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Blake’s older sister, 52, turned to her Instagram story on Saturday (December 21) to share screenshots from a New York Times investigation that explained some of the details of the lawsuit. The New York Times also published alleged text messages from Baldoni, suggesting that he had orchestrated a smear campaign against Lively while their movie It Ends with Us was being promoted.
“FINALLY justice for my sister @BlakeLively,” the older Lively wrote highlighting specific sentences and phrases from the article. She then encouraged her followers to read the article in a follow-up post as she linked the article and wrote “Blake Lively” with a heart drawn around the name.
Lively’s sister isn’t the only person speaking out in defense of Lively.
Robyn (left) showed her support for Blake (right) amid lawsuit against Justin Baldoni (Getty Images for Michael Kors)
“@blakelively you have been nothing but honest, kind, supportive, and patient since the day we met,” the author wrote. “Thank you for being exactly the human that you are. Never change. Never wilt.”
The lawsuit largely revolves around incidents that occurred during the filming process of It Ends with Us which Baldoni both starred in and directed.
In the movie based on Hoover’s novel Lily (Lively) falls in love with Ryle Kincaid (Baldoni) before reconnecting with her first love (Brandon Sklenar) – amid a backdrop of domestic violence.
In the lawsuit, obtained by TMZ, Lively claims Baldoni exhibited behavior that caused her “severe emotional distress” and that after the film distributor approved her requests for changes to the workplace, Baldoni responded to the requests by creating a smear campaign intended to “destroy” her image.
Baldoni’s lawyer, Bryan Freeman, told TMZ that Lively’s lawsuit had been filed in order to “fix her negative reputation.”
Freeman said that The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants actor’s claims were “false, outrageous and intentionally salacious with an intent to publicly hurt.” He added that Lively had caused issues on the film set by “threatening to not [show] up to set, threatening to not promote the film, ultimately leading to its demise during release.”
Baldoni and Lively’s feud first became publicly known during the It Ends with Us press tour.
Cheng Chen Chin-Mei, 90, lifts 45kg as she breaks her personal record, at a weightlifting competition in Taipei, Taiwan December 21, 2024. — Reuters
TAIPEI: Cheng Chen Chin-Mei beamed broadly as she hoisted a 35kg (77-pound) weightlifting bar to her waist, dropped it and waved confidently to the enthusiastic crowd in a competition in Taipei.
Cheng Chen, 90, has been pumping iron since last year, encouraged by her granddaughter to take up the sport after she was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. She credits the regimen with helping to fix her posture.
Three generations of her family were among a couple of hundred people watching Cheng Chen and 44 others aged 70 or over in a weightlifting competition on Saturday.
In the three-round competition, Cheng Chen lifted as much as 45kg (99 pounds) using a hexagonal-shaped bar that is said to allow the lifter more stability and options for gripping.
“I want to tell all the old people to join the workout,” Cheng Chen told Reuters after the competition. “You don’t need to work extremely hard, but this is to stay healthy.”
Cheng Chen was not the only nonagenarian in the competition. The oldest participant is 92.
Taiwan is projected to become a “super-aged society” next year, with 20% or more of its 23 million people aged 65 or older, according to National Development Council data.
The government has set up fitness centres across the island with equipment suitable for older people, to encourage them to train, according to the Health Promotion Administration, which encourages healthy lifestyles.
“The hex bar dead-lift is an easy workout. It is similar to squats or sitting down and standing up,” said Cheng Yu-shao, head coach at LKK Wellness, which organised the event. It can help prevent muscle loss and minimise the risk of falls, he told Reuters during a training session with Cheng Chen this week.
During the workout, Cheng Chen said weight training has helped with some of her health issues. “My shoulders have become lighter after some time of continuous workouts,” she said.
Cheng Chen won only a medal and a certificate for her performance but received the adulation of the crowd and the chance to wave like a superstar.
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
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I’ll get a little Lime bike over, as a treat” – that’s how it started out, and now, at the end of the calendar year, it’s ended up with me broke and feeling like the man who spends too much on candles. I am addicted to Limes, and I’m not alone. If one thing has become clear in 2024, it’s that London is reaching peak Lime bike. From the Hackney Half (marathon) to the Gala dance music festival on Peckham Rye and the Mighty Hoopla pop one in Brixton, nothing has become a more common sight than a sea of dayglo green at the gates of any event.
There are, at any one point, 2,800 e-bikes loose on the streets of the capital per hour. In March, it was reported by the charity Collaborative Mobility UK that there were already nearly 40,000 being used in London, up 10,000 from 2023. Already a staple of Tube stations and street corners in the central part of the city, e-bikes are moving further and further into London’s more suburban boroughs – Haringey council recently announced a trial that would see Forest (Lime bike’s newer, UK-based competitor) and Limes’ hire scheme introduced to New Southgate, Bowes and Edmonton, suburban boroughs on the absolute edges of north London. Lime joined the government’s “cycle to work” scheme, which allowed start-up bosses to pay for their employees’ cycle passes to and from the office. This year Lime even teamed up with a bakery in Shoreditch (where else?) to develop the world’s first e-bike drive-through. Gimmicky? Sure. But it’s testament to Lime’s cultural cachet that people played along with this, even in a self-consciously ironic way.
Just this week, council chiefs attacked e-bike retailers for “unacceptable” numbers littering the streets of London. Lime, the most popular company in London, keeps its actual figures close to its chest – although it has denied suggestions that there are currently up to 40,000 of its units on the capital’s streets. It’s true that over the course of 2024, their Brat-green hordes (what is the collective noun for a group of Lime bikes, do you think? A bushel? A punnet?) have become ubiquitous. But surely for most of us, they’re a symbol of fond familiarity. I’ve grown so used to them piled in their hundreds outside Finsbury Park station that when I watch the white vans take them away to be recharged and replaced, I feel a kind of maternal yearning for their safety and swift return.
But not everyone feels the same. This year’s boom in e-bike use has led to repeated clashes with local councils, and Transport for London (TfL) last month announced they would take action against reckless parking outside Tube stations – to be fair, they also announced funding of £1m for 7,500 new allocated parking bays, with a further 800 by next summer, which proves that the boom, despite the critics, is going nowhere soon. Lime now operates in 230 cities around the world. Since it began in 2017, launching in San Francisco with just 125 bicycles, it’s raised nearly $2bn in funding. Forest, which followed it in 2019, has raised $17m since its foundation in – where else? – London.
“If you ask Londoners, they see Lime as critical transportation infrastructure,” says Wayne Ting, the company’s chief executive. It’s hard to disagree with him. But then again, I would agree, wouldn’t I? I love illegal parking and going “whee” down big hills.
What divides us along these neon-green lines in the sand? As time goes on it’s become more clear that it’s the end point of a generational split, a zeitgeist playing out in the bicycle lanes. From where I see it, it’s hard to ignore a kind of nimbyism implicit within anti-e-bike discourse. It’s fine to have them in London, the attitude seems to go, but just not on our nice leafy streets.
The reality is that Lime bikes are often used for the first or last leg of journeys, usually to and from Tube stations, in increasingly suburban parts of London. But commuters, particularly younger commuters, are being forced into these areas, once stereotypically associated with older people or young families, because they can’t afford to live anywhere else. Nor can they afford a car to get them there or rely on a labyrinthine system of trains and buses either.
Pile-up: Lime bikes are regularly parked on pavements and outside Tube stations (AFP via Getty Images)
This argument is lost on some people. Last month, residents of one area in leafy Kingston upon Thames used angle grinders to destroy e-bikes left in their private car park. “We are really p***ed off and we’ve had enough,” they sniffed, adding that the bikes were technically “fly-tipped” (generally speaking there is no more bleeding-heart nimbyish issue than fly-tipping).
If you’re younger, you love Limes, particularly if you don’t drive (and who owns a car in London?). They’re sustainable and fast, a cheaper alternative to Ubers that are unreliable if you live anywhere outside Zone 2 (and if you’re south of the river, even that’s marginal). If you’re older, though, or indeed just older-coded (more sensible) you see them as a menace on the city’s streets. In Brent, where hundreds of spent bikes are dumped outside Wembley Tube, the leader of the local council says he wants them banned if regulations are not drawn up. Limes had existed in the borough for five years already, as part of a sustainable travel scheme. But now they’ve had enough. “I want them rounded up and crushed,” one local 86-year-old told The Guardian. “Life’s bad enough when you’re getting older and you’re not very steady on your feet without these bikes in your way. Good riddance.”
Admittedly, even being in the pocket of Big Lime I can recognise that there are issues with e-bike use, mainly safety ones – nobody obeys the rules of the road on a Lime, and despite the fact you’re supposed to get money off if you wear a helmet, literally nobody does this. One report from The Times showed Lime bike users skipping red lights 84 times in just one hour in one busy south London location. Research from dashcam company Nextbase analysed 80 different London junctions and found that 41 per cent of e-scooter riders observed rode through red lights, while just 28 per cent of pedal cyclists did the same.
No wonder, then, that critics say we’re entering a sort of e-bike Wild West; a kind of Zone 1 Yellowstone. In aptly named Westminster – which sees the highest e-bike use in the world, with 630,000 trips per month – new government powers were announced this week which would see fines for parking or dumping bikes haphazardly on the cobbled streets of SW1.
“This is the beginning of the end for the Wild West model of dockless e-bikes in London,” Kensington and Bayswater MP Joe Powell said of the ruling.
Of course there should be more regulation when it comes to safety, and perhaps more than that “can you spot the trees” test for drunkenness Lime bike inflicts on you when you try to pay for a ride after 11pm on a Saturday. They go too fast (in London, the speed limit for Lime bikes is 15.5mph, while for scooters it’s 12.5mph) and feel too fun not to need it. But conversations about Lime bike ubiquity too often focus more on their status as a nimbyish nuisance than as a potential safety hazard for users. If councils and residents’ groups spent half as much time talking about how often the seats twist off or the brakes squeak and fail, rather than how much they hate bikes being abandoned beside their favourite coffee shop, we’d all be a lot better off for it.
Popular: Recent reports have claimed there are 40,000 Lime bikes on the streets of London (Getty Images)
And yet, there is something oddly pensive and rewarding about a Lime bike ride. Opining on this in The Guardian recently, writer Miranda May talks about the inner peace and connection she discovered while whizzing about central London on Christmas Day, following the death of her parents. I also spent most of last Christmas Day on a Lime bike, and can confirm it is great – the roads are empty, and you are the king of them, full of mince pies and adrenaline. You have to admit that there is something freeing about flying through the streets with the greatest of ease on an e-bike, all your worldly possessions in a lime green basket on the front that someone has almost certainly p***ed in the night before.
What else do we share, except Lime bikes? What other goods pass from hand to hand, day by day, bringing joy and passion? Most of us would struggle to remember the last time we took out a library book. The pandemic, even as an event now in distant memory, kind of ruined the whole passed-around biscuit tin scenario. We don’t share! We don’t indulge in things from our childhood that make us happy, like books and biscuits and going “whee” with wild abandon! Except when it comes to the Lime bike. For all its flaws, we need it. Long may she reign.
A specimen of spiny mouse (Scolomys sp), a species discovered on a Conservation International Rapid Assessment expedition into the Alto Mayo Landscape in Peru, is pictured, June 16, 2022. — Reuters/Conservation International
LIMA: An “amphibious mouse” with partially webbed feet that eats aquatic insects was among 27 new species discovered during a 2022 expedition to Peru’s Amazon, according to Conservation International.
Scientists also discovered a spiny mouse, a squirrel, eight types of fish, three amphibians and 10 types of butterflies, Trond Larsen, head of Conservation International’s Rapid Assessment Program, told Reuters this week.
He added that another 48 species found by investigators were potentially new, but needed further study.
The new species were found in Alto Mayo, a protected area with several ecosystems, Indigenous territories and villages.
“Discovering so many new species of mammals and vertebrates is really incredible, especially in such a human-influenced landscape as Alto Mayo,” Larsen said.
The expedition between June and July 2022 was made up of 13 scientists plus local technicians and members of Indigenous groups.
“It was really fantastic to work so closely with the Awajun people. They have extensive traditional knowledge about the forests, animals and plants they live side-by-side with,” Larsen said.
Among the new species, Larsen highlighted the spiny mouse that has stiff fur, the amphibious mouse, and a dwarf squirrel that measures 14cm (5.5in).
“(The squirrel) fits so easily in the palm of your hand. Adorable and beautiful chestnut-brown colour, very fast,” Larsen said. “It jumps quickly and hides in the trees.”
Another favourite discovery was the blob-headed fish, a type of armoured catfish, he said.
A total of 2,046 species were recorded during the 38-day expedition using camera traps, bioacoustic sensors and DNA sampling. Among them, 49 were classified as threatened, including the yellow-tailed woolly monkey and the tree monkey.
Larsen said the discoveries reinforced the need to protect the area.
“Unless steps are taken now to safeguard these sites and help restore parts of the landscape … there’s a strong chance they won’t persist in the long term,” Larsen said.
Two of the statues in the city of Bend, Oregon pictured with googly eyes sticking on them. — Facebook/City of Bend, Oregon Government
US city of Oregon has requested its residents to stop sticking googly eyes on the city’s art pieces such as statues and murals.
“While the googly eyes placed on the various art pieces around town might give you a chuckle, it costs money to remove them with care to not damage the art,” a Facebook post made by the city read as quoted by Sky News.
“While we don’t condone the wreaths, leis and Santa hats, let’s stay away from adhesives, graffiti and all things that can damage the art,” the city of Bend added.
However, residents of the city have no intention to refrain from their antics as one replied on Facebook that, “It would cost $0 to leave them on” as several thought the googly eyes were a good addition to the artworks.
“My daughter and I went past the flaming chicken today and shared the biggest laugh,” a woman wrote as she used a nickname for the “Phoenix Rising” sculpture in Bend.
“We love the googly eyes. This town is getting to be so stuffy. Let’s have fun!,” another wrote indicating that the people have no intention to stop now.
Whereas, several others said the city should focus on much more important issues instead of spending time and money on removing the googly eyes which were giving the people something to cheer about.
The council has spent $1,500 on removing the googly eyes from seven of the eight sculptures in the city, according to Bend’s communications director, Rene Mitchell.
Mitchell further stated that they have started treating some of the art pieces, which are made of bronze and steel. As for the Phoenix Rising sculpture, it may even need to be repainted.
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
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Kylie Kelce has shared her political stance after speculation that her family supports US President-elect Donald Trump.
She told The New York Times that while she wasn’t necessarily comfortable talking about this during the election, her political views “aggressively lean” left. Despite her left-wing views, the newspaper mentioned that there was an online debate this year about the Kelce family – including Jason brother’s Travis Kelce – being MAGA supporters, as Travis’s famous girlfriend, Taylor Swift, publicly endorsed Harris in September.
Kelce even recalled one instance when a line of cars, with Trump flags and signs, were honking their horns, as they “slow-rolled past” her house.
“To me, that was like, ‘We know where you live,’” she said. The publication noted that Kelce, her husband, and their three daughters — Wyatt, five, Elliotte, 3, and Bennett, one — live in a busy neighborhood and not a gated community.
She also shared that as she recently launched her new podcast, Not Gonna Lie, she’s open to interviewing politicians for it.
Kylie Kelce says her political views ‘aggressively lean’ left (Getty Images)
“I would talk to Michelle Obama in a heartbeat, and I know she is not personally running,” Kelce said. “But I would love it if she would.”
She also said she’s not worried about fans criticizing her after she revealed her Democratic views. “I mean this in the most respectful way,” she added. “I don’t care what other people have to say.”
Kelce’s comments come months after Travis Kelce’s girlfriend was accused of feuding with Brittany Mahomes. The speculated tension between the pair came after Swift endorsed Harris before the election, while Mahomes seemingly showed her support for Trump.
However, they shut the feud rumors down when they shared a hug at the US Open in December, which they attended with Travis and Mahomes’ husband, Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
She addressed how people online, such as sports radio hosts Fred Toucher and Rob “Hardy” Poole, questioned how her podcast had so many listeners, saying that those remarks are “getting [her] going.”
“I’m focused on putting out content that people like to consume,” she added. “If that puts us there for a week, cool. If it puts us there for longer than that, cool. But I also don’t need to feed any conflict that’s created by it.”
A postal worker makes a delivery in London, Britain, July 21, 2022. — Reuters
A resident of Penarth, a town in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, was recently left puzzled when he recieved a letter which was actually meant for an address over 10,500 miles away in Australia.
Over the weekend, Keith Georgiou opened his mailbox to find a letter intended for Penrith, a city in New South Wales, Australia, the BBC reported.
The mix-up stemmed from the use of the abbreviation “NSW” for the Australian state, leaving only one word on the envelope that corresponded with Georgiou’s actual address.
He saw from the envelope that it had been posted from the Exeter area.
“How it got to Penarth instead of Australia is a joke, isn’t it,” the 60-year-old said.
“It’s obviously gone through a number of sorting offices and no-one has picked it up,” he said. “It’s got the airmail sticker, everything correct on it, and it ends up in south Wales. It’s not even gone to Penrith [in Cumbria].”
This isn’t the first time Georgiou has receieved misdirected mail destined for another address, but he said this week’s discovery was ironic.
He hinted at the recent news regarding the British mail service, Royal Mail, where the organisation faced a £10.5 million for missing delivery targets.
Royal Mail, which is being taken over by Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky, said that while mistakes were rare, they were not uncommon.
“Even the postman delivering it to the house, you’d have thought he’d have gone ‘hang on a second’,” he said. “It’s just not the same address. It’s sad that it’s got this far.”
Georgiou has now re-posted the letter – having written a note on it informing Royal Mail of the mistake.
“Hopefully it doesn’t return back here!” he said.
Royal Mail said: “We deliver up to 35 million letters a day during December and occasionally mistakes happen.
“It appears that on this occasion a letter addressed for Penrith has been mistakenly read as Penarth… usually, any errors made by mail sorting machines are picked up by our team, but rarely, they are not noticed in time.”
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
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After weeks of winter walks and hurried Christmas shopping – your footwear may be in need of a new year makeover.
“In 2024, we saw a noticeable shift in footwear preferences, with chunky sneakers giving way to sleeker, dress-casual styles,” says TOMS‘ brand manager, Darcia Schouten. “This trend was largely influenced by changing lifestyle needs – people sought footwear that was not only stylish but practical for day-to-day activities.”
“Comfort-driven designs that blend sophistication with ease of wear have become essential, as consumers prioritise versatility,” explains Schouten.
If you’re trying to predict the biggest fashion trends for 2025 in anticipation for the post-holiday sales, look no further, as fashion insiders break down the hottest footwear styles for 2025.
Riding boots
The western and cowboy boot trend was huge in 2023/24, but horses are taking a more front and centre approach to the 2025 trend, with riding boots becoming the it-style of the season.
Riding boots swept the runways of Gucci and Hermès, with equestrian style becoming a prolific motif for 2025.
“Its streamlined silhouette and dress-casual versatility make it the perfect option for FW25,” says Schouten.
The ‘riding’ motif is predicted to proliferate fashion. Stella McCartney unveiled fashion’s new ‘it’ bag, the ‘Stella Ryder’, at Paris Fashion Week for s/s 2025 and the equestrian-focused fashion house, Hermès, has outshone its luxury rivals with an 11.3% rise in sales throughout June to September.
Slim styles continue to be the anticipated trainer trend for 2025. While Adidas Sambas were the ‘it’ trainers for 2024, Onitsuka Tiger’s and Dries van Noten’s slim sneaker is predicted to be 2025’s go-tos.
“Low-profile trainers in a variety of styles have been rising in interest and I think this will only grow in 2025,” explains Chatham‘s managing director Philip Marsh.
“PUMA Palermo’s have already caught attention this year, and we’re pretty sure PUMA is going to stay in the spotlight with more coming next year,” says schuh‘s athleisure buyer, Amberley Freeman.
“Keep an eye on Alohas – the new cool-girl brand – we’re expecting these to be the must-haves for spring and summer 2025.”
Onitsuka Tiger Mexico 66, £130
ALOHAS tb.490 Rife Trainers in Beige, £150, Schuh
Bulk up
Whilst slim trainers are in, bulky bikers aren’t going anywhere.
“Chunky bikers will be the go-to boot for 2025, and New Rock is going to steal the show with their new biker boots,” says schuh’s lifestyle buyer Daniel Barker.
“The Dr. Martens biker boot, Anistone High, sold out in two weeks flat earlier this year, and we have more to come from the brand in 2025.”
The chunky trend is not only reserved for boots. Skater-inspired sneakers are on the up.
“Skate made its resurgence in 2024, sparked by the Y2K revival, with over 304 million TikTok posts tagged #skate,” explains schuh’s streetwear buyer, Chloe De Salis.
“Osiris sneakers were a must-have – the women’s triple black sold out twice this year – which was no surprise after Billie Eilish was spotted wearing them.”
New Look Black Leather-Look Biker Ankle Boots, £24.99 (were £49.99)
OSIRIS d3 2001 Trainers in Grey Multi, £83.99 (were £120)
Block heels
Whilst kitten heels were the go-to for 2024, the style seem to be swinging back to a more practical look.
“Comfort will be a big focus for 2025 and the block heel is set to become a standout trend,” says Schouten.
“With more people prioritising all-day wearability, this style offers the perfect balance between elegance and practicality.”
As designers attempt to push ‘practical luxury’, the block heel combines both ease and elegance making it the perfect practical staple for day-to-night looks.
Zara Limited Edition Sheepskin Leather Square Toe Heel, £109
TOMS Constance Heeled Boot, £110
Flamboyant flip-flops
Whilst Birkenstock sandals were the footwear of the summer this year, flip-flops are anticipated to make a comeback in 2025.
“Flip-flops are making a comeback, and Havaianas are definitely one to watch,” explains Barker.
“They were everywhere at Copenhagen Fashion Week and are basically the sandal of the year. Crocs were also huge in 2024, and it looks like that’s going to keep going into 2025, especially with their ‘Miami’ collection.”
Brightly coloured flip-flops à la 2000s beach club are predicted to be big trends for the 2025 holiday season.
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
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Don Johnson shared a rare photo with all of his children to celebrate his 75th birthday.
The Doctor Odyssey star marked the occasion with an Instagram post featuring Dakota Johnson and his other four kids on Sunday (December 15). Sitting on a staircase decked out in Christmas decor, Johnson exuded festive cheer in a fedora, scarf, and coat.
“My kids are my everything!!! Happy Birthday to me!!!” the Miami Vice actor captioned the heartwarming snap.
Joining him for the milestone birthday was his wife, Kelley Phleger, elegantly dressed in a black ensemble with an embroidered collar. Married since 1999, the couple shares three children: Grace, 24, Jasper, 22, and Deacon, 18.
Also present were Johnson’s older children — daughter Dakota, 35, from his marriage to Melanie Griffith, and son Jesse, 42, from his relationship with Patti D’Arbanville. Griffith, 67, added her own heartfelt comment to the post: “How beautiful this is!!! FAMILY is everything. Happy Birthday Don.”
Johnson’s blended family extends beyond his own biological children. He adopted Griffith’s son Alexander, whom she shares with Steven Bauer, during their marriage, and he remains close to Griffith’s daughter Stella Banderas from her relationship with Antonio Banderas.
In an interview with People earlier this year, the Rebel Ridge actor reflected on becoming an empty-nester after his youngest child, Deacon, began college at the University of Southern California.
“Now that they’re all out of the house, it’s sad,” he said. “But they all come back. They never really leave. And honestly, you don’t want them to leave.”
His daughter Dakota has also spoken about the significance of their blended family.
In a March 2024 interview with Bustle, Dakota discussed the significance of chosen family, stating, “I grew up in a family that was so big, and I just believe in the saying ‘Blood is thicker than water.’ The actual saying is ‘The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb,’ which means that the connections with people you choose are more solid than the connections to the people you’re actually born to.”
She added: “I have four brothers and two sisters, and my two sisters are not blood-related to each other, but they are sisters, and they call each other sisters and they are always together. And my two older brothers are not blood-related to each other. And they are brothers.”
Emphasizing the enduring nature of their familial bonds, Johnson concluded, “No matter how f***ed up it is, or who’s in rehab, or who’s not speaking to whom, or who’s divorcing whom, we’re family. And we are always going to be a family.”
A representational image shows the Lærdal Tunnel in Norway. — Instagram/@martin_heck
Norway is poised to construct the world’s longest and deepest underwater road tunnel, named the Rogfast, with an astonishing budget of $46 billion.
This engineering feat, which is set open in 2033, stretches 16 miles and reaches the depths of 1,300 feet underwater, aiming to transform the commute between Norway’s southern and northern regions.
The tunnel will link the municipalities of Randaberg and Bokn in Rogaland county. Currently, residents and tourists rely on ferries to travel between the two regions, the Mirror reported.
While travelling on a ferry, it takes 21 hours to cover the 680-mile stretch between Kristiansand and Trondheim along the E39. However, the Rogfast tunnel will significantly reduce travel time, saving a staggering 11 hours by replacing ferry crossings.
Additionally, an estimated 6,000 vehicles are expected to utilise the tunnel daily.
Although it will set the record as the longest and deepest undersea passage, traversing The Rogfast will only take around 35 minutes, according to the Mirror.
Oddvar Kaarmo, the Rogfast project manager, cited additional motivation for the tunnel’s construction, saying: “The port at Mortavika is quite exposed and in the winter, ferries sometimes have to divert to another port.”
“Once the tunnel is finished, we will not have to rely on good weather to keep the roads open. About half a year after the last drill and blast, we have to deliver the project, so we have to get a lot of work done simultaneously. It’s more about logistics than tunnelling.”
At present, Norway’s Lærdal tunnel holds the record for the longest underwater road in the world, measuring 15 miles.
The tunnel, which was opened in 2000, connects the municipalities of Lærdal and Aurland in Vestland county, offering a vital ferry-free route between Oslo and Bergen.
The tunnel cost nearly £90million to complete and allows visitors to drive through it and enjoy views of the fjord in Flåm, and return via the Aurlandsfjellet plateau on the Snow Road between Aurlandsvangen and Lærdalsøyri.
