Blog entry by Rosemarie Avey

Picture of Rosemarie Avey
by Rosemarie Avey - Sunday, 1 September 2024, 2:50 PM
Anyone in the world

'And I think now even parties who accepted funding from oligarchs should understand that they, you know, they need to change course, because that's what - if I don't misunderstand the public mood in the UK - that's what the British public want.'

The SE has large bezels above and below the screen and a home button with Touch ID instead of Face ID. If you are upgrading from an iPhone 6S, 7 or 8, this phone will seem nearly identical in terms of design and build. But it's not. The SE has the same body as an iPhone 8, but the glass on the front and back is more durable. In fact, it's the same glass used on the back of the iPhone 13. The finish on the review unit I tested is called midnight. In some lighting it looks jet black, and in other lighting it has an indigo hue.

At $429 (£419, AU$719), the iPhone SE (2022) is filled with an old-meets-new appeal. It's a low-cost way for people to upgrade from an iPhone 8 (or older) who want to keep a familiar design. The new SE blends the body of an iPhone 8 with the tougher glass and processor from the iPhone 13, but it's for those who don't care about Face ID or MagSafe. Apple's mix-and-match approach gives this iPhone newer features like 5G support, a longer battery life and iPhone 13-levels of performance, all while retaining the home button and the classic, user-friendly design. The iPhone SE is an extremely capable phone with a great camera and all the goodies like iMessage, FaceTime, Apple Music and access to the App Store.

It comes as French authorities today they have seized a luxury superyacht belonging to a company linked to Igor Sechin (pictured here with Putin in August last year), the chief executive of Russian energy giant Rosneft and a close confidant of Putin

Pictures taken today show the massive boat, which has a 25-meter swimming pool, surrounded by scaffolding and waterproof covering as it sits in the dry dock of Blohm Voss Dock; where it has been since late October for a refitting job. 

Netflix

Bridgerton is practically a show designed to be addictive. Known as Jane Austen but with sex, the period piece has a tad more going for it: With lavish production design and colorful costumes, this is Regency London like you've rarely seen it. In the early 19th century dating scene, the Bridgerton siblings' adventures in love are captured by a scandalous newsletter, written by Regency London's version of Gossip Girl, voiced by none other than Julie Andrews. Settle in for this gorge-worthy viewing.

After using Face ID-enabled iPhone models over the last several years, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed using Touch ID again. I hadn't realized how much I missed it. It's a joy to use Apple Pay by merely laying my thumb on my home button, compared to holding up a Face ID-enabled phone to my face to authenticate before paying with a card. At times, double-tapping the home button felt like a superior way to get into the app switcher. There are rumors that Apple might eventually bring back Touch ID with an under-display sensor like Samsung's Galaxy phones and the Pixel 6 line, but until then the iPhone SE's home button is the only iPhone still including it.

Netflix

This miniseries is from a couple of years ago, but in case you missed it, it's definitely worth checking out. In the vein of The Sinner, Alias Grace steps back into its young female protagonist's past to figure out why she commits murder, of which she has no memory. An adaptation of a Margaret Atwood novel, the show stars a hypnotic Sarah Gadon as Irish immigrant Grace, navigating a turbulent life as a servant for a family in colonial Toronto. Partly based on a true story, this isn't a straightforward mystery with straightforward answers and that's what makes it all the more captivating.

But on average, for those living the lavish Greek lifestyle at Alabama, it could cost them up to $4,000 to $10,000 in expenses - depending on if a girl lives in one of the mansions that dot Sorority Row. 

College girls fork over thousands of dollars to rush consultants to cleanse their social media, advise them on how to dress, and coach them to be the perfect girl - all in hopes they'll be one of the few 'running home' to their top pick

Thanks to the centuries-old practice of male primogeniture, by which an aristocrat's title and estate passes to the eldest son, rather than the eldest child, Louis will also one day inherit Althorp House and its accompanying 13,500-acre estate in Northamptonshire. 

This must be at least partly due to the fact that they enjoyed a privileged but private upbringing in Cape Town, where Earl Spencer and Victoria moved in 1995 to raise their children out of the public eye.

This is the moment the grieving Ukrainian parents of an 18-month-old boy rushed into hospital weeping over their son's dead body after the toddler was killed by Russian shelling - as Putin's invading forces spent another day shelling Ukrainian civilians yesterday killing at least eight.