Women tell of ‘bereavement’ because they will be too old for fertility treatment when the coronavirus shutdown ends

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Thousands of couples may have missed their last chance of conceiving via IVF as fertility clinics shut their doors to patients on Wednesday. Some women who are only just young enough to be eligible for treatment will be too old in a few months’ time.

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), which regulates Britain’s fertility industry, has ordered private and NHS clinics to stop treating patients who are in the middle of an IVF cycle by 15 April. All new treatments have already been banned, a decision which is likely to prevent the births of at least 20,000 desperately wanted babies if it remains in place for 12 months.

System treats maternity allowance as unpaid income, skewing the amount of universal credit paid out

Pregnant women on the lowest incomes are being denied vital financial support during the Covid-19 crisis, according to unions and women’s support groups, who are calling for urgent reforms to universal credit.

An anomaly in the way universal credit differentiates between pregnant earners has created an unfair system, it is argued. Universal credit treats maternity allowance, which is paid to the lowest-earning women and those who are self-employed, as “unearned income”, which means it is deducted from their benefit payments.

Celebrity TV chef from MKR has been repeatedly criticised by scientific and medical groups over his views on health and nutrition

The controversial reality TV chef Pete Evans will exit My Kitchen Rules, Seven’s defining show of the decade which slumped badly in the ratings this year.

Evans, a self-styled health guru held one of the most lucrative jobs in television despite a series of controversies related to his views on health and nutrition.

The WHO recommends cycling to achieve the minimum daily requirement for exercise while physical distancing. Pedalling photographer Martin Godwin looks at cycling during the lockdown

As lockdown eases, travelling by bike will be a safe, healthy and potentially addictive option

There are many reasons you might want to think about cycling for commuting or other transport when the coronavirus lockdown starts to ease, particularly if you live in a city.

With physical distancing remaining in place for some time to come, capacity on public transport will be limited. If more people drive it will create gridlock.

I am not that kind of person and have made it clear I don’t want to hear from him. What more can I do?

Before the lockdown, I had a boyfriend with whom I had been for 16 months. He said he wanted to experiment sexually with another couple, which I found shocking. I am not that kind of person, so I broke up with him. Despite the breakup, he is still constantly texting me, even though I stopped texting him a while back and made it clear I don’t want to see him. The situation hurts me so much, and any help you could offer would be much appreciated.

Joining another couple for erotic fun is not uncommon; many people enjoy it. In fact, there are many communities of people who regularly participate in this sexual style. But it is not for everyone, and jealousies and insecurities can arise no matter how sexually open a person is. “Swinging” is advanced sexual play that requires a couple to be well bonded and requires each partner to be psychologically stable as well as sexually mature.

When life is necessarily small, the more negative feelings we’ve managed to keep in abeyance can loom large, says Annalisa Barbieri

I had adjusted to living alone after I was widowed six years ago, and since the lockdown friends have telephoned frequently and I chat to neighbours at a distance.

Although I feel I am one of the lucky ones and should be fine, I miss, above all, hugs and physical closeness. I have also started to resent people with partners, children or cuddly pets (which I have not done before).

We can expect psychological difficulties to follow as we come out of lockdown. But we have an opportunity to remake our relationship with our bodies, and the social body we belong to. By Susie Orbach

When lockdown started, I was confused by bodies on television. Why weren’t they socially distancing? Didn’t they know not to be so close? The injunction to be separate was unfamiliar and irregular, and for me, self-isolating alone, following this government directive was peculiar. It made watching dramas and programmes produced under normal filming conditions feel jarring.

Seven weeks in, the disjuncture has passed. I, like all of us, am accommodating to multiple corporeal realities: bodies alone, bodies distant, bodies in the park to be avoided, bodies of disobedient youths hanging out in groups, bodies in lines outside shops, bodies and voices flattened on screens and above all, bodies of dead health workers and carers. Black bodies, brown bodies. Working-class bodies. Bodies not normally praised, now being celebrated.

Waking up without a hangover after a night of getting plastered is the world saying: here, have one on me

Brace yourself. That is the first thing that enters one’s head after a heavy night out, before the eyes are even open. Sometimes, listing nausea or a banging in the brain is what wakes us in the first place. We all know that if someone invented a cure for hangovers – and boy, have they tried – that person would be very rich indeed. Or worshipped as a deity. Most likely both.

It doesn’t matter if it has been one too many after work drinks or cracking open a second bottle of wine with one’s partner… the consequences of over-indulgence patiently lie in wait.

‘I’ve heard of women rejecting a guy for his size, then making fun of him to others’

I was 15 when I realised my penis was below average in size. Feeling increasingly ashamed, I gravitated towards humiliation pornography (in which women demean men over their size) and that only made me focus more on my anxieties. I used to upload pictures of my penis anonymously on to sites such as Reddit, and the comments were all about how small it was.

I’m 22 now, and have never had a girlfriend, which I attribute to my low self-esteem. I think that in a loving relationship you accept each other’s faults – that is what I’d try to do – but I’ve heard stories of women rejecting a guy for his size and then making fun of him to other people. I’ve asked out a female friend or two while drunk, but always been rejected. Hell, I’d have rejected myself – I have overeating issues, an introverted personality, no banter. There are a million factors, but I can’t help tying them all up with having a small penis. I used to blame my inability to date on anyone but me, and for a while I gravitated towards incel [involuntary celibate] groups, but I soon realised that their ideology is toxic. I don’t believe women owe men sex.

Ask yourself Carl Jung’s question: what did you do as a child that made the hours pass like minutes?

I hesitate to suggest what anyone else ought to be doing to stay on an even keel, psychologically, in these frightening times – partly because I don’t always manage it myself, but also because any such advice tends to turn into yet another item for the to-do list. You’ve noticed, for example, how quickly all those online yoga classes and Zoom cocktail gatherings, intended to add some lightness to lockdown, began to feel vaguely like a chore. (You’re not imagining “Zoom fatigue”: experts say video conversations really are more tiring.) Likewise, “self-care” practices easily turn into new duties, so people end up forcing themselves to be kind to themselves, which doesn’t make much sense.

This is why what I think we probably ought to be doing, to whatever extent possible, is having more fun. Not meditation or gratitude journalling or jogging (unless you find those fun). Not things you think are supposed to be fun. I mean the things you actually find fun. This distinction matters, partly for the aforementioned reason that self-care, however important, isn’t synonymous with fun. But it’s also because in the modern attention economy, all sorts of things – celebrity memoirs, bad new TV dramas, expensive consumer goods – want you to believe they’re the funnest thing you could be doing. Conceivably, for any given person, they might be. But true fun – “deep fun”, as the fun scholar Bernie De Koven called it – is a subtle and personal thing, and not necessarily in anyone else’s commercial interests.

Related: No spare time in lockdown? That's not such a bad thing

Jill Wallis says she has never had so much contact with family and friends as she has had since the lockdown began

You have published many articles about the challenges of isolation, most recently your long read (Patterns of pain: what Covid-19 can teach us about how to be human, 7 May). But there is one interesting outcome you may not have considered.

Many of those of us who always live alone are finding we are much more in contact with loved ones than previously. I’ve lived alone since being widowed 16 years ago, and I’ve never had as much contact with my family and even my friends than I’ve had since the lockdown began.

After months of wrangling following the Russia probe, prosecutors will not go ahead with the case against Michael Flynn based on the former national security adviser's false statements to the FBI.

Gov. Tim Walz is hesitant to reopen businesses until his state's daily testing rate dramatically increases. "You can't flip it like a switch and say you're open if you don't have testing," he says.

Fate and politics have rewarded decisions made by the former national security adviser and his legal team, ultimately delivering him from legal jeopardy after a years-long odyssey.

Rick Bright, a top scientist working on a vaccine, says he was reassigned for not focusing on treatments favored by President Trump, even though they lacked "scientific merit."

President Trump and Vice President Pence have made official visits to battleground states this week, while the Biden campaign tries new ways to reach voters in key states virtually.

The Census Bureau says it plans to continue its relaunch of limited 2020 census operations on May 13, when the next round of workers is set to resume hand-delivering paper forms in rural communities.

From a mysterious toilet flush to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg speaking from the hospital, here are the highlights — including audio clips — from a historic week for the high court.

President Trump wants businesses to start reopening after the coronavirus forced shutdowns. Here's what the White House task force recommends for states.

Among those rallying against state shutdown orders are anti-vaccination activists. They see these protests as a way to form political alliances that promote their movement.

NPR's Ron Elving talks about the historic U.S. unemployment rate, and the Justice Department's move to drop its criminal case against former national security adviser Michael Flynn.

The White House was moving to shore up its protection protocols to protect the nation's political leaders.

"Your support to vulnerable Americans during this crisis is deeply appreciated," said U.S. Consul General Greg Stanford.

The files also show that after reports that the guidance document had been buried, the Trump administration ordered key parts of it to be fast-tracked for approval.

Just a few short months ago, Trump planned to campaign for reelection on the back of a robust economy. That’s now a distant memory.

Publishers of several of Canada’s major newspapers signed a joint letter to the federal government this month, taking aim at the advertising revenue earned by Google and Facebook.

The Rooms is eager to document how people are coping with the current pandemic to build a record for the future.

The efforts to undermine Democratic governors who invoked stay-at-home orders are most pronounced in states such as Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania, all three of which have divided government and are key to President Donald Trump's path to reelection.

A proposed class-action lawsuit has been filed against the estate of the perpetrator of Canada’s worst mass shooting, which left 22 people dead in several Nova Scotia communities last month.

Roughly 19 Canadian crew members aboard Holland America’s MS Koningsdam disembarked at the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro, Calif. on Friday while another group of 53 aboard the Emerald Princess is hoping to do the same on Saturday at Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

An investigator went to CCA Logistics Ltd. (Newsway) on April 1, where they say they found several pieces of personal protective equipment (PPE) for sale at grossly inflated prices.

Police say the recovery operation in Truro, N.S., will continue over the weekend after a three-year-old boy disappeared from his grandmother’s yard Wednesday afternoon.

No winning ticket was sold for the $10 million jackpot in Friday night's Lotto Max draw.

A personal support worker (PSW) who died Wednesday after contracting COVID-19 was not provided proper personal protective equipment at his workplace, his family alleges.

Ontario health officials reported 346 new cases of COVID-19 on Saturday morning, the lowest number of new cases since April 6.

As Jada Pinkett Smith suggested, "Grab a tissue!" If you needed a reason to cry happy tears, look no further than the newly released Mother's Day episode of the star's...

After a decade of marriage, one Hollywood couple has decided to call it quits. E! News can confirm Grey's Anatomy star Caterina Scorsone and her husband Rob Giles have decided to go...

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We love these products, and we hope you do too. E! has affiliate relationships, so we may get a small share of the revenue from your purchases. Items are sold by the retailer, not E!. One...

Any big weekend plans? Don't worry, we've got you covered. Every weekend, E! is giving you the top binge picks, including new and old TV series, movies and specials. And this...

Family comes first for Tyler Cameron. On the latest episode of E!'s The Rundown, host Erin Lim spoke exclusively to The Bachelorette star about the very personal reason he's not...

Move over, Martha Stewart and Gwyneth Paltrow. There's a new feud brewing between two leaders in the lifestyle industry. Best-selling cookbook author Alison Roman has caught the...

This Friday, May 8 would've marked Ahmaud Arbery's 26th birthday. And though he's no longer with them, the Arbery family is finding comfort in the fact that Georgia state...

I've traveled a lot over the years, saving up all the dollars and vacation days I can manage to embark on solo adventures around the globe. Whether I've ended up road-tripping...

Kids, if you've ever wondered why it's a bad idea to have sex at your picturesque lakeside summer camp, look no further. While it didn't invent the idea of punishing teenagers...

Would Kourtney Kardashian have apologized to Kim Kardashian if they didn't have their Armenia trip planned? That very question was addressed in this bonus clip from season 18 of...

The Canadian military is still determining how to raise the wreckage of a military helicopter that crashed into the Mediterranean Sea last week, Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan said Thursday.

Coping with iffy audio quality, occasional feedback loops, new technology and MPs who speak too quickly has resulted in a steep increase in interpreters reporting workplace injuries, according to the union that represents some 70 accredited interpreters who translate English into French and vice versa.

Conservative leadership hopeful Peter MacKay is calling for use of the Magnitsky Act if specific individuals in China can be identified as having suppressed information related to COVID-19.