(CNN)New evidence showing Donald Trump’s direct role in pressuring Ukraine for political favors is dialing up the heat as Republicans launch their New Year push to shield the President in a swift Senate impeachment trial.

Riley Howell – a 21-year-old hero who died while saving fellow classmates in the UNC Charlotte shooting – has been honored as a Jedi Master in the new Star Wars universe book. The college student, along with another 19-year-old classmate, took the bullets and thus prevented more injuries and deaths after a gunman opened fire in one of the classrooms of the University of North Carolina. Riley has been hailed as a hero by the local police, who praised his quick thinking and courage that “saved lives.”

Image credits: Lauren Westmoreland

“He loved Star Wars, birds, cards, snowboarding, going to the lake, Kentucky Hot Browns cooking from scratch with cast iron while listening to the Feel Good Classic Soul playlist, and his Lauren,” Riley’s family told the media...

The kids have left home, and were not really coping, so this seems like the perfect chance to lure them back

My husband and I dont think we have the condition until, one day last month, hundreds of miles from home, we find ourselves outside our younger sons university accommodation at 11.30 on a Sunday morning. I am clutching supplies in a little brown paper bag. Our son knows were in town, but isnt expecting this rude awakening. Its a surprise.

Do you think we should have called first? I say as we approach the entrance, the inappropriateness of what were doing dawning on me only now.

My husband pulls a face; its his moment of awakening, too. Call now, he says. Tell him were on our way.

But were already here.

We both suddenly see what we have become: two newbie empty-nester weirdos...

(CNN)

(CNN)In the 1940s, as my family story goes, my grandmother Irma worked for Armed Services Editions, a publisher that sent more than 122 million books to servicemen around the world. One of them was a strange collection of essays by the writer Morton Thompson, including “How to Cook a Turkey.”

Since climate campaigners transatlantic adventures, more people are looking to travel by sail

Hitching a ride on a sailing boat across the Atlantic might sound like a far-fetched endeavour reserved for the famous and well-connected. But Greta Thunberg has now managed it twice in three months and her antics appear to be inspiring a growing, if nascent, movement in sail-hitching.

Maritime hitchhiking has hitherto been reserved for sailors looking for experience on different routes and vessels.

But after Thunbergs transatlantic adventures, numbers have boomed. Daniel Krause, a full-time cruiser, helps to run the Sailboat Hitchhikers and Crew Connection Facebook group, which has sharply increased to nearly 21,000 members since Thunbergs voyage...

A survey found 62% of fathers in the US took full time off for their newborn, but women saw a greater damage to future job prospects

Attitudes towards paternity leave have drastically changed in America in the last five years as more fathers feel comfortable taking extended time off, but gender stereotypes persist when it comes to career prospects and the home, according to a new study of working parents.

Research by the Boston College Center for Work & Family, which surveyed new parents at four large US companies who were eligible for at least six weeks paid parental leave, found that 81% of the 1,240 employees surveyed said the notion of fathers taking leave has become more acceptable.

Of those surveyed, 62% of fathers took the maximum amount of time off and 93% of mothers, and around t...

Image copyright Katie Holden

My Money is a new series looking at how people spend their money – and the sometimes tough decisions they make. Here, Katie Holden from Bradford, records her spending over a week, and shares tips for saving which is especially important because she has nine children.

We’re looking for more people to share what they spend their money on. If you’re interested, please email [email protected] or get in touch via our My Money Facebook group and we’ll aim to contact you.

Katie is a home-schooling mother of nine children. The eldest two are studying A-Levels at college and the youngest is a toddler...