Joe Swash is set to appear in a St Albans pantomime over the festive season, a move that could see him and wife Stacey Solomon spending much of Christmas apart.The EastEnders alum will star in Beauty and the Beast at the Alban Arena from December 4 until January 3.Although he is not scheduled to work on Christmas Day, it is unclear whether he will commute to their Essex home during the...

Richard Osman surprised his then-girlfriend Ingrid Oliver by revealing he had never watched a number of famous films, a confession that left her visibly taken aback.Osman, best known for his TV work from writing days on shows like Whose Line Is It Anyway? to presenting Pointless and Richard Osman’s House of Games, met actor-comedian Ingrid while she appeared on his quiz show. On the podcast...

A journalist has told a royal podcast that he apologised to Prince Harry after a tense exchange stemming from leaked footage in which the prince used a racial slur at Sandhurst.The 2009 clip showed Harry addressing fellow cadet Ahmed Raza Khan with a highly offensive term directed at people of South Asian background.The footage caused a major backlash at the time and has remained a sensitive...

A Miami mother who tried to arrange the killing of her three-year-old son was sentenced without immediate jail time after pleading guilty to charges linked to the plot.Twenty-year-old Jazmin Paez contacted a website that presents itself as a hitman-for-hire and supplied photos and a precise location for the child, prompting the site operator to alert law enforcement.The site, which is intended as...

A court in Chelyabinsk has ordered an Oscar-winning documentary to be taken down from three online video services, saying the film promotes extremism and terrorism.The documentary, a Danish–Czech production that picked up both an Oscar and a BAFTA in 2026, chronicles how a Russian school became a site of pro-war indoctrination after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.The footage was shot by Pavel...

UK health authorities have issued a travel alert ahead of the Easter and spring holiday period, urging travellers to protect themselves from mosquito-borne illnesses.Although dengue infections have eased, health officials say chikungunya cases among people returning to the UK have reached their highest level in more than a decade, and malaria remains common in travellers.Chikungunya typically...

A Los Angeles jury has found Instagram and YouTube deliberately designed to be addictive and negligent in protecting a young user, awarding $6m (about £4.5m) to the plaintiff known as Kaley.The woman told the court the platforms left her with body dysmorphia, depression and suicidal thoughts.Meta and Google say they will appeal — Meta argues a single app cannot be held solely responsible for a...

Russia carried out an unprecedented drone offensive against Ukraine, firing 948 unmanned aircraft over a single 24‑hour period, Ukrainian authorities said.The country's Air Force reported 556 drones were launched from 09:00 local time in a rare daytime wave of strikes that struck cities across Ukraine.Officials said many machines were intercepted, but several made direct hits that caused deaths...

A Los Angeles jury has ruled that Meta and Google are responsible for harm suffered by a young woman who says she became addicted to social media as a child.Jurors apportioned blame between the companies, assigning 70% of the responsibility to Meta and 30% to YouTube.The decision follows roughly five weeks of testimony and evidence. The plaintiff, identified only as Kaley, argued that platform...

Two years after Dutch schools removed smartphones from the school day, teachers and education officials are reporting calmer corridors and sharper attention in class.Devices including phones, smartwatches and tablets are now kept out of classrooms, hallways and cafeterias across the country as part of a nationwide agreement reached with schools, parents and teachers rather than through new...