Erudite and charismatic storyteller David Zampatti had many claims to being almost famous.
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David Zampatti obituary: man behind the scenes of this sporting life
Cam Green says he’ll be ‘100 per cent’ ready for a World Test Championship final following injury lay-off
Cam Green has spoken for the first time since undergoing back surgery that ruled him out of the summer as he eyes a high-profile Test return.
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Labor vows to invest $3.5 million in William Bay National Park upgrades and Munda Biddi Trail realignment
Infrastructure around three Great Southern tourist spots will be upgraded under a re-elected Labor government, as the minister for the environment pledges $3.5 million for William Bay National Park assets.
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Simon Miller’s stable continues strong run to start 2025, claiming Monday Ascot double
Trainer Simon Miller has continued a run of success staged through the opening month of 2025, taking his tally to 12 winners from just 45 starters since the beginning of the year with a Monday double at Ascot.
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Teenager dead in island shark attack
A teenager died in a fatal shark attack after she was bitten on the upper body while swimming.
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St George appoints big gun for new Brazilian niobium mine
St George Mining has engaged one of the world’s leading authorities in niobium ore processing, Ricardo Maximo Nardi, to progress its high-grade niobium-rare earths Araxá project in Brazil’s Minas Gerais region.
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Only the most observant lovebirds can spot the hidden heart in this brainteaser in less than 15 seconds… so, can you?
WANT to test how much of a romantic you are before the biggest love holiday in the calendar?
Just like relationships, this brain teaser challenges your patience, attention to detail, and ability to see the bigger picture.
Fantasy Co., a brand that specialises in handcrafted and uniquely designed adult toys, is calling all lovebirds to take on a romantic Valentine’s challenge.
Can you find the hidden heart in this love-filled illusion?
The Challenge: Find The Hidden Heart
At first glance, this Valentine’s-themed image is bursting with romance—cupids, arrows, and delicate flowers fill the scene in a pink-packed wonderland.
But hidden among the intricate details and sweet petals is a single heart, cleverly camouflaged.
Only those with keen observation skills and a heart truly in tune with love will be able to spot it quickly.
Think you have what it takes? Try to find it in under 15 seconds!
How can optical illusions and brainteasers help me?
Engaging in activities like solving optical illusions and brainteasers can have many cognitive benefits as it can stimulate various brain regions.
Some benefits include:
- Cognitive stimulation: Engaging in these activities challenges the brain, promoting mental agility and flexibility.
- Problem-solving skills: Regular practice enhances analytical thinking and problem-solving abilities.
- Memory improvement: These challenges often require memory recall and can contribute to better memory function.
- Creativity: They encourage thinking outside the box, fostering creativity and innovative thought processes.
- Focus and attention: Working on optical illusions and brainteasers requires concentration, contributing to improved focus.
- Stress relief: The enjoyable nature of these puzzles can act as a form of relaxation and stress relief.
The Reveal: Did You Find It?
If you’re still searching, don’t worry—this illusion is trickier than it looks!
But for those ready to see the answer, check out the highlighted image below.
The heart is subtly nestled among the floral designs in the lower left section.
Why We Love Optical Illusions
Just like love, optical illusions challenge how we see things.
They test our perception, make us look at details we might otherwise miss, and give us that “aha!” moment when we finally get it.
That’s why they’re so fascinating (and sometimes frustrating!).
So, did you spot the heart without peeking at the answer?
M6 traffic: Rush hour chaos as motorway CLOSED due to crash sparking huge queues with police scrambled
MOTORISTS have been hit with rush hour chaos as the M6 shuts down three lanes after a crash.
Bumper-to-bumper traffic was sparked after a collision on the M6 Northbound between junctions 31 and 31A.
Lanes one, two and three have since been closed off and will remain shut “for some time”, according to cops.
Drivers have been warned of “heavy and slow moving” congestion in the area.
Those affected have been urged to find an alternative route before setting out on their journey.
A Lancashire Police spokesperson said: “Lanes one, two and three M6 Northbound between junctions 31 and 31A are closed due to a road traffic collision. They will be closed for some time.
“Traffic will be heavy and slow moving. We’d recommend looking for an alternative route. We’ll update you here once the road is open.”
A National Highways north west spokesperson added: “Three (of four) lanes closed on the M6 in Lancashire northbound between J31 Preston and J31A Ribbleton due to a collision. National Highways Traffic Officers are on scene, thank you for your patience.”
Love Island’s Andrew LePage drops major hint over relationship with Tasha Ghouri after renovating bathroom at their home
LOVE Island’s Andrew LePage has dropped a major hint over his relationship with Tasha Ghouri, after renovating the bathroom at their home.
The Sun revealed last month that reality stars Tasha, 26, and Andrew, 29, had called time on their relationship after three years.
The pair seemed smitten with each other after they met on Love Island in the summer of 2022.
However, The Sun shocked fans when we told how Strictly Come Dancing star Tasha had left Andrew “blindsided” by signing up for celebrity dating app Raya soon after the split.
Some fans still think the pair could get back together, but Andrew has dropped a hint that he is still going solo.
It came after he posted a picture on the former couple’s home renovations Instagram grid.
Before they broke up they were jointly renovating a property they purchased together and Andrew gave an update on the bathroom.
Showing off the before and after photos of the room, the star alluded to the fact that he is doing the home by himself now, and only referred to “I” in the caption, rather than “we”.
“I’m so so so happy with how it’s turned out, I absolutely love it, it’s exactly how I envisioned it and I couldn’t be happier,” he wrote.
This could signal that Andrew is moving on with his life as a single man.
Meanwhile, Tasha’s mum recently dropped a hint about why they broke up.
Last week, Nicky Young appeared to reveal more about the break-up by liking fan comments speculating over the circumstances.
One post liked by Nicky read: “Sometimes relationships just don’t work out.
“We’re not in their lives so we don’t know the reasons.
“Sometimes people can just outgrow each other or not be as driven or want different out of life and much more.”
The post continued: “They can try to keep it together but then it can be much worse.”
Following the shock split fans have also speculated Tasha – who reached the final of Love Island with Andrew in 2022 – is growing close to her Strictly co-star Jamie Borthwick.
They’re currently on the Strictly tour and were recently seen enjoying some downtime during a fancy dinner in Sheffield.
Show professional Carlos Gu shared a clip of Tasha and Jamie dancing together and captioned it: “Fresh couple in the making.”
As we revealed Tasha was on Raya, insiders told how Andrew was completely unaware Tasha was already moving on.
A source said: “Andrew and Tasha had been in a difficult place and had only just decided to end things.
“To Andrew it was all very fresh and raw – so to see that Tasha was on Raya and had updated her profile with pictures from when they were still dating last month was incredibly painful.”
I thought I’d never be happy again after postnatal depression – it was the hardest thing to overcome, says Ashley James
ASHLEY James has opened up about suffering crippling postnatal depression that was the “hardest thing to overcome.”
The former Made In Chelsea star and dj, 37, shared a candid post on Instagram about times when her life felt it “was not going to plan” and how she learned to cope.
Before meeting advertising executive partner Tom Andrews, 32, with whom she shares little ones Ada and Alfie, Ashley says she “never wanted kids.”
And going through the process was extremely tough, she revealed.
The mum-of-two wrote: “Probably the best lesson I’ve learned recently, is that happiness isn’t about everything in your life going well, it’s about learning to ride the waves.
“I used to think that happiness was always about everything going well. But now I realise that it’s more about being able to cope when things don’t go well.
“Because sadly, all the motivation, hard work and positive thinking cannot stop life coming at us.”
She shared a series of examples of times in life where things hadn’t gone according to plan, including being cheated on by her first love, moving universities, being fired from her first job, and leaving Made in Chelsea after three months.
Ashley continued: “I remember all of these specific periods in life – and all the other ones that aren’t on this carousel – that made me feel like life was not going to plan.
“I remember all the breakups and feeling like I’d never ever be happy again! All the career set backs – honestly I could write a book about the rejections and things that almost happened.
“Probably the biggest and hardest thing to overcome was postnatal depression – if that’s what you want to call it.
“Feeling like I’d never be able to find the old me again and that it was ‘permanent’!
“Well I look at all these things now and I know that they’ve given me the strength to know that no matter what life has in store – because there will be tough things ahead for all of us – I can handle it.
“I hope this inspires anyone who needs it.”
Her post seems to have encouraged other women, with one fan commenting: “I love your honesty!”
Another added: “You’re my hero! You’re so incredibly inspiring and really showed those who tried to put you down what you’re capable of.”
Ashley previously admitted she “never wanted kids” and said: “It’s not like I ever envisioned my life as one day I’ll be a mum, I always wanted to be child-free.”
But when Ashley gave birth to her son, Alfie, during lockdown and spent the first six months “in total bliss”, she thought that change of heart would last.
It was only when the world began opening up again she realised how much her life had changed and longed for her old life back.
“All my reasons why I didn’t want to be a mum, I felt I was living that reality,” she said.
“Then you’d feel guilty for ever wanting to wish a child away because obviously you love them and want the best for them.”
Speaking on the Made by Mummas podcast, the presenter also explained how her birthing experience left her “traumatised”.
During her labour, despite wanting pain relief, Ashley said she was denied any.
I remember all the breakups and feeling like I’d never ever be happy again! All the career set backs – honestly I could write a book about the rejections and things that almost happened.
Ashley James
“They kept not only brushing me off, but telling me ‘if you let us do this then we’ll give you pain relief.’
“So it was the physical checks that were honestly agony,” she explained.
“They basically pinned me down and forced me to do these checks and [the pain relief] never came.”
Because she gave birth during lockdown, Ashley claimed she also had to “beg” to have partner Tom in the hospital with her.
This meant the “positive mindset” she had before going into labour quickly faded.
“Because I’ve run a few London marathons, I know that I can kind of push my body past pain.
“But it was when I got there that things started to feel wrong – as I was in constant pain, 18 hours of pretty severe pain,” the former Made In Chelsea star told fans on Instagram.
Ashley James' rise to fame
DESPITE coming to public attention on the fourth series of Made In Chelsea in 2012 — the E4 show about privileged young Londoners — Ashley was living off her overdraft and putting on a posh accent.
She was raised in a “small town in the North East” by parents she describes as “very Geordie” and got her first taste of the showbiz industry when she did some work experience at Radio Cumbria aged 16.
Ashley appeared on Celebrity Big Brother in 2018 before becoming a DJ with gigs at top clubs such as London’s Ministry of Sound.
In recent years she has been best known as a “mum influencer”, although Ashley considers the term “derogatory” and says it has led to online abuse.
The trolling got so out of control that malicious followers reported her to social services for allegedly neglecting her children.
The false accusation, which was unfounded and promptly dismissed, was that she had drunk too much at a party.
Speaking on the Gentle Start podcast, Ashley said: “I was reported to social services for neglect, and it all came back to this online anonymous gossip website.
“It really upset me. Like I said to the social worker, I know how loved my children are and I know that I’m such a good mum.
“That’s one thing that I have never doubted.”
Incredibly, just a few years ago Ashley had no interest in settling down or having children.
She had been single for six years and was living her best “Carrie Bradshaw life”, when she reconnected with Tom on a dating app in 2019 having first met him at work a decade earlier.
The couple now share a house in London with their two children.
After welcoming Alfie into the world, Ashely reviewed the hospital’s notes from her birth and was shocked to learn that the only reason she wasn’t given pain relief is because she was “coping fine.”
The mum even checked with her partner, who agreed it was clear she wanted some form of pain relief during the birth.
Probably the biggest and hardest thing to overcome was postnatal depression – if that’s what you want to call it
Ashley James
“It was the worst experience and it just completely broke my trust [with medical professionals],” she said.
Unfortunately, the lack of pain relief was only part of the issue for the reality star, who claimed she was also “stitched up incorrectly”, leading to faecal incontinence, leaving her unable to control her bowel movements.
“I felt disgusting,” she admitted.
“I went from being this really healthy, athletic person to suddenly not knowing if I could trust my body to function.”
During this time Ashley was also diagnosed with vaginismus, an involuntary tensing of the vagina which can mean sex and even inserting a tampon is excruciatingly painful.
Before the diagnosis, and it’s eventual fix at 22-months postpartum, Ashley said she was told by doctors that the pain was “all in her head”
“How has it taken people telling me it’s all in my head like I’m some crazy woman when it’s actually something that women get,” she said.
The presenter even admitted that as she was struggling people had little sympathy for her.
This narrative around postpartum care is something Ashley is keen to combat.
“If I try and talk about it it’s like ‘oh well, at least Alfie was safe’ and ‘do you think you’re the first person to go through childbirth?’
“Then you also get this toxic positive narrative of ‘all you hear is negative birth experiences’ and I’m like, it’s not like I wear a badge of honour, I’m literally traumatised for life.”
Ashley continued: “It’s so frustrating because we blame the women for having the bad experience.”