The comic book series 'Top G Origins' is a collaborative creation by DNG Comics and Andrew Tate

Ron DeSantis expressed concerns about how not to “piss off” supporters of President Donald Trump in a leaked video from when he was a candidate for Florida governor in 2018. In the footage obtained by ABC News, Republican Representative Matt Gaetz asked Mr DeSantis, then a congressman, in a debate preparation: “Is there any issue upon which you disagree with President Trump?” In response, Mr DeSantis sighed and said: “I have to figure out how to do this.” “Obviously there is because, I mean, I voted contrary to him in the Congress,” he said. “I have to frame it in a way that's not going to piss off all his voters.” Mr DeSantis had won the Republican primary largely on the back of his full-throated support of Mr Trump, even cutting an ad with him building a mock version of Mr Trump’s proposed wall on the US-Mexico border with his young child. He had also appeared on Fox News repeatedly, ultimately earning Mr Trump’s endorsement. Mr DeSantis ultimately says he would respond to the question by saying he would “do what I think is right” and “support [Trump's] agenda.” “If I have a disagreement, I talk to him in private,” Mr DeSantis said. The clip is part of nearly two and a half hours of internal tapes from Mr DeSantis’s debate prep sessions. The leak comes as Mr DeSantis prepares to announce his candidacy for the 2024 Republican nomination for president, wherein he will run against Mr Trump. Since then, though, Mr Gaetz and fellow Florida Republican Representative Byron Donalds have gotten behind Mr Trump instead of Mr DeSantis, along with a slew of other Republicans from Florida’s delegation. Florida’s state legislature recently concluded its session, which gave Mr DeSantis significant policy wins. But Mr Trump has attacked Mr DeSantis relentlessly, calling him Ron “DeSanctimonious.” Read More Biden trails Trump in brutal new poll after 2024 kickoff Ron DeSantis heaps praise on Tucker Carlson after Fox firing: ‘Fantastic individual’ Georgia enacts law letting panel punish, oust prosecutors

A professional cuddler who makes a living giving clients hugs has said people travel from all over the globe to receive the cuddle therapy she offers which is “far less intimate than a massage” and helps people from “all walks of life”. Natasha Wicks, 44, from Coventry, West Midlands, says that despite criticism, cuddling is scientifically proven to release happy hormones like dopamine and that a lot of her clients are “the big spoon in life” and go to her for emotional support that they do not have at home. As such, many of her clients are caregivers and most of them join Natasha for two-hour hugging sessions, costing £70 an hour. The sessions vary depending on what the client wants, some having “emotional hugs”, others talking more and some wanting to “sit at opposite ends of the sofa with our legs and feet entwined”. Natasha became a cuddle therapist in 2015 and, while she has had comments online from people criticising the practice, she said that her family and friends were unsurprised when she first started giving professional cuddles. She said: “They all said to me that I give the best cuddles so it’s not surprising that I’d start doing it as a job. “It’s very much what I do, I help people and want to make people feel better. It’s a natural thing when someone is going through a tough time to want to give them a hug. “Cuddle therapy might not be as widely accepted in society but it’s far less intimate than other things like massages which are seen as normal.” Prior to becoming a cuddler, Natasha originally trained as a CBT therapist and counsellor. She said: “There’d be situations where I would be talking to someone and they’d really need a hug, but obviously, you’d have professional boundaries in place and it wouldn’t have been appropriate. “It was just a really natural thing. One client had finished her final session and we had agreed that she wasn’t my patient anymore so we hugged goodbye. She said to me that she’d wanted to do that for a long time and I thought ‘me too’.” Looking into cuddle therapy, which she said was increasing in popularity in 2014, Natasha took a training course. By 2015, she was a qualified cuddler and started taking on new patients for cuddle sessions. Natasha provides a minimum session of one hour but said most people go for at least two hours, sometimes longer if they are receiving more than one type of therapy. She said: “I always give people a hug on the doorstep when they arrive and then they’ll come in and relax, and we’ll have an initial chat about what brings them here. After that, I’ll put on some ambient music and we’ll have a cuddle on my cuddle sofa. “It can be daunting coming into a stranger’s house and I can tell the difference in them from arriving to leaving. The first hug they might be angled away from me but when we’re hugging goodbye, I can get my head in between their neck and shoulders and you can almost feel that a weight has been lifted from them.” There is not one type of person that visits Natasha for cuddles, but she says that a lot of her clients are caregivers. She said: “There’s all sorts of people who come for a cuddle, from people who have moved away from home for the first time and just want a mum hug all the way to people in their 80s. “I’m inclusive of all genders and all ages. I get a lot of clients who are the carers of their family and they are so busy looking after other people, and probably giving the hugs and support to other people, that they don’t have that for themselves. “A lot of people that come to see me are generally people are the big spoon in the life – they take care of others and don’t want to show a vulnerable side to people because they don’t want people to worry that they can’t cope. “I get a lot of carers, a lot of NHS staff, a lot of mums, a lot of people that are in a world where they have to be the strong one in the situation and they just want to be able to come here and let their guard down.” Natasha’s priority is to make people feel at ease when they arrive as she said it can be “nerve wracking” turning up at someone’s house for a hug. Setting out clear boundaries prior to meeting, the therapist has said that the patients she has welcomed into her home have all been respectful. She added: “I always say to people that when your body relaxes, your tummy might crumble and mine might too, but that people don’t need to worry about it. Sometimes people fall asleep and they might snore or fart, it’s just natural things that happen. It’s happened twice where someone has got an erection and that’s fine, I have boundaries and we’ll just change position. “I want people to feel reassured that, as soon as they get in, they feel comfortable.” Despite the unconventional therapy, when Natasha first took on cuddle clients, she said her family were completely “unsurprised” and the step from CBT therapy to cuddle therapy was a “natural evolution”. While Natasha focuses her time on a holistic approach for treating people, she noted that there is also neuroscience behind cuddles. According to the 44-year-old, physical touch activates the brain’s orbitofrontal cortex and cuddling releases oxytocin, dopamine and serotonin. Now, Natasha also does EMDR therapy and is a mental health swim host, and has clients travel from all over the globe to receive her hugs. She said: “Working from Coventry is brilliant because I’m only nine minutes on the train from Birmingham Airport and people come to visit me from all over. I get a client from Belgium, someone from Ireland and people from all over the UK who come to see me. “I wanted to find a sofa bed that just looked like a big comfy sofa for cuddle sessions. I’d started off with a big L shaped sofa but after about five years, it was sagging a bit, there’d been a lot of healing done on that sofa and it was time for a new one. “Now I have a sofa bed in my living room that I use as my cuddle sofa. It’s in the living room and it’s used for everyday life, watching TV with my partner, having people round and also for my work.” Breaking down the taboo around cuddle therapy, Natasha hopes more people will embrace the alternative treatment. She added: “As it’s become more popular, more people are becoming qualified as cuddlers and I think that’s great. “I’ve had comments online before of people thinking it’s weird or not understanding but there are other things we accept in society that are much more intimate than cuddles, like massages. “It’s not weird, it’s actually a really lovely thing to be able to make another soul feel better for a while.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Meet the professional cuddler charging £70-an-hour to hug ‘the big spoons in life’ New warnings about ‘concerning’ rise in at-home cosmetic dentistry What is ‘beer tanning’ and why are experts warning against it?

Michael Yifan Wen was arrested and charged with endangering the welfare of a child

U.S. Special Counsel Jack Smith on Thursday asked a federal judge to schedule a Jan 2, 2024 trial

Fans made sarcastic remarks about Mike Perry's previous controversies as he announced his presence on Joe Rogan's MMA podcast

Matthew Perry’s most famous character, Chandler Bing, was known for making eyebrow-raising jokes, but not even he would have found this one funny. An American stand-up comedian poked fun at Perry’s sudden death, aged 54, after he was found unresponsive at his LA home on Saturday. Kevin Brennan, 63, a podcast host and former writer for Saturday Night Live (SNL) responded to the shocking news on Twitter/X, along with millions of others. But rather than pen a message of admiration or grief, Brennan made light of the Friends star's untimely passing. Tweeting a link to TMZ’s coverage of the tragedy, he added the caption: “DROWNED IN A HOT TUB. HAHAHAHA.” His cruelly tasteless remark was met with shock and fury across the platform, with critics branding him an “absolutely disgusting human being”. But rather than admit he’d gone too far with his mockery, the 63-year-old doubled down. He not only retweeted a number of articles condemning his behaviour, but he also hit back with more offensive retorts. Responding to one commentator who asked: “Why is drowning in a hot tub funny[?]” he wrote: “Because it’s not very deep.” Then refuting the suggestion that he had “mocked” Perry’s death, he commented: “I didn’t mock it. I just thought it was funny.” He then added: “But I do love it when junkies die.” Then, hours after the backlash began, he tweeted provocatively: “Am I trending yet?” Perry made no secret of his decades-long battle against addiction to alcohol and prescription medication. Indeed, he made it his later life’s ambition to help others struggling with the same issues. In an interview for the podcast Q with Tom Power Q with Tom Power last year, the 17 Again star was categorical about what he wanted to be remembered for. He told his host: “I’ve had a lot of ups and downs in my life but the best thing about me, bar none, is that if an alcoholic or drug addict comes up to me and says, ‘Will you help me?’ I will always say ‘Yes, I know how to do that. I will do that for you, even if I can’t always do it for myself.’” He added: “When I die, I don't want Friends to be the first thing that's mentioned. I want that to be the first thing that's mentioned, and I'm going to live the rest of my life proving that.” Despite speculation over the cause of Perry’s death, post-mortem results have reportedly so far been inconclusive, with further investigations underway. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s office said that the official cause of death is not likely to be declared for a few weeks. Perry will continue to live on through his work, both on and off the screen. Critics have urged Brennan to consider how he himself would like to be remembered: whether as a comic writer who made people laugh, or as a vicious, remorseless troll. Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings

Latvian Foreign Minister Krisjanis Karins is looking to join the list of contenders to succeed NATO Secretary Jens

The couple, affectionately known as Bennifer, held hands, laughed together, and even shared a big smooch

Thailand plans to ease foreign exchange rules for domestic companies and individuals to help them shore up their

The Supreme Court will leap into online moderation debate for the second year running after the justices on Friday agreed to decide whether states can essentially control how social media companies operate.

The 18 defendants charged alongside former President Donald Trump in this month’s racketeering indictment in Fulton County, Georgia, include more than a half-dozen lawyers