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Driven to distraction: the impact of phone addiction in UK secondary schools

Secondary school teacher James Allsopp, 22 from Retford, has noticed the influence phones are having. He said: “I know students that have used them to cheat in assessments, so they’ve gotten grade 7s, but then when completing actual mock exams they’ve got grade 1s, which massively messes up grade tracking for that student.” Andrew Cook, 29 from Wakefield, also teaches at a secondary school. He believes phones have impacted his students’ academic performance, with it being “noticeable when it c
Sheffield Wire •

“I wish I had alternatives”: why young women are shunning hormonal birth control

When Florence Gibbs-Price started taking the contraceptive pill, she didn’t have any concerns, but in the six months that followed, she began to experience “extreme” side effects. The 23-year-old content creator says: “I was a happy person with no previous mental health problems, but I began experiencing massive depressive episodes and mood swings that weren’t normal for me.” As soon as she stopped taking the pill, she began to feel much better, and now says: “My emotions and hormones feel mor
Sheffield Wire •

New female film club helping tackle loneliness in Sheffield

A new club in Sheffield is helping to tackle loneliness by hosting events for women to watch films together and meet new people. The club, named ‘Film Girls Galore’, was set up in January this year by Tasha Jagger, a freelance film journalist and civil servant. Working in collaboration with Showroom Cinema in Sheffield, the club has so far hosted two events, with the next screening on 28 April. Miss Jagger said the response to her initial tweet, asking if people would be interested, was “amaz
The Independent •

Jon Richardson and Lucy Beaumont announce divorce after nine years

Comedians Jon Richardson and Lucy Beaumont have announced they are divorcing after nine years of marriage. The couple, who have a daughter together, shared a joint statement saying they had “amicably made the difficult decision to divorce”. They asked for their privacy to be respected “at this sensitive time”, and said they would be making no further comment. The statement read: “We have jointly and amicably made the difficult decision to divorce and go our separate ways. “As our only priori
The Independent •

Come Dine with Me ‘legend’ Indy Nijjar dies aged 50

Memorable Come Dine With Me contestant Indy Nijjar has died aged 50. The fitness coach and tattoo artist, from Grimsby, Lincolnshire, was described by friends and family on social media as a “legend”, with another calling Nijjar “one of the strongest men I know”. Starring on the Channel 4 show back in 2011, Nijjar hosted a memorable summer-themed dinner party, where he asked his guests to dress in swimwear. He fetched his shopping on a quad bike and served a meal of asparagus and ham toad in
The Independent •

Olivia Rodrigo hit with flowers thrown by fan on GUTS world tour

An Olivia Rodrigo fan has sparked backlash after hitting the singer-songwriter in the head with flowers after she failed to acknowledge them during a recent stop on her world tour. Recording of the incident, which took place before her final Madison Square Garden performance in New York, captures the moment the popstar greeted fans inside the venue before posing for photographs and accepting gifts including friendship bracelets and cowboy hats. One concertgoer can be seen attempting to hand Ro
The Independent •

Heroes set to return as original creator ‘signs onto project’

A new series of superhero drama Heroes is rumoured to be in the works, with creator Tim Kring returning to create Heroes: Eclipsed. The original show aired from 2006 to 2010 and starred Milo Ventimiglia as Peter Petrelli, alongside Hayden Panettiere as Claire Bennet. The series featured people with superhuman abilities and followed them as they worked together to prevent catastrophic futures. Initially, Kring planned the series to have an ever-shifting cast, but this changed when he saw how p
The Independent •

Superhero fans praise Marvel’s ‘best release in years’

Superhero fans have praised new series X-Men ’97, with critics calling the series ”Marvel’s best release in years”. Viewers have been flocking to social media to praise the series, with the latest episode being branded “the most amazing episode of anything I’ve ever watched”. The acclaim comes following a series of disappointments for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with 2023 film The Marvels, starring Brie Larson and Teyonah Parris, becoming the lowest-grossing film in the MCU after underperfo
The Independent •

Anya Taylor-Joy says she acted like spy during secret wedding

Anya Taylor-Joy has joked that she and her husband acted like spies when they planned their top-secret wedding. Earlier this month, the Queen’s Gambit actor revealed she and musician Malcolm McRae had tied the knot in a secret ceremony in New Orleans in April 2022. She said: “We did our research, we were like pretty spy-orientated”, adding that the intimate nature of their nuptials “made it all the more special because it just felt like a secret that we got to keep to ourselves.” Speaking to
The Independent •

Oliver Hudson says he was unfaithful to wife before wedding but ‘never got caught’

Oliver Hudson has confessed to cheating on his wife, Erinn Bartlett, before their wedding in 2006. The Rules of Engagement actor admitted he had been unfaithful after they became engaged, saying he “never got caught” but chose to confess to his bride-to-be before their big day. “When I got engaged, something happened psychologically, and I spiralled, and I was unfaithful, and I was cheating, and I was crazy”, the American actor told Robyn Lively on an episode of his podcast Sibling Revelry, wh
The Independent •

Catherine O'Hara has a stern message for people who dislike Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

Catherine O’Hara has said if people don’t like Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, ‘then f*** them’, at an appearance at CinemaCon. The Schitt’s Creek actor, who is returning to star as Delia Deetz in the upcoming sequel to the 1988 cult classic Beetlejuice, said the film will have plenty of scary and funny moments, “and if people don’t like it, then f--- them.” Also appearing at the event in Las Vegas was director Tim Burton, alongside Michael Keaton, Justin Theroux, Monica Bellucci, and Willem Dafoe.
The Independent •

Grayson Perry says ‘art is medicine for our deeper selves’ ahead of charity auction

Grayson Perry has called art a “medicine for our deeper selves” as he donated works for auction in aid of a children’s therapy charity The Turner prize winner, whose work will be sold at Sotheby’s to support AT The Bus, said: “Art can reach parts of us that are inaccessible to other ways of communication. “Art is medicine for our deeper selves. What better way to provide health-giving opportunities than for art as therapy to come to you in a bus?” The exhibition, which includes over 30 works
The Independent •

Mark Knopfler on why chances of Dire Straits reunion are so far away

Dire Straits frontman Mark Knopfler has said it’s unlikely he would ever play as part of the group again. Knopfler said he wouldn’t play with the band again as he wanted to “expand and work with different players and have a bigger line-up”, despite loving his time on the road. “The last time I had the band in, and that’s the high point for me, I would probably have had about six or seven guys. Bigger than the little four-piece that was stripped down when we had it, and that was great, I loved
The Independent •

Tom Holland urged to speak out on racial abuse against Romeo and Juliet co-star

Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story actor Arséma Thomas has urged Tom Holland to speak out in support of his Romeo and Juliet co-star Frances Amewudah-Rivers after a “barrage of deplorable racial abuse” was directed to her online. Black British actor Amewudah-Rivers has been cast as Juliet alongside Holland’s Romeo in director Jamie Lloyd’s upcoming production of Shakespeare’s tragic love story Romeo and Juliet. Following the announcement of Amewudah-Rivers’s casting, some social media users h
The Independent •

Nicola Coughlan says she has ‘disbelief’ over starring role in Bridgerton

Nicola Coughlan has revealed that she’s in “disbelief” at being the “leading lady in a romance show”, ahead of season three of Bridgerton – saying people assume she finds herself “hideous.” Coughlan’s character Penelope Featherington has appeared as a supporting character in the first two seasons of the hit historical romance series but will take centre stage this summer, with Penelope exploring her love story with Colin Bridgerton, portrayed by Luke Newton. In an interview with Harper’s Bazaa
The Independent •

Michael Palin tells David Attenborough where he found snails ‘the size of steaks’

His adventures have taken him from the depths of the Sahara to the heights of the Himalayas. Travelling the world, he has produced dozens of documentaries and seen far-flung corners of the globe that exist solely in most people’s imaginations. Along the way, Michael Palin has seen all manner of weird and wonderful creatures including one to shock even the most experienced globetrotter. The Monty Python star said on his journeys through Nigeria that he encountered snails “as big as steaks”. So
The Independent •

Real-life Newsnight producer reveals initial reaction to Prince Andrew interview

The producer who secured the now infamous Newsnight interview with the Duke of York has said it was “hard to keep a poker face” while he was speaking. New Netflix film Scoop tells the story of how Sam McAlister arranged the controversial interview with journalist Emily Maitlis, in which Prince Andrew discussed his friendship with the convicted sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein. The interview, which aired in November 2019, featured the astonishing moment Andrew was forced to deny he’d had sex with
The Independent •

Antony Gormley calls Brexit ‘the biggest act of self-harm’

Sir Antony Gormley has called Brexit the “biggest act of self-harm this country has ever played on itself” in a withering condemnation of the UK’s decision to leave the European Union. The acclaimed artist took aim at the Conservatives for trying to destroy the “creative, collective project” which found a way of putting “Europe back together after two devastating world wars”, ahead of his latest exhibition, Time Horizon. Highlighting the failures of Britain’s post-Brexit arrangements, he added
The Independent •

Andrew Scott tells Fleabag fans to ‘do something better’ with their lives

Andrew Scott has joked that fans still watching hit comedy Fleabag five years after the series concluded need to “do something better” with their lives. The show, written by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, ran for two seasons, with Andrew Scott playing the “hot priest”. The character became a fan favourite, while the show received widespread critical acclaim for its writing, acting, and its depiction of a relationship between Waller-Bridge’s titular character Fleabag and Scott’s priest. The second seri
The Independent •

Blue’s Clues star watched child actor doc Quiet on Set with ‘horror and heartbreak’

Steve Burns, the host of hit children’s series Blue’s Clues, has said he watched docuseries Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV with “horror and heartbreak.” The five-part series, released in March, detailed allegations of sexual abuse by former Nickelodeon dialogue coach Brian Peck against Drake & Josh star Drake Bell. Peck was arrested in 2003 on more than a dozen charges related to sexual abuse allegations involving an unnamed minor. In May 2004, Peck pleaded no contest to performing a
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