Tag Archives: coma

Woman, 31, was left ‘burning from the inside out’ in 17-day coma after taking ibuprofen for period pains – Daily Mail

  1. Woman, 31, was left ‘burning from the inside out’ in 17-day coma after taking ibuprofen for period pains Daily Mail
  2. Woman left ‘burning from the inside out’ in 17-day coma after taking ibuprofen for period pains… The Sun
  3. Woman left ‘burning from inside out’ in 17-day coma after taking common painkiller The Mirror
  4. Woman left ‘burning from inside out’ in 17-day coma after taking ibuprofen for stomach cramps LADbible
  5. Ibuprofen For Period Cramps Leaves Woman In Blisters And Coma; What Is Stevens-Johnson Syndrome She Suffered? Times Now

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Woman left ‘burning from inside out’ in 17-day coma after taking ibuprofen for stomach cramps – LADbible

  1. Woman left ‘burning from inside out’ in 17-day coma after taking ibuprofen for stomach cramps LADbible
  2. Woman, 31, was left ‘burning from the inside out’ in 17-day coma after taking ibuprofen for period pains Daily Mail
  3. Woman left ‘burning from the inside out’ in 17-day coma after taking ibuprofen for period pains… The Sun
  4. Woman left ‘burning from inside out’ in 17-day coma after taking common painkiller The Mirror
  5. Ibuprofen For Period Cramps Leaves Woman In Blisters And Coma; What Is Stevens-Johnson Syndrome She Suffered? Times Now

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Influencer who delivered her baby while in a COMA speaks out for the first time since she collapsed from a bra – Daily Mail

  1. Influencer who delivered her baby while in a COMA speaks out for the first time since she collapsed from a bra Daily Mail
  2. ‘A tough year’: Influencer returns to social media after life-threatening health crisis days before welcoming baby 9Honey Celebrity
  3. Influencer Put In Coma While Pregnant Speaks For First Time Since Brain Aneurysm Changed Everything TooFab
  4. Influencer Jackie Miller James Shares Aphasia Diagnosis After Aneurysm E! NEWS
  5. Jackie Miller James Returns to Instagram 11 Months After Health Crisis as Family Shares Expressive Aphasia Diagnosis Yahoo Lifestyle Australia

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Influencer Jackie Miller James in Medically Induced Coma After Aneurysm Rupture at 9 Months Pregnant – E! NEWS

  1. Influencer Jackie Miller James in Medically Induced Coma After Aneurysm Rupture at 9 Months Pregnant E! NEWS
  2. Pregnant influencer fighting for her life after suffering brain aneurysm New York Post
  3. Influencer Jackie Miller James in Medically Induced Coma After Aneurysm Ruptures a Week from Due Date PEOPLE
  4. Influencer Jackie Miller James Is in a Coma After Suffering Aneurysm Rupture at 9 Months Pregnant Entertainment Tonight
  5. Pregnant influencer fighting for life after suffering brain aneurysm one week before due date Tyla
  6. View Full Coverage on Google News

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Adani’s $2.5 bln share offer backed by investors, despite short-seller attack

MUMBAI, Jan 31 (Reuters) – Indian billionaire Gautam Adani’s $2.5 billion share sale inched closer to full subscription on Tuesday as investors pumped in funds after a tumultuous week for his group in which its stocks were pummeled by a scathing short-seller report.

The secondary share sale of flagship Adani Enterprises (ADEL.NS) was subscribed 93% on Tuesday, including the anchor investor portion, Indian stock exchange data showed. The share sale needed at least 90% subscription to go through.

By Monday, the book building process of the country’s largest share sale had received only 3% in bids, amid swirling concerns that the share sale could struggle due to a market rout in Adani’s stocks in recent days.

The share sale is critical for Adani, not just because it is India’s largest follow-on offering and will help cut debt, but also because its success will be seen as a stamp of confidence by investors at a time the tycoon faces one of his biggest business and reputational challenges of recent times.

The offer closes days after Adani’s public faceoff with Hindenburg Research, which on Jan. 24 flagged concerns about the use of tax havens and “substantial debt” at the group. It added that shares in seven Adani listed companies have an 85% downside due to what it called “sky-high valuations”.

That has since sparked $65 billion in cumulative losses for stocks of the Adani group, which called the report baseless.

The support for Adani’s share sale came even as the flagship’s shares were trading at 2,967 rupees, up nearly 2.5% but below the lower end of the share sale price band of 3,112 rupees.

“It looks down to the wire with just a few hours remaining on the last day, but the offering should go through. Institutions seem to be subscribing to capitalise on opportunity to buy in bulk quantities outside the open market,” said Dipan Mehta, founder director of Elixir Equities.

Adani Group’s total gross debt in the financial year ended March 31, 2022, rose 40% to 2.2 trillion rupees ($26.83 billion). Adani said on Sunday – while responding to Hindenburg’s allegations – that over the past decade the group has “consistently de-levered”. Hindenburg later said Adani’s “response largely confirmed our findings and ignored our key questions.”

Reuters Graphics

The group had in recent days repeatedly said investors were standing by its side and the share offering would go through, amid rising concerns that may not happen. Bankers at one point had considered tweaking the pricing of the issue, or extending the sale, Reuters had reported.

Adani even said the Hindenburg report was a “calculated attack” on the country and its institutions while its CFO compared the market rout of its stocks to a colonial-era massacre.

Demand from retail investors remained muted, garnering bids only worth around 10% of the shares on offer for that segment. On Tuesday, demand mostly came from foreign institutional investors, as well as corporates who bid in excess of 1 million rupees each, data showed.

Over the weekend and through Monday, Adani’s firm held extensive discussions with investment bankers and institutional investors to attract subscriptions, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the talks.

Abu Dhabi conglomerate International Holding Company (IHC.AD) said it will invest $400 million in the issue.

“The follow-on public offering has to go through to restore investor confidence,” said V. K. Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

The Hindenburg report and its fallout have drawn global attention. Adani is now the world’s eighth richest person, down from third ranking on Forbes’ rich list last week.

Adani Transmission (ADAI.NS) rose 1.6% on Tuesday, after losing 38% since the Hindenburg report, while Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSE.NS) climbed 3.2%.

Adani Total Gas (ADAG.NS) languished at its 10% lower price limit, while Adani Power (ADAN.NS) and Adani Wilmar (ADAW.NS) were down 5% each.

Reuters Graphics

Global index publisher FTSE Russell said on Tuesday it continues to monitor publicly available information on the group, in particular from the Indian regulatory authorities.

Hindenburg said in its report it had shorted U.S.-bonds and non-India traded derivatives of the Adani Group. On Tuesday, U.S. dollar-denominated bonds issued by Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone continued their fall into a second week.

($1 = 82.0025 Indian rupees)

Reporting by M. Sriram and Chris Thomas; Editing by Aditya Kalra and Muralikumar Anantharaman

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Hindenburg shorts India’s Adani Group, flags debt and accounting concerns

BENGALURU, Jan 25 (Reuters) – Hindenburg Research said on Wednesday it held short positions in India’s Adani Group, accusing the conglomerate of improper extensive use of entities set up in offshore tax havens and expressing concern about high debt levels.

The report, which comes days ahead of a $2.5 billion share offering by flagship firm Adani Enterprises (ADEL.NS), sent shares in Adani group firms sliding.

Hindenburg, a well known U.S. short-seller, said key listed companies in the group controlled by billionaire Gautam Adani had “substantial debt” which has put the entire group on a “precarious financial footing”.

It also said that seven Adani listed companies have an 85% downside on a fundamental basis due to what it called “sky-high valuations”.

An Adani spokesperson did not immediately respond to Reuters request for comment on the report, which Hindenburg said was based on research that involved speaking with dozens of individuals, including former Adani Group executives as well as a review of documents.

Hindenburg said it held its short positions through U.S.-traded bonds and non-Indian-traded derivative instruments.

Adani has repeatedly dismissed debt concerns. Adani Chief Financial Officer Jugeshinder Singh told media on Jan. 21 “Nobody has raised debt concerns to us. No single investor has.”

In the wake of the Hindenburg report, Adani Ports And Special Economic Zone (APSE.NS) slid 7.3% to its lowest level since early July, while Adani Enterprises dropped 3.7% to a near three-month low.

Reuters Graphics Reuters Graphics

Adani-owned cement firms ACC (ACC.NS) and Ambuja Cements (ABUJ.NS) fell 6.7% and 9.7% respectively.

Hindenburg’s report said that five of seven key listed Adani companies have reported current ratios – a measure of liquid assets minus near-term liabilities – below 1. This, the short-seller said, suggested “a heightened short-term liquidity risk.”

Adani Group’s total gross debt in the financial year ending March 31, 2022, rose 40% to 2.2 trillion rupees.

Refinitiv data shows that debt at all the Adani Group’s seven key listed Adani companies exceeds equity, with debt at Adani Green Energy Ltd (ADNA.NS) exceeding equity by more than 2,000%.

CreditSights, part of the Fitch Group, described the group last September as “overleveraged” and said it had concerns over its debt. While the report later corrected some calculation errors, CreditSights said it maintained its concerns over leverage.

Hindenburg is known for shorting electric truck maker Nikola Corp (NKLA.O) and Twitter though it later reversed its position in Twitter.

Shares in Adani Enterprises surged 125% in 2022, while other group companies, including power and gas units, rose more than 100%.

Reporting by Mrinmay Dey, Chris Thomas and Aditya Kalra; Additional reporting by Miyoung Kim; Editing by Dhanya Ann Thoppil and Edwina Gibbs

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Buffett’s Berkshire discloses $4.1 bln TSMC stake

Nov 14 (Reuters) – Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRKa.N) said it bought more than $4.1 billion of stock in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (2330.TW), , a rare significant foray into the technology sector by billionaire Warren Buffett’s conglomerate.

The news sent shares in TSMC up more than 6% in Taiwan on Tuesday, as it boosted investor sentiment for the world’s largest contract chipmaker, which saw its shares hit a two-year low last month due to a sharp slowdown in global chip demand.

In a Monday regulatory filing describing its U.S.-listed equity investments as of Sept. 30, Berkshire said it owned about 60.1 million American depositary shares of TSMC.

Berkshire also disclosed new stakes of $297 million in building materials company Louisiana-Pacific Corp (LPX.N) and $13 million in Jefferies Financial Group Inc (JEF.N). It exited an investment in Store Capital Corp (STOR.N), a real estate company that agreed in September to be taken private.

The filing did not specify whether Buffett or his portfolio managers Todd Combs and Ted Weschler made specific purchases and sales. Investors often try to piggy back on what Berkshire buys. Larger investments are normally Buffett’s.

While Berkshire does not normally make big technology bets, it often prefers companies it perceives to have competitive advantages, often through their size.

TSMC, which makes chips for the likes of Apple Inc (AAPL.O), Qulacomm (QCOM.O) and Nvidia Corp (NVDA.O), posted an 80% jump in quarterly profit last month, but struck a more cautious note than usual on upcoming demand.

“I suspect Berkshire has a belief that the world cannot do without the products manufactured by Taiwan Semi,” said Tom Russo, a partner at Gardner, Russo & Quinn in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, which owns Berkshire shares.

“Only a small number of companies that can amass the capital to deliver semiconductors, which are increasingly central to people’s lives,” he added.

Berkshire has had mixed success in technology.

Its more than six-year wager during the last decade in IBM Corp (IBM.N) did not pan out, but Berkshire is sitting on huge unrealized gains on its $126.5 billion stake in Apple, which Buffett views more as a consumer products company.

Apple is by far the largest investment in Berkshire’s $306.2 billion equity portfolio.

Berkshire disclosed the TSMC stake about 2-1/2 months after it began reducing a decade-old, multi-billion dollar stake in BYD Co (002594.SZ), China’s largest electric car company.

In the third quarter, Berkshire added to its stakes in Chevron Corp (CVX.N), Occidental Petroleum Corp (OXY.N), Celanese Corp (CE.N), Paramount Global (PARA.O) and RH (RH.N).

It also sold shares of Activision Blizzard Inc (ATVI.O), Bank of New York Mellon Corp (BK.N), General Motors Co (GM.N), Kroger Co (KR.N) and US Bancorp (USB.N).

Buffett, 92, has run Berkshire since 1965. The Omaha, Nebraska-based company also owns dozens of businesses such as the BNSF railroad, the Geico auto insurer, several energy and industrial companies, Fruit of the Loom and Dairy Queen.

Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by David Gregorio and Bradley Perrett

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Matthew Perry nearly DIED from opioid overuse and spent weeks in a coma

Friends star Matthew Perry has given his first tell-all interview in which he details how his drug and alcohol addictions secretly nearly cost him his life. 

The star, 53, revealed he was given just a two per cent chance of survival after an opioid addiction caused his colon to burst when he was aged 49, leaving him in a coma for two weeks and spending months in hospital – a fact which his legions of fans were unaware of.

After suffering from a gastrointestinal perforation, Matthew said he had to use a colostomy bag for nine months, has now had 14 surgeries on his stomach in total and been to rehab 15 times in a bid to get clean. 

Now sober, the beloved actor, best known for playing hapless Chandler Bing has detailed his decades-long battle to rid himself of the disease of addiction. 

When he was first admitted to the hospital, he said: ‘the doctors told my family that I had a 2 percent chance to live. I was put on a thing called an ECMO machine, which does all the breathing for your heart and your lungs. And that’s called a Hail Mary. No one survives that.’

He told PEOPLE: ‘I wanted to share when I was safe from going into the dark side of everything again.

Matthew Perry nearly DIED from opioid overuse and secretly spent weeks in a coma: Troubled Friends star admits he’s had 14 stomach surgeries, used a colostomy bag for nine months and has been in rehab 15 times – as he lays his addiction issues bare

‘I had to wait until I was pretty safely sober — and away from the active disease of alcoholism and addiction — to write it all down. And the main thing was, I was pretty certain that it would help people.’

Talking about his starring role on Friends at aged 24, his alcohol addiction was starting to surface.

He said he could handle it but he was ‘entrenched in a lot of trouble’ by the time he was 34. He said there were years during that time in which he was sober and in fact, he was sober throughout the whole of season nine, the year he got nominated for Best Actor. 

At one point during his Friends career, he admits he was taking 55 Vicodin a day and was down to 128 pounds but yet he ‘didn’t know how to stop.’ 

He said the disease has got worse and worse and progressive and he’s got older and noted his Friends cast mates ‘were understanding, and they were patient.’

He said: ‘I had to wait until I was pretty safely sober — and away from the active disease of alcoholism and addiction — to write it all down. And the main thing was, I was pretty certain that it would help people’ – pictured in September 2021, (left)

A constant battle, Matthew says: ‘I’m pretty healthy now’. He is choosing not to say how long he has been sober for but is ‘counting each day.’ 

His stomach is covered in scars from his 14 surgeries and said they serve as a reminder to stay sober. 

He said his therapist has told him that he may have to have a colostomy bag for the rest of his life if he takes drugs again, which helps him to avoid relapsing. 

The actor, who checked himself into rehab during his time on Friends once in 1997 and again in 2001.

Matthew famously told the New York Times in 2002, one year after getting sober: ‘When [fame] happens, it’s kind of like Disneyland for a while. 

‘For me it lasted about eight months, this feeling of “I’ve made it, I’m thrilled, there’s no problem in the world”. 

He told the Hollywood Reporter in 2015: ‘I’ve had a lot of ups and downs in my life. I learned a lot from my failures.

‘But the best thing about me is that if an alcoholic comes up to me and says, “Will you help me stop drinking?” I will say, “Yes, I know how to do that.”‘ 

‘And then you realise that it doesn’t accomplish anything, it’s certainly not filling any holes in your life. I didn’t get sober because I felt like it. I got sober because I was worried I was going to die the next day.’

‘It’s no accident that Chandler is a guy who is trying to deter his own human emotional feelings with laughter. That’s what I did for years. I’ve tried to palm myself off as being a jokester, kind of like hanging out with me is kind of like a vacation. But that could only take me so far.’

He did his third stint in rehab in May 2011, when a representative for the star said it was to prevent a relapse.

The latest picture of Matthew: The actor has said he is currently sober but doesn’t want to say how long he has been sober for – only that he ‘counts the days’ – pictured promoting his book in September  

Matthew said in a statement in 2011: ‘I’m making plans to go away for a month to focus on my sobriety and to continue my life in recovery. Please enjoy making fun of me on the World Wide Web.’ 

Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter in 2013, he said: ‘I’ve had a lot of ups and downs in my life and a lot of wonderful accolades. The best thing about me is that if an alcoholic comes up to me and says, “Will you help me stop drinking?” I will say, “Yes. I know how to do that”.’

Addiction left Matthew in a tough state, as he admitted to BBC Radio 2 in 2016.

‘I don’t remember three years of [the show],’ he said. ‘Somewhere between Seasons 3 and 6 … I was a little out of it.

In 2017, A porn star has revealed she fears recovering drug addict Matthew Perry has relapsed after the actor pleaded with her to get him ’40/50′ prescription pills. 

Adult actress Maddy O’Reilly said Perry, a former lover, contacted her two weeks before asking if she knew anyone who could help him ‘purchase some pills’.

When Maddy, then 27, asked the actor what kind, he replied: ‘Vicaden (sic)/Roxy’s/oxys’.

He was referring to Vicodin, Roxicodone and OxyContin. All three are powerful and highly addictive opioid prescription painkillers.

Under the radar: He said in 2016 – left – I don’t remember three years of [the show],’ he said. ‘Somewhere between Seasons 3 and 6 … I was a little out of it.’

In text messages seen by DailyMailTV Maddy asked the desperate actor how much he would be willing to pay for the pills, to which he replied: ‘It depends which one is available. But…a lot.’

Perry’s representatives did not respond to DailyMail.com’s requests for comment at the time.

In an exclusive interview conducted then, Maddy told DailyMailTV: ‘I was shocked, I knew he is a recovering addict but it was coming out of nowhere, why would he ask me something like that, it’s not like we partied or I have a reputation for partying.

‘I was really looking disappointed, it went from us making dinner plans to Matthew asking me for 40 to 50 pills.

‘I was also a little offended and annoyed, people often assume because of what I do for a living that’s how we are.

‘Then it triggered, he just told me he was going through a detox and now he’s asking for 40/50 pills, it was a red flag and I was worried.

‘I am concerned for Matthew’s well-being, we’re having the same drugs problem back home in North Carolina, I’ve seen it destroy many people’s lives. I would really hate to see something bad happen to him.’

In 2021, the cast of Friends reunited on screen for the first time in 17 years after being delayed by a year due to the Covid pandemic.

Friends fans expressed their concern at the time after Matthew appeared to slur his speech in a promo for the special.

The actor stammered and stared in the clip, even slurring together his words at one point.

On the mend: Pictured a year after he had abdominal surgery to repair a gastrointestinal perforation which saw him nearly lose his life and having to use a colostomy bag for nine months 

From Friends superstar to a 30 year battle with addiction: Matthew’s trials and tribulations

1982 –  Matthew revealed he had his first taste of alcohol at the age of 13

1994 –  After spending his post high school years appearing in a string of US sitcoms, Matthew, 24, lands the role of Chandler Bing in Friends, which becomes an instant success. He later told the New York Times of that period: 

‘When [fame] happens, it’s kind of like Disneyland for a while. For me it lasted about eight months, this feeling of “I’ve made it, I’m thrilled, there’s no problem in the world.’ 

‘And then you realise that it doesn’t accomplish anything, it’s certainly not filling any holes in your life.’

1997 – At the peak of his success on the NBC sitcom, Matthew is injured in a jet-ski accident. He is prescribed opioids to cope with the fame, later recalling that he took the prescribed pills without question: ‘I did and I felt better than I ever felt in my entire life. I had a big problem with pills and alcohol, and I couldn’t stop.’

He checked into rehab that same year but said: ‘You can’t have a drug problem for 30 years and then expect to have it solved in 28 days. Getting sober is a really hard thing to do.’

1998 – Despite his rehab stint, the actor continues to battle addiction, revealing ‘I don’t remember three years of [the show]. Somewhere between seasons three and six… I was a little out of it.’ At one point during his Friends career, he is taking 55 Vicodin a day.

2001 – Matt completes another stint in rehab for for addiction to Vicodin, methadone, amphetamines, and alcohol. 

2003 – The TV star is sober for season nine of Friends, when he was nominated for a Best Actor Emmy. 

2004 – Friends wraps after ten seasons 

2007 – He receives Emmy and Golden Globe Award nominations for his critically acclaimed turn in the titular role of TNT movie, The Ron Clark Story.

2011  – The actor enters rehab for a third time, with a representative for the star saying it was to prevent a relapse. The actor says in a statement: ‘I’m making plans to go away for a month to focus on my sobriety and to continue my life in recovery. Please enjoy making fun of me on the World Wide Web.’ 

In his role as a spokesperson for National Association of Drug Court Professionals, Matthew goes to Capitol Hill to lobby members of Congress in support of funding for drug courts.

2013 – He receives a Champion of Recovery award from the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy for opening Perry House, a sober living home situated in his former mansion in Malibu, California

2015 – Matthew sells his Malibu home and shutters the rehab center 

2017 – A porn star reveals she fears Matthew has relapsed after the actor pleaded with her to get him ’40/50′ prescription pills.

2018 – Matthew has abdominal surgery to repair a gastrointestinal perforation. He has now revealed he was given just a two per cent chance of survival after his opioid addiction caused his colon to burst when he was aged 49, leaving him in a coma for two weeks and spending months in hospital.

He has to use a colostomy bag for nine months, and has had 14 surgeries on his stomach in total over the years.

2021 – The cast of Friends reunite on screen for the first time in 17 years. There are concerns after Perry appears to slur his speech in a promo for the reunion special.

Ben Winston, who directed Friends: The Reunion, said of those commenting on Perry’s appearance during the HBO Max special: ‘He was great. People can sometimes just be unkind. I wish they weren’t. 

‘I loved working with him. He’s a brilliantly funny man and I thought he had some great one-liners in the show. I felt just happy and lucky to be in his presence and directing him on something like this.’

2022 – Matthew gives his first tell-all interview in which he details how his drug and alcohol addictions secretly nearly cost him his life.

 

 

 

 

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When asked if he ever took anything from set as a souvenir, he admitted: ‘I stole the cookie jar that had the clock on it’ with a heavy ‘sh’ sound at the start of ‘stole.’ 

Though his speech was stilted, Matthew’s physical appearance was on the healthier side.

His castmates were able to hide any of their concerns, as David and Matt giggled and smiled at the TV star, who played Chandler Bing on the NBC hit.

But fans were quick to voice their worries.

‘Just saw People interview and can’t believe how Matthew Perry looks like… seriously it breaks my heart,’ one fan wrote on Twitter.

‘It pains me to see Matthew Perry like this, he just seems off, gazing at the void, speaking slowly,’ wrote another.

‘Hate to say it, but I’m sad and scared like hell for Matthew Perry,’ a third added. ‘Damn, Matthew Perry in those PEOPLE Friends interviews.’

Concern: In 2021, the cast of Friends reunited on screen for the first time in 17 years – fans expressed their concern at the time after Matthew appeared to slur his speech in a promo for the special

Another tweeted: ‘Just watched @people exclusive interview clip of Friends casts and the time hasn’t been kind. I hope Matthew Perry is okay. Damn how much I love them.’

One wrote: ‘Let’s not use the friends reunion to make fun of the way matthew perry looks these days. people age, funnily enough.

‘Matthew has been through A LOT since friends wrapped up in 2004. be respectful instead of judgmental. hard block me rn if you think making fun of him is funny.’

Ben Winston, who directed Friends: The Reunion, said of those commenting on Perry’s appearance during the HBO Max special: ‘He was great. People can sometimes just be unkind. I wish they weren’t. 

‘I loved working with him. He’s a brilliantly funny man and I thought he had some great one-liners in the show. I felt just happy and lucky to be in his presence and directing him on something like this.’

After having his first taste of alcohol at the age of 13, he continued drinking and was described opioids in 1997 to cope with the pain after suffering a jet ski accident.

Speaking to People in 2013, he recalled taking his prescribed pills without question: ‘I did and I felt better than I ever felt in my entire life. I had a big problem with pills and alcohol, and I couldn’t stop.’

He checked into rehab that same year in 1997, but said: ‘You can’t have a drug problem for 30 years and then expect to have it solved in 28 days. Getting sober is a really hard thing to do.’

Matthew has documented his journey in a memoir, Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing (available Nov. 1), detailing his journey. 

Role: Matthew said the disease has got worse and worse and progressive and he’s got older and noted his Friends cast mates ‘were understanding, and they were patient’ (pictured second from left with the cast) 

From finding fame to drug scandals as fans fear for his health: A look back at Matthew Perry’s off-camera trials and tribulations as he emotionally reunites with his Friends co-stars in TV special 

He famously portrayed Chandler Bing in the classic sitcom Friends for a decade, bowing out from his beloved role when the show ended in 2004.

But while Matthew Perry’s character raised the laughs onscreen, it has been a starkly different – and far more dramatic – life off-screen for the star, whose numerous troughs and peaks have been well documented over the years.

Born in Massachusetts and raised north of the border in Canada’s capital Ottawa, the actor, was the focus of a series of headlines during much of his time on Friends, stemming largely from his hard-fought battle with drug addiction.

Ups and downs: While Friends favourite Matthew Perry has raised the laughs onscreen, it has been a starkly different – and far more dramatic – life off-screen for the star

Back in 1997, when his NBC sitcom was already flying high as a bona fide hit, the star was injured in a jet-ski accident – an already harrowing incident that led to the genesis of a far darker force as he became dependent on powerful painkiller Vicodin.

Perry has been open about his past struggles with addiction, previously telling People things got ‘out of control and very unhealthy’ after the accident.

The screen star, who currently boasts an estimated net worth of $120 million, told People in 2013: ‘I couldn’t stop. Eventually things got so bad that I couldn’t hide it, and then everybody knew.’ 

Emotional reunion: The star was comforted by his Friends co-star Jennifer Aniston has be broke down in tears during the upcoming reunion special

Perry reunited with his Friends co-stars Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, David Schwimmer, and Matt LeBlanc for the hotly-anticipated show reunion, which was shot in April and aired on May 27 via HBO and HBO Max

A teaser from the one-off episode showed Perry being comforted by Aniston as he welled up, before later cutting to scenes of the actor reminiscing about his time on the show.  

In the clip, Perry’s on-screen wife Cox states: ‘It was an incredible time. We became best friends’, to which Perry confesses: ‘Yep, I’m going to cry now.’

Dropping his head down and wrapping his arms around his body, Perry looks solemn as Jennifer leans over to comfort him.

Fame: Perry shot to fame on the iconic show, which followed a group of friends living in New York City. Also pictured are David Schwimmer, Lisa Kudrow, Courteney Cox and Matt LeBlanc

Season six, episode 14 of Friends was entitled The One Where Chandler Can’t Cry and aired back in February 2000. 

When asked if he ever took anything from set as a souvenir, he admitted: ‘I stole the cookie jar that had the clock on it’ with a heavy ‘sh’ sound at the start of ‘stole.’

Though fans were left delighted by the teaser, there were also concerns after Perry appeared to slur his speech in a promo for the upcoming reunion special. 

The actor stammered and stared in the clip, even slurring together his words at one point.

Heartthrob: The star was seen as quite the heartthrob during Friends’ early days on the air. Pictured in 1994 with his recurring co-star Morgan Fairchild

Despite having multi-million dollar net worth, the star’s life mirrored that of countless everyday people around the globe as he grappled with his demons and combated the resulting dramatically fluctuating weight.

He has likely sought solace within the towering walls of the many palatial homes he has snapped up across the palm tree-lined hills of Los Angeles over the years.

Perry’s $1 million-per-episode Friends pay day afforded him a sky-scraping penthouse in the City of Angels, which placed on the market for an eye-watering $27 million over the summer, having dropped the asking price from $35 million.

His luxury property clearance sale also included the screen star bringing his Malibu beach house to market for $14.95 million during the same period.

They’ll be there for you: Perry sparked concern with his slurring on the spcial, but seemed in good spirits as he filmed the reunion alongside his longtime friends and former castmates 

As for where he currently lives? Perry last year purchased himself comparatively humble $6 million cottage in the tony neighbourhood of Pacific Palisades. 

Post-Friends, Perry, the son of American actor and former model John Bennett Perry and Canadian journalist Suzanne Marie Morrison has been able to sustain his lifestyle by keeping himself busy with a slew of projects, to varying degrees of success.

In 2007, he received Emmy and Golden Globe Award nominations for his critically acclaimed turn in the titular role of TNT movie, The Ron Clark Story, about a small-town teacher to relocates to educate the toughest class in the US.

Between 2006 and 2007, he continued to showcase his acting chops when he joined the cast of Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip as Matt Albie, a writer-director character based on the show’s creator and executive producer Aaron Sorkin.

Wow: In 2020, the star put his Malibu beach house on the market for $14.95 million (pictured), while also selling an LA penthouse. He now lives in a $6 million cottage in Pacific Palisades

Other TV and movie roles followed, with the actor also treading the board of London, when he starred in David Mamet’s Sexual Perversity In Chicago in the West End.

However, replicating the success of Friends alluded him: Perry was the focus of much fanfare when it was announced that he was set to portray a middle-aged man going through an identity crisis in the ABC sitcom Mr. Sunshine.

A sign of just how brutal the decision-making is in the revenue-hungry TV landscape, the series was cancelled after just nine episodes in early 2011.

His NBC pilot for Go On failed to fare much better. The show, which saw him portraying a sportscaster trying to move on from the death of his wife, premiered in 2012 but was cancelled the following year at the conclusion of the first season.

Series: Between 2006 and 2007, he continued to showcase his acting chops when he joined the cast of Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip as Matt Albie

Short-lived: Perry portrayed a middle-aged man going through an identity crisis in the ABC sitcom Mr. Sunshine. Debuting in early 2011, the series was cancelled after just nine episodes

Among his many TV roles was also a stint on British TV in the 2014 one-off The Dog Thrower, as well as portraying the late Ted Kennedy in the 2017 miniseries The Kennedys: After Camelot.

Perry last starred in a movie in 2009’s 17 Again opposite Zac Efron. He will next be seen in the comedy Don’t Look Up, which follows the tale of two astronomers, played by Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence, who discover that a giant asteroid that could destroy all life on Earth is cruising toward the planet. 

The film boasts an absolutely stacked cast including Cate Blanchett, Timothée Chalamet, Ariana Grande, Kid Cudi, Tyler Perry, Melanie Lynskey and Chris Evans, among others, and is expected to be released later this year.

It comes after Perry was embarrassed after a match from the dating app Raya leaked a video message sent by the star.

Could this BE more embarrassing? The engaged Friends star was outed for sending a girl, 19, cringe-worthy messages after matching on celeb dating app Raya

The Friends actor allegedly asked the 19-year-old girl, ‘Am I as old as your dad?’ during a flirty exchange that was leaked earlier this month. 

Perry, who is currently engaged to fiancée Molly Hurwitz, 29, can be seen in a video posted on Thursday flirting with TikTok user @kittynichole – real name Kate Haralson – who claims they matched on the membership-only dating service in May last year.

Haralson, now 20, shared the footage of herself with the caption: ‘When you match w Matthew Perry as a joke on a dating app and he facetimes you and plays 20 questions with you.’

In the 16-second video, Perry is seen smiling as he asks his potential date, ‘Do you always play with your hair this much?’ to which she responds, giggling: ‘I guess so.’ 

Now THIS is a match: Perry got engaged to fiancée Molly Hurwitz in November 2020, having started dating in 2018 (but they split in June 2021)

Haralson, a personal assistant who says she was 19 when Perry first contacted her, told PageSix on Thursday that she wanted to show how older men in Hollywood are ‘taking advantage’ of younger women on dating apps. 

‘A lot of people were saying I’m a bully and mean for posting this, and it made me feel kind of bad, but at the same time, I feel like a lot of guys in Hollywood are talking to all these young girls and it’s something that I think a lot of people should be aware of,’ she told the outlet.

Haralson claims the FaceTime exchange happened in May 2020, which is when Perry is said to have briefly split with his current fiancée Hurwitz, who he had been dating since 2018.

They split for good in June 2021. 

The Los Angeles-based PA said she had matched with other celebrities before but wouldn’t ‘ever talk to older guys’ though she thought talking to the Friends actor ‘would be funny.’ 

Ex: Perry dated Oscar winner Julia Roberts from 1995 to 1996 (pictured on the set of Friends)

The exchange was believed to have been filmed six months before he announced his engagement to literary manager Hurwitz.  

‘I decided to get engaged,’ the TV icon announced in People magazine on Thanksgiving after proposing. ‘Luckily, I happened to be dating the greatest woman on the face of the planet at this time.’

This would have marked the first marriage for Perry, who is famous for playing loveable and sarcastic Chandler Bing in Friends. However, he has had several highly publicized romances with notable names.

Perry briefly dated Baywatch star Yasmine Bleeth in 1995 and then moved on to Oscar winner Julia Roberts from 1995 to 1996. He has also dated Neve Campbell, Heather Graham and Maeve Quinlan. 

His longest relationship was with actress Lizzy Caplan from 2006 until 2012.  

Exes; Matthew and Scream star Neve Campbell struck up a romance on the Three To Tango set in 1998 (pictured left that year) while Matthew and former fashion student Rachel Dunn had a 14 year age gap but dated for two years from 2003-2005 (pictured right 2004)

Perry was also engaged to Kayti Edwards, who previously claimed he had her score drugs for him while she was pregnant – during their brief romantic relationship in the early Noughties.

In December last year, Kayti alleged in The Sun that when he was in the depths of his addiction he would take 80 Vicodin in one day.

She claimed that in 2011 when their relationship was platonic and she was five months pregnant he would pay her thousands of dollars to procure drugs for him.

Kayti alleged that he would ‘guilt trip’ her into going on the drug runs by offering to ‘go there myself and walk downtown,’ prompting her to pick up the slack instead in order to prevent him ‘driving’ or ‘wandering around the streets.’

However she also praised him as ‘funny’ and ‘easy-going,’ expressing her joy that he has gone on the wagon and settled down with Molly. 

Romance: Before meeting Molly, his longest relationship was with actress Lizzy Caplan from 2006 until 2012. Pictured together in September 2011

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Lafarge pleads guilty to supporting Islamic State, will pay U.S. $778 million

NEW YORK, Oct 18 (Reuters) – French cement maker Lafarge pleaded guilty on Tuesday to a U.S. charge that it made payments to groups designated as terrorists by the United States, including Islamic State.

The admission in Brooklyn federal court marked the first time a company has pleaded guilty in the United States to charges of providing material support to a terrorist organization. Lafarge, which became part of Swiss-listed Holcim (HOLN.S) in 2015, agreed to pay $778 million in forfeiture and fines as part of the plea agreement.

U.S. prosecutors said that Lafarge paid Islamic State and al Nusra Front, through intermediaries, the equivalent of approximately $5.92 million.

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Lafarge is also facing charges of complicity in crimes against humanity in Paris for keeping a factory running in Syria after a conflict broke out in 2011.

Lafarge eventually evacuated the cement plant in September 2014, U.S. prosecutors said. At that point, Islamic State took possession of the remaining cement and sold it for the equivalent of $3.21 million, prosecutors said.

U.S. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said on Tuesday during a news conference that the company’s actions “reflect corporate crime that has reached a new low and a very dark place.”

“Business with terrorists cannot be business as usual,” Monaco added.

The cement maker previously admitted after an internal investigation that its Syrian subsidiary paid armed groups to help protect staff at the plant. But it had denied charges that it was complicit in crimes against humanity.

Lafarge Chair Magali Anderson said in court on Tuesday that from August 2013 until November 2014 former executives of the company “knowingly and willfully agreed to participate in a conspiracy to make and authorize payments intended for the benefit of various armed groups in Syria.”

“The individuals responsible for this conduct have been separated from the company since at least 2017,” she said.

Monaco said that French authorities have arrested some of the executives involved but did not provide names. Court records refer to six unnamed Lafarge executives.

In a statement, Holcim noted that none of the conduct involved Holcim, “which has never operated in Syria, or any Lafarge operations or employees in the United States, and it is in stark contrast with everything that Holcim stands for.”

Holcim said that former Lafarge executives involved in the conduct concealed it from Holcim, as well as from external auditors.

The SIX Swiss Exchange suspended trading in Holcim shares before the news.

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Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York and Karen Freifeld;
Editing by Noeleen Walder and Lisa Shumaker

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Luc Cohen

Thomson Reuters

Reports on the New York federal courts. Previously worked as a correspondent in Venezuela and Argentina.

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Woman, 22, dies after falling into coma while in custody of Iran’s morality police

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has ordered an investigation into the circumstances surrounding her death, Iranian state news agency ISNA reported on Friday.

On Tuesday evening, Mahsa Amini and her family, who had traveled from Iran’s Kurdistan region to visit relatives in the capital, Tehran, were stopped by a patrol of morality police — a dedicated unit that enforces strict dress codes for women, such as wearing the compulsory headscarf.

According to IranWire, human rights activists who have spoken to the family say the police grabbed Amini and forced her inside a police vehicle.

Her brother, Kiarash, attempted to intervene and was told his sister was being taken to the police station for one hour of “re-education,” IranWire reported.

Kiarash said he never saw his sister awake again.

While he was waiting outside the police station for her to be released, an ambulance pulled up and discreetly took his sister to the hospital.

In an interview with IranWire, Kiarash said he was told she had suffered a heart attack or a stroke while in the police station and that she was in a coma.

On Thursday, Tehran police said that Amini had suffered a “heart attack” following her arrest on Tuesday.

“The woman was sent to a Greater Tehran police precinct for guidance and education when suddenly, in the presence of other people, she had a heart attack,” the police said.

Amini’s family have questioned the version of events given by police, saying she was a normal, healthy 22-year-old with no pre-existing heart conditions.

“There were only two hours between her arrest and being taken to hospital,” Kiarash told IranWire.

A video released by Iranian state TV purported to show Amini walking into a “education” center where she would have been receiving “guidance” on proper Islamic attire, state media said.

The edited video shows CCTV footage of a woman taking a seat, then standing up to speak to an “expert” who touches her clothing, before she collapses onto the ground.

The following clip shows five men carrying her on a stretcher, apparently unconscious. An ambulance is then shown in another frame.

There’s an edit in the video at 19 seconds, after which the woman is seen standing up and speaking. Before the cut, it appears to be daylight outside. After the cut, it appears dark.

“Ms. Amini looks unwell and falls to the floor,” the state media reporter says.

It remains unknown what happened to Amini after her arrest and before she appeared at the re-education center. CNN is not able to verify that the woman in the video is Amini.

Jake Sullivan, National Security Adviser to US President Joe Biden, said in a tweet Friday the White House is deeply concerned about Amini’s death.

Amini, “was reportedly beaten in custody by Iran’s morality police. Her death is unforgivable. We will continue to hold Iranian officials accountable for such human right abuses,” Sullivan tweeted.

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