All posts tagged: share

Record Share Of Home Sellers Cut Listing Prices In February: Report

Published by Jenni Sidey

A record share of home sellers cut their listing prices in February as competition for homebuyers necessitated steep price reductions, an April 9 report by real estate platform Redfin said. About 34.2 percent of sellers reduced their listing prices in February, up from 31.5 percent in the same month a year earlier, according to Redfin’s analysis of MLS data. That was the highest February share since the firm began tracking MLS records in 2012. The sellers who cut their listing prices reduced them by an average of $40,915, said Redfin. That amounts to a 7.3 percent cut, the highest for any February since 2023. Final sales prices could include further reductions due to negotiations on such items as closing costs, contingency fees, and other contractual stipulations. “Price cuts are on the rise because it’s a buyer’s market,” said Redfin data journalist Lily Katz and senior economist Yingqi Xu. “There are hundreds of thousands more home sellers in the market than buyers because buyers have been spooked by high mortgage rates, high prices and economic uncertainty. …

First Dates stars share behind-the-scenes secrets – including what Fred Sirieix is like off-camera

Published by Daniella Wilson

Ever wondered what it’s really like to be a participant on Channel 4’s hit reality series, First Dates? Matthew, a 25-year-old mindfulness coach, and Nicole, a 28-year-old yoga instructor, were matched up by the show’s producers in the opening episode of the new series. Clearly a match made in heaven, the pair have been dating ever since they first met at The Botanist in March last year. Since then, they have been travelling together, bought a caravan and are even teaming up to run a wellness retreat in Ibiza later this year. Sitting down with HELLO!, Matthew and Nicole opened up about their experience on the long-running series. Keep reading to find out what actually happens behind the scenes, including what host and maître d’ Fred Sirieix is really like off-camera. But first, watch a clip of their date below, in which Nicole opens up about being diagnosed with the inherited genetic condition, cystic fibrosis. WATCH: Nicole opens up about having cystic fibrosis © Channel 4 Contestants can find out about their date just weeks …

Israeli and Palestinian activists share a vision for peace in Gaza : NPR

Published by Sam Flores

TONYA MOSLEY, HOST: This is FRESH AIR. I’m Tonya Mosley. And my guests today have each paid a profound price on opposite sides of a conflict that has lasted more than a century, with no signs of stopping. One is Israeli. The other is Palestinian. They call themselves brothers. And what brought them together is grief and a decision each of them made about what to do with it. Maoz Inon’s parents were murdered by Hamas on October 7, 2023, among the 1,200 Israelis killed that day, in the deadliest attack on Jewish people since the Holocaust. In the war that followed, more than 75,000 Palestinians were killed. The U.S. helped arm and fund it, and the violence has now spread into Lebanon and Iran. But within days of his parents’ murder, Maoz Inon spoke. His family was not seeking revenge. Instead, they were seeking peace. Those words reached Palestinian peacemaker Aziz Abu Sarah. Years before, when Aziz was only 9, his own brother had been arrested and tortured in an Israeli military prison for …

Sex After Menopause: Women Over 50 Share How It Feels And How To Feel Better

Published by Sam Flores

Menopause can bring about a number of mental, physical and emotional changes — including some shifts in your sex life. Clinically speaking, menopause is reached when you’ve gone 12 straight months without a period, marking the end of one’s reproductive years. The average age of the last menstrual period is 51, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. But the transitional phase leading up to menopause, known as perimenopause, typically lasts about four years — though it can be as short as a few months or as long as 10 years. Colloquially, however, many use the word “menopause” as an umbrella term to encompass the whole process. During perimenopause, which often begins in your mid 40s, levels of hormones like estrogen and progesterone fluctuate. This can lead to irregular periods, hot flashes, insomnia, brain fog, mood swings, vaginal dryness and low libido — all of which can impact one’s sex life directly or indirectly. It’s worth noting that, for some individuals, symptoms may be intense and last a while, and for others they …

Star of Japanese Hit Series ‘The Solitary Gourmet’ Hopes to Share Its Joy of Eating

Published by Sam Flores

TOKYO (AP) — Japanese TV program “The Solitary Gourmet” quietly started in a late-night slot 14 years ago featuring a suit-clad, middle-aged man’s joy of solitary dining at a local eatery after finishing a day’s work. Yutaka Matsushige, the actor who plays main character Goro Inogashira, expected the show to end quietly in a short time. It didn’t. “Kodoku no Gurume,” the show’s title in Japanese, steadily gained popularity across Japan and beyond and just began its 11th season this month. Based on a popular comic by writer Masayuki Kusumi and artist Jiro Taniguchi, “The Solitary Gourmet” last year became a film directed and written by Matsushige, who also stars in the big screen version. “The drama is about a man just eating food,” Matsushige said during a news conference in Tokyo on Thursday marking the start of the latest season. “But the simple notion of ‘delicious’ can go beyond the differences of language or ethnicity, something everyone can easily relate to.” The show has become a phenomenon across Asia and Matsushige has acquired a …

King Charles’ staff share the reality of life behind the scenes at Highgrove

Published by Daniella Wilson

King Charles, 77, opens the gates to his beloved garden at Highgrove House in Gloucestershire each year from April to October, and he’s been doing so since 1994. On Monday, the team at his country abode decided to share a video of the realities of the situation behind the scenes before visitors arrive. The clip showed outdoor preparations like repairing willow arches and planting new flowers, and you can watch it in full above. Previous visitors shared their thoughts on the garden in the comments section, writing: “My favourite garden. Visited a few times and it’s always a joy,” and: “The most beautiful garden I’ve had the pleasure to walk round.” A third wrote: “Excited to be visiting again this year.” “The most beautiful garden I’ve had the pleasure to walk round.” © Chris Jackson, GettyA general view of the gardens at Highgrove House on June 5, 2013 in Tetbury, England The caption read: “How do we prepare for Garden Tours at Highgrove? Our Garden Tours start today – take a look at how the …

McIlroy hangs on for share of lead after madcap third round

Published by Sam Flores

This moment was a central storyline in the theatre, but for so long for McIlroy it seemed – to adapt the Masters motto – a perdition like no other. This is not the first time that Augusta National has turned a procession into a recession for the pacesetter and into a cavalry chase for the rest. And it was not the first time that McIlroy had seen his lead gobbled up and spat back in his face. McIlroy knows from his own experience that shots here can scatter like confetti on the breeze. And if he cannot remember 2011, when he fired that final-round 80 – and believe it, he can – then this Saturday roller coaster can serve as a timely reminder. From the off, his record six-shot advantage became two in less than half an hour. Patrick Reed, his sometime nemesis, birdied the first three and with McIlroy bogeying the first and failing to birdie the par-five second, the yawning gap was suddenly tighter. No matter. Reed began to fade away, with his …

People Who Think They’re The Grammar Police Share The Personality Trait Of Less Agreeableness

Published by Jenni Sidey

We all have at least one person in our lives who has decided they are the grammar police and must impart their knowledge and the ability to shame even the most innocent errors, regardless of whether their linguistic prowess is welcome. Turns out that from a scientific perspective, these grammar aficionados usually share a personality trait, and they aren’t always fun to be around. “I can’t hear you when you don’t use good grammar,” my friend Steve’s wife, Carol, says to him regularly. Yes, she’s one of those people who absolutely can’t resist showing off her impressive grammatical skills. She’s a nice person, even if she’s constantly pointing out the difference between “their,” “there,” and “they’re,” and loses her sense of hearing when someone is saying something incorrectly. I wonder if she points out errors in emails as well? People who think they are the grammar police usually share a similar personality trait: lower agreeableness. Irene Miller | Shutterstock A 2016 study from the University of Michigan found that people who act as the grammar police are huge …

No, Emmanuel Macron did not share a (fake) photo of Melania Trump with Jeffrey Epstein

Published by Sam Flores

In the wake of recent tensions between Trump and the Macrons, a false claim has surfaced online. Since April 6, a wave of Spanish-speaking social media posts has alleged that the French President “ridiculed” Trump by sharing an “image of his wife alongside Jeffrey Epstein”. The posts feature a purported leaked image from the Epstein files appearing to show disgraced financier Epstein, who died in prison in 2019, embracing and kissing Melania Trump. One specific post, shared on X on April 8, has already amassed nearly six million views. No publication from Macron One of the first to circulate the rumour appears to be Egyptian journalist Nabil Omran, who posted the image in question to Facebook on April 5 with the caption, “Macron avenges his dignity.” This image was shared by Egyptian journalist Nabil Omran on his Facebook account. “Macron avenges his dignity… He publishes a photo of Trump’s wife […] with her lover,” the text reads. © Nabil Omran / The Observers This is a direct reference to the controversy sparked by Donald Trump’s …

Rory McIlroy in share of Masters lead after picking up where he left off

Published by Sam Flores

His mood was understandably in direct contrast to that of McIlroy, who was rightly proud of himself. He began at 10.31am and did not hit a fairway until it was approaching 1pm – missing six in succession. It is not ideal but Augusta can be played that way if you stay aggressive. He birdied the second, courtesy of a fine pitch to three feet, and the next par five, the eighth, when launching a choked-down three-wood from 269 yards to 25 feet. On the ninth, he took advantage of finally locating the cut stuff, conjuring a wedge to eight feet. He was two under, probably had no right to be, but he appeared unflustered. From the 13th, he reeled off three birdies. He sliced his drive into the trees on the right, but chopped out and chipped to 14 feet. On this par-five last year, in that excruciating finale, he contrived to lay up and then knock his third into Rae’s Creek. This was a different pin position and a different day – a Thursday …