10 players but the battles against Colombia and Australia. Nothing has come easy for England at the World Cup and James, through a moment of madness in which she did apologise for, made it harder. James remains a tempting option, however. She is England’s greatest talent, a player who lit up the group stages with her two-goal, three-assist display against China, shining in a system that was designed and revolved around her in the No 10 position. Wiegman, though, has since been made to adapt, and the attacking triangle of James, Hemp and Russo has shifted to the midfield trio of Ella Toone, Keira Walsh and Georgia Stanway. Against Spain, the fixture in world football where individual battles in midfield are the most important, Wiegman is unlikely to move away from the formula that is working for this England team. Nor should she. After a difficult tournament, Toone had her moment against Australia, scoring another big-game goal for the Lionesses. It would be extremely harsh to drop her now, while having James as an impact substitute alongside Chloe Kelly is an excellent option for Wiegman to have. So too, suddenly, is the front two. "This team has ruthlessness,” Wiegman said, and it’s a spirit led from the front. Read More England finally reach the world’s greatest stage — and that is worth celebrating How England deployed dark arts and cool heads to silence Australian noise With one sublime pass, the Lionesses have unlocked the door to football Narnia

Two of the surprise packages of the Women's World Cup clash when Colombia face Jamaica in Melbourne on Tuesday with a quarter-final...

Rassie van der Dussen has insisted South Africa are carrying no Cricket World Cup baggage even if their long-suffering fans may sometimes feel they are...