81 minutes ago ‘Young women can fall pregnant very easily’: inside the wild west of smartphone fertility apps

Observer analysis finds unregulated products being promoted as contraception despite concerns about their accuracy Apps promising to help women “take control” of their sex lives by predicting the days when they are fertile are putting users at risk of unplanned pregnancy by making misleading claims.Millions of women in the UK – including 69% of 18-24-year-olds – have used smartphone apps that track their periods. Many also tell them their “fertile window”: the days when they are most and least likely to get pregnant. Continue reading...

Politics

17 hours ago Insiders say she's drunk on power and ideological zeal. But I can reveal that Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson is preparing to get tough with the teaching unions

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson's merciless assault on the school system was deemed so destructive Tory shadow minister Laura Trott branded her 'our very own Miley Cyrus'.

Society

2 hours ago Exposed: The legal loophole that lets banks 'fleece' fraud victims... and why it could cost YOU thousands of pounds

EXCLUSIVE: Under guidelines devised by the ombudsman and seized upon by banking groups, Brits who use their card in a hacked machine have 'consented' to the fraudulent transaction.

Economics

74 minutes ago Operation Branchform: Nicola Sturgeon's husband Peter Murrell banned from selling property

The inhibition means Peter Murrell is banned from selling property or taking out loans on any homes.

Events

14 hours ago Bar which offered Manchester music legends, local bands and free condoms for punters closes with 'one last knees up'

Amp opened in 2023 and promised to champion local bands - it is closing down

Culture

18 hours ago Horrified fans slam TikTok influencers admitting they've been lying about content just one day before ban

Many content creators took the opportunity - before losing their livelihoods when the TikTok ban comes into effect - to reveal their most popular videos had always been fake.

Technology

1 hour ago TikTok vanishes in US as ban takes effect and Trump hints at possible reprieve

President-elect says he will consider putting app back on market to ease America’s relations with China

Politics

25 hours ago Record number of teachers handed classroom bans in the last year over sleeping with pupils, inappropriate WhatsApps and drinking on the job

The damning cases saw educators accused of bombarding students with explicit messages, pursuing inappropriate relationships, and failing in their duty to protect children.

Society

4 hours ago Save £40 on Armani Si Passione perfume ahead of Valentine’s Day in flash sale

With Valentine's Day fast approaching, why not snag your partner's favourite fragrance or a stunning new scent from a luxury brand without breaking the bank, thanks to this flash sale

Economics

98 minutes ago Sex offender Stephen Bear boasts 'the police can't catch me now' in video from Brazil beach with his 18

The convicted sex offender was freed from HMP Brixton last January after serving half of his 21-month sentence for sharing a sex tape of his Love Island ex-girlfriend Georgia Harrison .

Events

22 hours ago Love Island's Montana Brown announces early arrival of baby girl and shares first family photo

Love Island star Montana Brown has given birth to her second child with fiancé Mark O'Connor - a baby girl - and shared the first adorable snap of her with her big brother Jude

Culture

2 hours ago GK Barry reveals her marriage and baby plans with footballer girlfriend Ella Rutherford as she shares she was 'scared to date a woman' before they got together

The I'm A Celebrity star, 25, was rumoured to be dating the Ipswich Town player, 24, long before the couple confirmed their relationship publicly in August.

Politics

26 hours ago Poppy Delevingne is pregnant! Model, 38, is expecting her first child with billionaire businessman Archie Keswick: 'It's all I ever wanted'

The model, 38, is expecting a baby girl with her billionaire businessman partner Archie Keswick, 44, and said becoming a mother is 'all I ever wanted'.

Society

5 hours ago Boss of AI firm says Scottish councils could save frontline services from the axe by embracing technology

Expert urges authorities to consider ‘third way’ instead of slashing services or raising charges

Economics

1 hour ago SNL pokes fun at typical TikTok user’s reaction to app being banned in US

‘I don’t remember how to live without it,’ comedian Michael Longfellow quipped

Events

2 hours ago Pictured: The angelic faced schoolgirl who led baying teen mob to stab transgender girl nine times for lying about her gender

Summer Betts-Ramsey, 20, was sentenced to four-and-a-half years in a Young Offender Institution plus another four years on licence this week after she repeatedly stabbed her victim in London.

Politics

8 hours ago Bank of England interest rate cuts and how you may be affected amid inflation change

This week has seen inflation figures drop, changing many economists' outlook on future interest rate changes

Economics

1 hour ago Man suspected to be Bangladeshi migrant arrested for Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan’s stabbing

Police reportedly found him hiding in a dense mangrove on outskirts of Mumbai

Events

3 hours ago The Westminster whistleblower: how my friend Sergei tried to expose the Kremlin plot against Britain

Russian-born UK citizen and Tory party activist Sergei Cristo fought to make MI5 sit up and take notice of the Russian political interference operation now threatening democracy in Britain – and around the worldIn the dark days of the spring in 2022, as Russian troops terrorised Bucha and every day brought shocking new scenes of Ukrainians fleeing for their lives, I rang an old acquaintance, Sergei Cristo. Cristo is a Russian-born British citizen and I prepared for what I suspected might be a long conversation: he is a talker. He was born in Rostov-on-Don in southern Russia, but he moved to Britain when he was 19 and it’s fair to say we’re not the most obvious of allies. He loves the royal family and is a passionate Conservative party activist. He used to be on the committee of a donor club for young Conservatives, “and then I became vice-chairman, I knew the cabinet, I knew the leader, everybody”.He’s not kidding. He has photos of himself with everyone from Margaret Thatcher to Bor...

Politics

11 hours ago Benefit fraudsters will have cash seized from bank accounts under new crackdown

New planned powers will mean that money can be reclaimed from people who have committed fraud and are not on benefits or PAYE

Economics

2 hours ago KSI fires savage barb at Wayne Bridge about John Terry and ex girlfriend in explosive boxing face

KSI and Bridge faced off in the ring after it was announced the pair would fight in March

Events

3 hours ago Is baldness a thing of the past? Or will it grow on us again? | Eva Wiseman

As hair-loss treatments improve, one wonders if we’ll start to get nostalgic for a good comboverIt is with mixed emotions that I announce the end of baldness. Rest in pates, old friend. This year will see the very last generation of men who, having arrived at the threshold of their 30s, are forced to accept the loss of their hair, with all their future sons and grandsons nipping instead to Turkey for a little implant and some kofta. Gone today, hair tomorrow.It’s true, look around. Compared with the Sean Connerys and Bruce Willises of yore, the number of bald celebrities on screen today can be counted on a single fist. The surgical technology has evolved, the transplants have become more accessible, the preventative drugs have improved, the death of bald is nigh. Like combovers, the hair plugs bring their own acts of faith of course, with hairlines so straight and thick it appears sometimes as if they are creeping down the face at night like a mask – every time I see one on telly I’...

Politics

12 hours ago Kemi Badenoch's means testing plan puts income of 11 million pensioners at risk

The Tory leader said on Thursday that her party would look at ways to reduce the pension bill by removing benefits from some elderly people

Economics

2 hours ago Bumbling Met Police close investigation into protester carrying sign glorifying dead Hamas leader because they can't find her... despite TALKING to her during demonstration

The female protester was photographed being pulled aside by police after she was spotted carrying a piece of wood with the words 'Sinwar stick' written on one side and 'Spirit of Resistance' on the other .

Events

2 hours ago Australian Open 2025: Draper succumbs; Gauff and Sabalenka advance, Zverev races to early lead – live

Updates from Day 8 of tennis at Melbourne ParkSabalenka, Gauff, Badosa, Pavlyuchenkova into women’s quarter-finalsAlcaraz and Paul advance in men’s singles; Zverev following fastThree break point opportunities and four deuces later, Mirra Andreeva has failed in her first genuine chance to break Aryna Sabalenka. Again, despite the teenager returning with precision, she’s undone by the guile of her older rival, a drop shot sealing it.Sabalenka retains the break advantage and now leads this match 6-1, 4-2. Continue reading...

Events

4 hours ago His good guy feminist stance makes Neil Gaiman’s fall from grace all the more ignoble | Catherine Bennett

Allegations of sexual misconduct are proving hard for fans and friends of the ‘geek royalty’ author to process Perhaps uniquely in the history of #MeToo, the women now alleging sexual misconduct on the part of the fantasy writer Neil Gaiman would appear to have their alleged perpetrator’s full support. Back when this movement seemed full of potential, in 2018, Gaiman urged the public to believe women like Christine Blasey Ford, whose allegations of sexual assault by Brett Kavanaugh were then being trashed.“On a day like today it’s worth saying,” Gaiman wrote. “I believe survivors. Men must not close our eyes and minds to what happens to women in this world.” Continue reading...

Politics

3 hours ago ‘Animals can feel good and evil’: film puts new perspective on Ukraine war

Collection of seven shorts due out in 2025 tells story of conflict from perspective of animalsThe occupying Russian soldiers paid little attention to the elderly woman shuffling through the farmland surrounding the villages outside Kyiv, taking her goat to pasture. But she was focused closely on them. After locating their positions, she headed back home with the goat, and later called her grandson, a soldier in the Ukrainian army, to give the coordinates.The story is one of seven episodes, based on real events from the first year of Russia’s full-scale invasion but lightly fictionalised, that make up a feature film about the war in Ukraine, due out later this year. All seven of the shorts have one thing in common: they tell the story of the conflict from the perspective of animals. Continue reading...

Events

5 hours ago TikTok ban latest: App goes dark with ‘temporarily unavailable’ message but hopes Trump will save it

TikTok posts message saying the incoming president, who will be sworn in on Monday, could help the app get up and running again

Politics

3 hours ago Paul Mescal, girlfriend Grace Abrams may split after dramatic dinner in London

Paul Mescal, girlfriend Grace Abrams may split after dramatic dinner in London  TOI Etimes

Events

5 hours ago Dundee Utd making Will Ferry feel like a 'proper' footballer after sliding doors moment on different path to Bundesliga pal

The irishman was relegated with Cheltenham just as Nathan Tella was lifting the German title with Bayer Leverkusen

Politics

3 hours ago It was dubbed the 'Prison for the 21st Century', within days it exploded in an 'orgy of violence'

Just days after the Royal opening of Forest Bank Prison dozens of hooded inmates lit fires and barricaded themselves in their wing during a seven hour riot

Events

5 hours ago Coco Gauff writes ‘RIP TikTok USA’ on TV camera at Australian Open as app goes offline

Tennis star was mourning the loss of the popular app back home

Politics

4 hours ago ‘Stuff happens and it sucks’: Brooke Shields on abuse, ageing and telling her own story

Brooke Shields, sexualised child star at just 11, is no stranger to tabloid controversy. Now 59, perhaps now she can tell us how she ended up so normal?Brooke Shields was at a party, drifting off. The host, a small man with bare feet, was giving her a tour of his wine cellar and she was losing interest, if she’s being honest – which she is now as a matter of principle, after a lifetime of smiling politely and pretending everything’s fine. Her mind was wandering. They say wine gets better with age, she was thinking, “but isn’t there a moment when it turns to jam? And I said to him, ‘I’m 58 and I’m wondering if ’ I didn’t even get the rest of the sentence out before he said, ‘Oh, I wish you hadn’t told me that.’”That’s curious, she replied. “I asked him, ‘Did my age make him older?’ I was interested in the psychology of it, that kneejerk reaction.” It was partly, she thinks, her fame – people imprint on a child star, and when they grow up they take it personally. “It felt so indicativ...

Events

6 hours ago TikTok officially goes dark... but the banned app says 'please stay tuned' for Trump intervention

TikTok, the viral social media platform where billions created and shared short videos, has officially gone dark for US users on Saturday evening.

Politics

5 hours ago Eve Myles: ‘For The Crow Girl, I watched every 24 Hours in Police Custody ever made’

Louis Chilton speaks to the star of ‘Torchwood’ about her dark new Paramount+ series, which follows the hunt for a sadistic killer on the streets of Bristol

Events

6 hours ago TikTok goes dark 90 minutes before deadline but posts message suggesting Trump could save it

The move comes a day after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a law barring it for U.S. users

Politics

5 hours ago Second suspect arrested over 'kidnapping' of girl, 14, who 'endured 26 days of hell locked in boat'

There's been an update in the kidnapping of a 14-year-old Long Island girl who endured '26 days of hell' locked in a boat in Islip before her hero's dad rescue last week.

Events

7 hours ago TikTok ban live: App goes offline with message saying it’s ‘temporarily unavailable’ but suggests Trump could save it

TikTok posts message saying the incoming president, who will be sworn in on Monday, could help the app get up and running again

Politics

7 hours ago Major update in kidnapping of girl, 14, who endured '26 days of hell' locked in boat before hero dad's rescue

There's been an update in the kidnapping of a 14-year-old Long Island girl who endured '26 days of hell' locked in a boat in Islip before her hero's dad rescue last week.

Events

8 hours ago What time will TikTok go dark? Everything to know about the ban and what could happen next if it goes down

The clock is ticking towards a U.S. ban on TikTok, but users seeking clarity on what that will mean got little information on Saturday from the company that runs the popular video platform.

Politics

8 hours ago Sausage rolls trigger crisis for Brit bosses with wild 'food poisoning' claims

EXCLUSIVE: From tin opening injuries from food poisoning to dirty snags, sausages top the list of reasons why employees bunk off work - with number of banger-related days off growing

Events

8 hours ago There's no way back for me on Strictly, heartbroken Giovanni tells KATIE HIND, as he opens up on his romance with an older woman, and reveals his sweet message to British fans...

For so long, his smile was replaced by a furrowed brow. Now, Giovanni Pernice's famous beam is back. At last, as the Strictly star reveals to me in this exclusive interview, his life is back on the up.

Politics

8 hours ago SARAH VINE: Bonnie Blue's sex marathon with 1,000 men in 12 hours is not just some internet freak show. It puts ALL girls and women at risk

Put bluntly, OnlyFans culture is destroying women. The site has attracted many who might not otherwise have turned to sex work as an option, lured by a 'safe', controlled environment.

Events

10 hours ago Special effects expert who staged crazy bank heist... straight out of one of his movies

Gary Robert Hill stormed into the Arab National Bank in Mayfair last summer with an imitation firearm after he hit financial hardship when he was forced out of his job in special effects

Politics

8 hours ago Labour in gagging row over Commons chief who urged Rachel Reeves to speak up for democracy campaigner jailed in Hong Kong

Ms Ghani is understood to have been ticked off by her boss, Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle , and reminded of the convention that, as his deputy, she must avoid major public political interventions.

Events

10 hours ago Chrystia Freeland’s campaign to lead Canada starts with humblebrag: ‘Trump doesn’t like me’

Former deputy prime minister kicks off run for top job with video of Trump disparaging her for being tough negotiatorChrystia Freeland, Canada’s former deputy prime minister, kicked off her bid to lead Canada by boasting: “Donald Trump doesn’t like me very much” in a campaign video that quickly went viral.For Freeland, who led Canada’s re-negotiation of the North American Free Trade agreement (Nafta) with the United States and Mexico during Trump’s first term, video of Trump disparaging her for being a tough negotiator is a selling point. Continue reading...

Politics

9 hours ago Secret diary of Hitler's English girlfriend sheds new light on dictator's life

Adolf Hitler's English girlfriend Unity Mitford kept a secret diary which is set to shed more light on the life of the Nazi dictator - and his relationships with women

Events

10 hours ago Huge rise in pupils given extra time for exams to help soaring numbers of children with special educational needs

Around 420,000 pupils are being given additional time to finish exam papers, four times as many as a decade ago, according to Ofqual, the exam regulator.

Politics

11 hours ago Supper to be held celebrating the lives of Jean Armour and other women in Robert Burns' life

The first Jean Armour Supper will be held to celebrate the women in Robert Burns life at Burns Cottage in Alloway - the venue for the first Burns Supper in 1801

Events

10 hours ago Henry Cavill and Natalie Viscuso spark engagement rumours after quietly welcoming first child

Superman actor Henry Cavill and his Hollywood executive girlfriend Natalie Viscuso appear to have a double reason to celebrate after she seen pushing a stroller and sporting a diamond ring

Politics

11 hours ago Man charged with attempted murder after allegedly setting woman on fire at home south of Brisbane

Woman, 34, in hospital after alleged domestic violence incident in Kingston on SaturdayGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastA Queensland man has been charged with attempted murder for allegedly setting fire to a woman in a horrific act of domestic violence in a home south of Brisbane.After being treated by paramedics at the scene in the Logan suburb of Kingston on Saturday morning, the 34-year-old woman was rushed to the Royal Brisbane and Women’s hospital in a serious condition. Police say she sustained serious burns.Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email Continue reading...

Events