NowMyNews

One year ago today, I resolved that 2020 would be the year in which I finally fulfilled ambitions I’d kept simmering on the back burner for decades. Now that I was semi-retired, I’d have plenty of time on my hands. And with money still coming in from my weekly excursions on this page, I’d have enough to do things I’d only dreamt of in the past, when I had a full-time job, a hefty mortgage to pay and four growing sons to keep clothed, fed and supplied with Xboxes, smartphones and other such essentials of modern British boyhood. Tom Utley hoped to travel in 2020 to places he wished to go but hadn't gotten round to For a start, I could do a bit of travelling, perhaps popping over for mini-breaks in Vienna and St Petersburg, cities I’d long had a hankering to see but had never got round to visiting. Better still, I could at last honour my oft-repeated promise to take Mrs U to the United States, where she had never been and I’d stayed only once, for a long weekend in New York, paid for

No premieres, film festivals, fashion weeks or glittering parties . . . If you reckoned last year was tough, then spare a thought for those poor celebrities.  Denied their usual means of hogging the limelight, they’ve had to concoct ever more desperate ways to get noticed via their own social media accounts. CLAUDIA CONNELL presents the ‘Lock at Me Awards’ for attention-seeking antics in the great 2020 lockdown...   ODDEST EX-FACTOR When coronavirus first hit, actress Demi Moore, 58, holed up at her ranch in Idaho with her three adult daughters, their boyfriends and — bizarrely — her ex-husband Bruce Willis, the man she divorced 20 years ago.  They posted pictures of themselves cooking, singing, playing games in matching pyjamas and generally behaving like a dysfunctional Von Trapp family.  Missing was 65-year-old Bruce’s current wife Emma, mother of his two young daughters, who chose to quarantine hundreds of miles away in California. Can’t think why.   When coronavirus first hit, act

The US FDA has recalled some varieties of Sportmix pet food following reports that at least 28 dogs died after eating the food which had contained high levels of alfatoxin. After the FDA received reports of the dog deaths - in addition to eight reports of dogs falling ill - Sportmix makers Midwestern Pet Food recalled multiple production lots of dry pet food for both dogs and cats.  The impacted varieties were from the Sportmix Energy Plus, Premium High Energy and Original Cat lines.  The FDA recalled several production lots of Sportmix pet foods Sportmix Energy Plus, Premium High Energy and Original Cat lines FDA tests done on multiple samples of the food lines carried out by the Missouri Department of Agriculture were found to have very high levels of aflatoxin, which is produced by the Aspergillus flavus mold, which can grow on corn and other grains used in making pet food.  High levels of the toxin - which can be present in the food even if there is no visible mold - could lead to

A Los Angeles socialite accused of killing two young brothers in a hit-and-run crash in September kept her head down after she pleaded not guilty to new murder charges Wednesday. Rebecca Grossman, 57, the wife of prominent plastic reconstructive surgeon Dr. Peter Grossman,  looked serious and kept her eyes down as she left  a Los Angeles County Superior courtroom in Van Nuys surrounded by her lawyers.   She was charged with two counts of murder, two counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence, and one count of hit-and-run driving resulting in death for a September crash where she hit and killed brothers Mark and Jacob Iskander, 11 and 9, in Westlake Village, California.  In the crash she was arrested on suspicion of manslaughter and DUI after she fled the scene in her smashed Mercedes. She was released on October 1 after she posted $2million bail. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said to CBSLA Monday that they're still investigating if Grossman was drunk b

A woman shot her mother and her three children before turning the gun on herself in their Arkansas home on Christmas day, police reveal.  Jaquita Chase, 31, shot her her mother Patricia Patrick, 61, and her three children: Abigail Heflin, 12; Levenah Countryman, 10; and Danielle Collins, seven.  On Monday police said they found the five people dead in the Atkins home and suspected it was a murder-suicide, but did not know who committed the killings.  However, a motive behind the slayings has not been determined.  'Even though the investigation is still ongoing, at this point in the investigation, we are confident in the fact that we believe Jaquita Chase to be the perpetrator in this incident,' Pope County Sheriff's Sgt. Rodney McNeese said to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.  Officials said Jaquita Chase, 31, (top right) shot her mother Patricia Patrick, 61, and her three daughters Danielle Collins, 7 ; Levenah Countryman , 10; and Abigail Heflin (top left), 12, then turned

Despite an economic downturn, job losses and a lagging export sector, Australians are actually saving more cash than they did before the coronavirus pandemic started. Bank balances Down Under have grown by an average of about $8000 in recent months with more people eyeing less opportunities to spend. The comparison site Finder.com.au found that the average Australian now has about $33,000 tucked away for a rainy day - a substantial amount more than before the Covid crisis and well above the July figure of $25,000. Despite a massive downturn in GPD, job losses and a lagging export sector, Australians are actually saving more cash than they did before the Coronavirus pandemic  Bank balances Down Under have grown by an average of about $8000 in recent months with more people eyeing less opportunities to spend (pictured, a shopper strides past for Sale signs on Boxing Day in Sydney) Finder personal finance expert Kate Browne said the pandemic is prompting many Australian workers to explore

Gavin Williamson said yesterday that he is 'absolutely confident' there will not be further delays to schools reopening, amid anger and confusion over his chaotic plans. Parents have been left scratching their heads at the postcode lottery announced by the Education Secretary, with some primaries set to stay closed while others only yards away open as usual. Heads also vented their anger after the Government's mass testing scheme in secondary school pupils – billed as being optional when announced just two days before Christmas – was made mandatory. They will now have until January 22 to test all pupils for Covid-19 and staff, not January 9 as originally planned. Geoff Barton, of heads' union the ASCL, said the Government should be helping schools with practical difficulties, not using 'legal powers to try to bludgeon through unworkable policies'. Gavin Williamson said yesterday that he is 'absolutely confident' there will not be further delays to schoo