The Star Wars series The Acolyte is enjoying an unexpected resurgence, almost two years after Disney made the decision not to renew the show.

In 2024, The Acolyte premiered on the streaming platform Disney+, starring Amandla Stenberg as twin sisters Osha and Mae, leading a cast that also included the likes of Manny Jacincto, Jodie Turner-Smith and Squid Game’s Lee Jung-jae.

Regrettably, the show’s diverse casting was met with a backlash from more narrow-minded, far-right members of the Star Wars fandom, resulting in it being “review bombed”.

Eventually, it was cancelled by Disney after one season.

However, fans have spotted in recent days that it has been enjoying an impromptu renaissance in recent history, to the point it’s made its way into Disney+’s list of most-watched shows right now.

In the summer of 2024, Amandla had some thoughts to get off their chest about the show’s cancellation, lamenting the “rampage of vitriol”, “hyper-conservative bigotry” and “prejudiced hatred and hateful language” levelled against them and their co-stars.

While Amandla said they feel “very sad about the show being cancelled”, they also insisted it had been “an honour” to be part of the Star Wars universe, particularly as a long-time sci-fi fan, and praised fans of The Acolyte who did their best to support for the show.

Months later, Amandla’s co-star Jodie Turner-Smith admitted she was not impressed with the way Disney handled the conservative backlash against The Acolyte.

“They’ve got to stop doing this thing where they don’t say anything when people are getting fucking dog-piled on the internet with racism and bullshit,” Jodie said. “It’s just not fair to not say anything. It’s really unfair.”

Her comments were similar to quotes from Star Wars actor John Boyega, who has also been critical of Disney since his time playing Finn in the reboot trilogy came to an end.

The Acolyte is available to stream on Disney+ now.

Donald Trump has threatened to slap extra tariffs on UK goods unless the government drops its plans for a digital services tax on tech giants.

The US president accused the government of “targeting American companies” and said they “better be careful” or face the consequences.

Ministers hope to raise around £5 billion over the next five years from the digital services tax, which imposes a 2% levy on the revenues of search engines, social media services and online marketplaces operating in the UK.

The White House has previously lobbied the government to reduce or abolish the tax as part of trade discussions between America and Britain.

Asked about the tax on Thursday, Trump accused the UK of trying to “make an easy buck” from American tech firms.

He said: “We don’t like it when they target American companies, because basically you’re talking about our great American companies.

“Whether we like those companies or don’t like them, they’re American companies. They’re top companies in the world.

“We’ve been looking at it. The UK did it, a couple of other people did it. They think they’re gonna make an easy buck, that’s why they’ve all taken advantage of our country.

“We can meet that very easily by just putting a big tariff on the UK, so they better be careful. If they don’t drop the tax, we’ll probably put a big tariff on the UK.

“They shouldn’t be doing that. It’s really targeting great companies, but they’re our companies. It’s like us targeting their companies, which we could do very easily.

“But you don’t have great companies like that. It’s not fair. I have an obligation to protect our companies – that’s how they became great.”

A spokesman for Keir Starmer hit back at the president and insisted the government’s policy would not change.

He said: “It is a hugely important tax in making sure that those businesses continue to pay their fair share. It is a fair and proportionate approach to taxing business activities in the UK.”

Trump’s comments, which come ahead of a state visit to America next week by King Charles, are further evidence of the decline in relations between the two governments in Washington and London.

The president is furious at the prime minister’s refusal to support the war in Iran, and has repeatedly criticised the prime minister since the conflict began nearly two months ago.

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A recent article in the Journal of Agriculture and Chemistry said that the term “superfood” is tossed about too readily.

“There is no regulation; the main source of information is the Internet,” they wrote.

Nonetheless, they add, there is a food that they believe qualifies: “Based on actual scientific data, grapes have earned what should be a prominent position in the superfood family.”

That includes benefits for our bones, heart, brain, and gut, they added.

Here’s what research says about those, though most say more studies are needed to prove the links are causal:

A 2015 rat study found that rats who’d been fed grapes showed slower bone turnover and improved calcium utilisation, resulting in better overall bone quality.

Another study found that resveratrol, a compound found in red or purple-skinned grapes, improved bone density in postmenopausal women, who are at increased risk of osteoporosis.

They also contain bone-healthy vitamins and minerals like manganese, potassium, and vitamins B, C, and K.

Grapes are rich in polyphenols, antioxidants which might reduce your risk of death by heart disease. These include flavonoids, phenolic acids, and resveratrol.

Grapes also contain phytonutrients like catechins, proanthocyanidins, anthocyanins, leucoanthocyanidin, quercetin, kaempferol, stilbenes, ellagic acid and hydroxycinnamates, which may help to lower your cholesterol.

A 2017 study involving older adults who took grape extract for 12 weeks found that their attention, memory, and language skills all improved after the trial.

Separate research found that grape juice seemed to boost younger adults’ mood and cognitive ability as little as 20 minutes after consumption.

Some research found that people who ate the equivalent of three servings of grapes a day seemed to increase the presence of certain beneficial gut bacteria.

Speaking to UCLA Health, Dr Zhaoping Li, chief of the university’s division of clinical nutrition, said grapes “also [give] us nutrients that feed our gut bacteria, making the microbiome a much better community of good bacteria while promoting gut health”. That’s thanks in part to their fibre content.

On Sunday, 26 April, the 2026 London Marathon is set to take place.

Over 59,000 runners are expected to take part in the race, which is set to run from Greenwich to the Mall.

Here’s when and where to catch the best views of the event, as well as the least busy points to access it.

The marathon kicks off in waves. For non-elite runners, these run from 9:30 am to 11:30 am.

For elite participants, the times start:

• Elite wheelchair races, men’s and women’s: 9:50 am
• Elite women’s: 9:05 am
• Elite men’s: 9:35 am.

Fun fact: last year, runner Tigst Assefa ran a record-breaking 2:15:50 marathon at the London Marathon. She’s running again and is hoping to beat her record; even if she gets the same time or slightly more, she’ll still have completed an entire marathon before the last wave of non-elite runners even starts.

Because the course runs from Greenwich up through to the Isle of Dogs and on to The Mall, there will be opportunities to cheer the runners on from both sides of the river.

But with tens of thousands of runners, supporters are expected to be plentiful. The race organisers themselves say that:

• Cutty Sark,
• Bermondsey,
• Canary Wharf,
• Limehouse,
• Tower Hill,
• Westminster, and
• St James’ Park Tube stations will be “extremely busy”.

Westminster station will be exit-only from 7am to 7pm.

London Marathon says that if you’re going to popular spots on the route, they expect it’s best to walk from:

• Deptford,
• Greenwich,
• Island Gardens,
• Maze Hill,
• London Overground Rotherhithe,
• London Rotherhide Surrey Quays,
• London Bridge station,
• The Canary Wharf DLR,
• Crossharbour,
• South Quay,
• Shadwell station via Cable Street,
• Westferry station,
• Poplar station,
• Bank,
• St Paul’s,
• Southwark,
• Cannon Street,
• Mansion House,
• Charing Cross,
• Piccadilly Circus,
• Victoria,
• and Waterloo.

There are five accessible viewing points planned for the London Marathon. These are located at:

• Cutty Sark,
• Canary Wharf,
• Rainbow Row,
• Tower Hill,
• Victoria Embankment.

Head to the London Marathon’s site for more details.

These are expected to include:

• Rotherhide Peninsula,
• The Highway,
• Isle of Dogs,
• Westferry,
• Poplar.

These are expected to include:

• Cutty Sark,
• Greenwich,
• Canada Water,
• Bermondsey,
• Rotherhide,
• Tower Bridge,
• Tower Hill,
• Canary Wharf,
• Limehouse,
• Westminster,
• Rainbow Row, and
• Victoria Embankment.

“These routes will be clearly signposted and diversions will be in place to assist with crowd flow so please listen to marshals’ instructions,” said the London Marathon’s site.

Much of the criticism is levelled at the fact that Michael – which was financially backed by the late musician’s estate – ends in 1988, meaning it does not include the multiple allegations of child sexual abuse made against the singer in his lifetime.

While promoting the movie, which is now in cinemas, the cast of Michael have been questioned about the decision not to include any of these abuse allegations.

Colman Domingo, who plays Jackson family patriarch Joseph in the biopic, pointed out the film’s timeline during an interview with the Today show, when questioned about claims that the project “whitewashes” the Billie Jean singer’s history.

“The film takes place from the ’60s to 1988, so it does not go into the first allegations,” the Oscar nominee responded. “So, basically, we centred it on the makings of Michael.”

He continued: “So, it’s an intimate portrait of who Michael is… through his eyes. So, that’s what it is, that’s what this film is.”

Domingo also addressed speculation about a potential follow-up to Michael, which could explore the allegations, explaining: “There’s a possibility of there being a part two that may deal with some other things that happened afterwards.

“This is about the making of Michael, how he was raised, and then how he was trying to find his voice as an artist and be a solo artist. That’s what I have to say about that.”

In the same interview, Nia Long – who plays Jackson’s mother Katherine – didn’t directly address the film’s avoidance of abuse allegations, but chipped in on the possibility of a sequel about the Grammy winner’s later years “if the price is right”.

While other cast members – including Jackson’s nephew Jaafar, who plays the star in the film – have yet to comment on the matter, Michael director Antoine Fuqua has raised questions about the allegations themselves.

In a piece published in the New Yorker, the US outlet claims that “Fuqua is not convinced that Jackson did what he is accused of doing, despite the number of accusers (five) and the fact that Jackson publicly talked about sharing his bed with boys”.

The article goes on to say that Fuqua hadn’t planned to downplay the controversy of Jackson’s later years, but “envisioned a film that might have read as a provocative defence of its subject”.

Fuqua himself said: “When I hear things about us – Black people in particular, especially in a certain position – there’s always pause.”

Variety previously reported that Michael was originally supposed to include a scene in which police arrived at Jackson’s Neverland ranch in 1993 to look for evidence.

However this was apparently scrapped, along with the biopic’s initial ending, which featured a depiction of one of the star’s accusers, for legal reasons.

Lawyers for the Jackson estate reportedly realised after filming was complete that a legal clause in one settlement barred the depiction or mention of the accuser in any movie, triggering an expensive 22-day re-shoot and talks of a follow-up or sequel to the biopic including these subjects in a different way.

Despite the controversy over the film’s lack of controversy itself, Michael has had a strong start at the box office, pulling in $18.5 million (around £13.7 million) on its opening day.

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We can all remember our first period. No matter how much prep you have, it always comes as a bit of a shock to see blood coming out of a body part for the first time.

On top of the overall weirdness of your body changing, the way periods are spoken about at school barely scratches the surface of the issue.

Then there’s the embarrassment of going to school, the comparison of when you got it in relation to your friends, and knowing what period products to buy and wear.

While you might assume things have moved on considerably from when we were at school, for a lot of teens, the unknown of periods is still awkward and scary. In fact, Plan UK found that 48% of girls in the UK feel embarrassed by their period, while 49% have missed an entire day of school as a result.

But early periods don’t have to be a stressful experience, especially not now that we have more options of what to wear during our period than we did even a decade ago.

Whether your kid has just got their period, or is approaching that age, here’s how to talk to them about periods and the best period wear to shop now.

Girls can get their periods as young as eight, so it can help to talk to them about menstruation before then, according to Ruby Raut, CEO and founder of WUKA, which recently launched WUKA Talks, an education programme for families.

“Parents should start conversations much earlier than most expect, ideally from the age of five or six, by introducing the idea that bodies change as part of growing up,” she says.

“By the time children are eight to ten, they should have a clearer understanding of what a period is and what it might feel like, especially as many girls are starting their periods earlier than anticipated.”

Talking to children about periods from a younger age can help them become familiar with the topic and avoid confusion or anxiety around the time their period starts, Raut explains.

“Early, age-appropriate conversations help ensure that when a child’s first period arrives, it feels expected rather than frightening,” she adds.

We’re so used to the idea of ‘the talk’, whether that’s about periods, sex, or anything body-related.

But these conversations should be ongoing, Raut advises.

“Parents should approach conversations about periods as ongoing, everyday discussions rather than a one-off talk, using simple, calm and matter-of-fact language,” she says.

While these talks should avoid creating unnecessary stress, they should also prepare children for some of the less wanted side-effects of periods.

“It is important to frame periods as a normal biological process that happens to over half the world’s population, avoiding language that creates fear or embarrassment,” Raut explains.

“Being honest about the range of experiences, from feeling completely fine to experiencing cramps or tiredness, helps set realistic expectations without overwhelming teenagers.”

Parents can also normalise periods by keeping their own products visible, Raut advises, and speaking openly about their own personal experiences.

“The essentials are clarity, consistency and creating a safe space where teenagers feel comfortable asking questions without judgment,” she says.

Thankfully, we now have a far wider range of period products available than when we were young.

Period products are expensive – 40% of girls in the UK have had to use toilet roll because they can’t afford sanitary products.

But disposable products like pads and tampons are no longer the only options, explains Raut.

“There are several options for teen period care, including pads, tampons, menstrual cups and period underwear, and it is important to introduce these in a practical, non-intimidating way,” she explains.

“For many teenagers, especially those just starting, period underwear can be the easiest option as it feels like regular underwear, requires no insertion and involves minimal learning. At the same time, pads are also accessible but need to be changed regularly.”

While tampons and period cups are also available, they might require more guidance than pads and pants, according to Raut.

No matter what products you choose, it’s important to show kids how to use them, Raut says.

“Parents can support their children by showing them the products, explaining how each one works, and walking through simple real-life scenarios, such as what to do if a period starts at school.

“Preparing a small starter kit with essentials like spare underwear, a discreet bag and wipes can also help build confidence and reduce anxiety.”