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Liverpool sank to their fourth consecutive league defeat on Saturday night as they were bested 3-2 by Brentford in London, leaving them sixth in the Premier League and below Manchester United.

"Around tables cluttered with dice, maps and character sheets, players are doing far more than playing," writes Phys.org. It's what sociologists call serious leisure — "a hobby that demands skill, commitment and personal fulfillment," according to an associate professor/program director for Florida International University's Rehabilitation and Recreational Therapy Program: To understand what makes D&D more than just a pastime, [associate professor Emily Messina] studies how games like this promote identity-building and connection... Beyond personal expression, Messina says the social and emotional benefits of D&D reflect the very traits that make serious leisure valuable: the sense of identity, the relationships built through shared experiences and the continued connection with the same group of people over time... The game can also provide structure and purpose for people managing mental illness who might not be able to hold a full-time job because of their symptoms. The game gives them structure versus filling their day with binge streaming... Activities such as D&D can be used by young children as a reward structure or with older adults, such as retirees, to help provide a sense of purpose and daily rhythm. "Post retirement is one of the most dangerous points in an adult's life," she said. "They lose that sense of structure and possibly their social connection." Building structure through leisure pursuits after retirement has been shown to help maintain physical fitness, social interaction, cognitive processing and attention span and decrease depression. "The idea of structure and reward with desired pursuit can work for all ages," Messina said. The research was published in Leisure Studies.

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The former glamour model, 47, is no stranger to going under the knife, having undergone a slew of different procedures on her face and body over the years.

It might not deserve the name of 'dullest place' for long

Hadush Kebatu was pictured being detained by four officers in Finsbury Park, north London, at around 8.30am on Sunday,

Chocolates from Vladimir Putin with his rants emblazoned on them such as 'it's better to hit first' were presented to US officials today. 

A new 'dog stick library' in Daisy Nook, Failsworth has divided opinion amongst local pet owners after a picture of it was shared on to the Friends of Daisy Nook Facebook Page.

Flatulence is an entirely normal process which occurs up to 20 times a day, often the sign of a healthy gut. But there are times when it may indicate something more serious.

Sydney Sweeney unveiled her latest bold haircut as she attended the glitzy premiere of her new movie Christy in Los Angeles on Saturday.

When Keely Hodgkinson stormed to the Olympic 800m title in Paris in the summer of 2024, the Wigan-born sensation was hailed as the golden girl of British sport.

Data centers were typically "hulking, chilly buildings lined with stacks of computing gear and bundles of wiring," writes the Washington Post. But "AI experts say that the hubs for computers that power AI are different from the data centers that deliver your Netflix movies and Uber rides. They use a different mix of computer chips, cost a lot more and need a lot more energy. "The question is whether it's necessary and illuminating to rebrand AI-specialized data centers, or if calling them 'AI factories' is just marketing hogwash." The AI computer chip company Nvidia seems to have originated the use of "AI factories." CEO Jensen Huang has said that the term is apt because similar to industrial factories, AI factories take in raw materials to produce a product... The term is spreading. Sam Altman, CEO of ChatGPT parent company OpenAI, recently said that he wants a "factory" to regularly produce more building blocks for AI. Crusoe, a start-up that's erecting a mammoth "Stargate" data center in Texas, calls itself the "AI factory company." The prime minister of Bulgaria recently touted an "AI factory" in his country... Alex Hanna, director of research at the Distributed AI Research Institute and co-author the book, "The AI Con," had a more pessimistic view of the term "AI factories." She said that it's a way to deflect the negative connotations of data centers. Some people and politicians blame power-hungry computing hubs for driving up residential electric bills, spewing pollution, draining drinking water and producing few permanent jobs.

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Sayf Najafi, 28, is said to have pocketed payments from around 40 devastated UK couples for wedding photos and videos that never materialised.

News of a Footballers' Wives reboot has set tongues wagging, 20 years after the original series of the beloved 00s show hit screens. 

'Football is an art,' Arsene Wenger once said. Perhaps Manchester United legend Roy Keane inspired the thought, maybe in one of his infamous clashes with Arsenal's Patrick Viera.

Real-life couple Faith Hill and Tim McGraw star as James and Margaret Dutton, who leave behind the harsh poverty of Texas for a shot at a new beginning.

Sophie Turner is reportedly dating Coldplay frontman Chris Martin after finally calling it quits from her aristocrat boyfriend Peregrine 'Perry' Pearson.  

President Donald Trump greeted Malaysian dancers with his signature moves as he kicked off his highly anticipated week-long foreign trip to Asia.

MIKE KEEGAN: The hope is for the Blues to be in their new home in 2030. They have promised it will be football-centric but also hope to stage NFL matches.

The 22-year-old victim was struck by a silver VW Golf GTi Clubsport, in Durham, just before 2am.

Courtney thanked Meghan, 44, for 'supporting me' at the launch of her new book at an event at Godmothers bookstore in California last Thursday.