The Sun aligns with Mercury’s retrograde in Pisces, highlighting hopes, dreams and maybe infatuations. Don’t allow rationality to float off completely today.

Virgo, Leo and Cancer, avoid finality. It may serve you hold off from any major decisions, until the cosmic haze has passed.

Revisiting the past could bring new discoveries, as this placement encourages reflection. However, don’t get stuck looking behind you.

Ahead, you’ll find all star signs’ horoscopes for today: Saturday March 7, 2026.

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To download your free Unique Personal Horoscope based on your time, date and place of birth, visit patrickarundell.com/free-birth-chart/.

Aries

March 21 to April 20

Today’s celestial blend highlights dreams, intuition and unfinished emotional business. You may feel reflective, nostalgic or slightly sleepy as the universe whispers, ‘Slow down.’ Old thoughts resurface, messages from the past reappear and your subconscious is storytelling in full colour. Rest, release and rediscover what has been buried beneath pent-up energy.

Head here for everything you need to know about being an Aries

Taurus

April 21 to May 21

Your social sphere and long-term goals may feel hazy. You could reflect on friendships, revisit old dreams or reconnect with people from the past unexpectedly. Inspiration flows, but details blur, so double-check plans and pause before major decisions. This is a time for gentle edits, not final drafts. Trust intuition but keep logic close by.

Head here for everything you need to know about being a Taurus

Gemini

May 22 to June 21

With the Sun merging with Mercury in its rewind, your career path may take a few detours. You may revisit professional plans, rethink your public image or hear from past colleagues. This is not the time to finalise long-term goals. Listen inward, review priorities and reconnect with what genuinely excites you.

Head here for everything you need to know about being a Gemini

Cancer

June 22 to July 23

Your mind drifts towards distant horizons, spirituality and long-held dreams. You may revisit beliefs, rekindle travel ambitions or reconnect with a former mentor or passion project. The universe invites you to redraw your personal map, but not in ink just yet. Let intuition guide you but avoid locking anything in too prematurely, Cancer.

Head here for everything you need to know about being a Cancer

Leo

Your emotional depths glow with insight and mystery. Secrets, shared resources and intimate bonds come up for review. This is a powerful moment to examine emotional fine print you usually skim. You may reconnect with an old flame or rediscover a forgotten part of yourself. Trust instincts but verify facts before making promises or investments.

Head here for everything you need to know about being a Leo

Virgo

August 24 to September 23

Relationships are under review as the Sun aligns with Mercury retrograde. Old flames may resurface, misunderstandings seek clarity or you reassess the give-and-take in close bonds. This is not the moment for final declarations. Listen, reflect and revise your approach to partnership with compassion and honesty.

Head here for everything you need to know about being a Virgo

Libra

September 24 to October 23

Daily rhythms, routines and wellness habits are under scrutiny. You are invited to slow down and reassess how you care for your body, mind and schedule. Expect minor mix-ups or forgetfulness, especially at work, but also flashes of insight that realign you with what truly nourishes you. Aim for flow, but perhaps not perfection.

Head here for everything you need to know about being a Libra

Scorpio

October 24 to November 22

Romance, creativity and joy call softly rather than loudly. This is a beautiful time to revisit a creative project, reconnect with a past love or let imagination roam freely. Just avoid getting lost in fantasy, as the Pisces influence loves twists and turns. Let your inner child speak and your muse dance.

Head here for everything you need to know about being a Scorpio

Sagittarius

November 23 to December 21

Your sanctuary and personal history echo with memories. You may revisit family stories, rethink your roots or reconnect with someone familiar. This is a time for reflection, restoration and perhaps refreshing your space to match inner changes. Emotions may rise like tides, let them. Home is evolving, and so are you.

Head here for everything you need to know about being a Sagittarius

Capricorn

December 22 to January 20

Your thoughts drift into intuitive territory. Conversations, ideas and creative projects circle back for review. This is a good moment to revisit unsent messages, revive old ideas or simply listen more than speak. Avoid forcing outcomes. Reflection, revision and rest bring clarity. Wisdom whispers when you slow down.

Head here for everything you need to know about being a Capricorn

Aquarius

January 21 to February 19

Finances and priorities may feel muddled as receipts disappear, subscriptions resurface or values come into question. This pause invites you to reassess not only what you own, but how you value yourself. Avoid rushing major financial decisions, but reflect on where your energy and income truly flow.

Head here for everything you need to know about being an Aquarius

Pisces

February 20 to March 20

With the Sun merging with Mercury retrograde in your sign, you are a blend of insight and déjà vu. Old ideas, conversations or shelved dreams resurface for review. Communication may be muddled, but your intuition is finely tuned. Trust your instincts more than messages or schedules today.

Head here for everything you need to know about being a Pisces

Your daily Metro.co.uk horoscope is here every morning, seven days a week (yes, including weekends!). To check your forecast, head to our dedicated horoscopes page.

Head here for this week’s tarot horoscope reading, and see what the cards have in store for you!

Check out the tarot horoscope reading for the month of March here.

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MORE: Venus in Aries flips your love life on its head — each star sign’s tarot horoscope forecast

MORE: Daily horoscope March 5, 2026: Today’s predictions for your star sign

MORE: Daily horoscope March 4, 2026: Today’s predictions for your star sign

Headteachers in Wales have the power to ban or restrict the use of mobile phones in their schools, but there could soon be new national guidance

The Welsh Government has issued an update on mobile phone use in schools. The impact of social media and phones on children and young people in Wales is “a matter of significant concern” the minister responsible for schools said.

“Schools and parents have been raising their concerns about the significant influence that technology and mobile phones can have on the health, wellbeing, and learning experiences of our children and young people,” said Cabinet Secretary for Education Lynne Neagle. Currently, it is up to individual schools to decide whether pupils can bring in and use mobile phones.

Headteachers have the power to ban or restrict the use of devices, and some do, but policies differ widely. For the biggest stories in Wales first sign up to our daily newsletter here

There is mounting concern over issues such as cyber bullying, unwanted sharing of images and children accessing inappropriate content on their phones. Some headteachers have called on parents not to allow their children to have smartphones until they are 16.

Some schools allow pupils to have phones in school provided they are switched off and not used in lessons. Others have a total ban during the school day, including breaks and lunchtime. Some schools have special lock up pouches where children leave their devices when they arrive and collect when they leave the building.

Headteachers who have banned phones report better concentration and attainment and more socialising among pupils. Some schools, staff and parents have urged the Welsh Government to make Wales-wide policy to ban phones.

Lynne Neagle said she will issue national guidance in the new school year – should Labour still be in charge after May’s Senedd election.

“I continue to believe that schools are best placed to make these decisions, based on how technology is used in their setting and the needs of their learners,” she said.

“However, I also recognise that this is an area where our schools are increasingly seeking national direction.

“Following the 2025 Behaviour Summit and drawing on the recommendations of the Senedd Petitions Committee, I established a dedicated practitioner and stakeholder forum on mobile phone use in schools.

“The forum has recently completed a first draft of new guidance to support schools to develop and introduce a mobile phone policy that is appropriate for their school.

“My aim has always been to strike the right balance in supporting schools to minimise the impact of mobile phones on learning and pupil wellbeing, while still maintaining local flexibility.

“To ensure this guidance is robust, practical, and reflective of the sector’s needs, I have committed to a programme of engagement with the sector in the period ahead of the election, with a full public consultation on the final guidance after the election to enable publication before the new school year.

“Today, I am launching a national survey of the education workforce to further explore existing mobile phone policies, the rationale behind them, and their impact. I encourage all schools to take part. The findings will directly support us in refining the draft guidance and ensure that future steps are evidence based and fully reflect what works best for our learners and schools in Wales. “

Welsh Government officials will be discussing the draft guidance with schools, the education workforce unions, local authorities and children and young people.

Ms Neagle added: “In the meantime, I want to place on record my support for any school that seeks to introduce a policy restricting the use of mobile phones, in the interests of protecting learners and improving their engagement in lessons.”

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The expert has spoken out amid rising tensions in the Middle East which has triggered fears of a global nuclear war

A recent study has revealed that only two countries would survive a nuclear war. This comes as tensions have intensified in recent days with America and Israel, both nuclear powers, launching missiles at Iran.

Israel has been striking Tehran, the Iranian capital, whilst the Taliban in Afghanistan have launched an attack on nuclear-armed Pakistan. The UAE confirmed yesterday that it continues to intercept missiles directed towards Israel as conflict in the Middle East continues.

This has raised concerns that wars could potentially escalate in the coming weeks. And now a new peer-reviewed study has found that a nuclear war could wipe out approximately five billion people, reports Unilad.

Fireballs could reach temperatures of up to 100 million degrees Celsius whilst a nuclear winter would engulf every corner of the globe, say scientists in the Nature journal. They claim that both Australia and New Zealand would survive, the Express reports.

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Armageddon expert Annie Jacobson, author of Nuclear War: A Scenario, used scientific papers and defence experts to predict what would happen should the world’s 12,000 nuclear weapons be launched. On The Diary of a CEO podcast, she stated: “Hundreds of millions of people die in the fireballs, no question.”

Annie explained that regions surviving the initial blasts would also face catastrophic consequences. She said: “Places like Iowa and Ukraine would be just snow for 10 years, and so agriculture would fail. When agriculture fails, people just die.”

The expert believes that roughly three billion people could survive the initial explosions, though their existence would be fundamentally transformed.

She suggests that Australia and New Zealand would largely withstand the nuclear winter and maintain agricultural production.

Annie detailed that the detonation of thousands of modern nuclear warheads would destroy a thin layer of gas protecting us from the sun.

She maintains that alongside ozone layer destruction, there would be significant radiation poisoning risks.

Whilst Australia and New Zealand might survive, she expects residents would be forced to exist in darkness.

She envisages people would be “fighting for food” and “living underground”.

Annie’s predictions come after a series of maps suggested Iranian missiles could devastate numerous countries, including popular tourist destinations.

Reports indicate that the warheads could reach distances of up to 1,240 miles.

This means favourite holiday spots such as Dubai, Cyprus, Turkey and Egypt could fall within striking distance. On Thursday (March 5) the UK government’s first flights left the Middle East to help evacuate British nationals.

The maiden flight departed from Oman on Thursday afternoon. The government is continuously assessing its response to the unfolding situation in the Middle East.

It has been officially announced that the Royal Navy destroyer HMS Dragon will be deployed to the Mediterranean, potentially as early as next week. This move is intended to bolster defences around a British military base at Akrotiri following an attack by an Iranian drone.

Liverpool spent more than £450m last summer to rebuild their team, but this was an evening for the elder statesmen and home-grown talent of the club. Andy Robertson and Mohamed Salah, with their Premier League titles and Champions League winners’ medals, booked a place in the FA Cup quarter-finals. Curtis Jones, from the club’s academy, also scored.

All three have attracted interest from other clubs, and their position as regular starters was not guaranteed after the signings made before the campaign. Salah turned on Arne Slot and the club after losing his place, Tottenham made a bid for Robertson in January and Jones has been on the wanted list of several clubs.

With none of the summer signings starting, those three shone at Molineux along with 17-year-old Rio Ngumoha, also from the academy. Despite a crisis at Anfield in their title defence this season, they are now just one win away from a trip to Wembley.

How Liverpool fans would love another two trips to the national stadium and to win a trophy in such a difficult year. The Cup has not been a route for regular success over the years, this being the third time in the last 11 years they have got this far. Their last quarter-final was when they won the competition in 2022.

This was a huge contrast to the defeat here earlier in the week in terms of the result, although Slot saw the same pattern as the 2-1 loss. “Of course it is the perfect response when you look at the result, but every stat is exactly the same as three days ago,” Slot said. “The execution was better than three days ago.”

Amy Louise Leonard died in October 2025 after sustained recreational use of nitrous oxide as a coping mechanism for her anxiety – her family is now campaigning to raise awareness of the dangers of the drug

The family of a young woman have been left heartbroken by her death.

Amy Louise Leonard, from Bolton, is remembered as a “bright and bubbly” woman who was building a career as a talented makeup artist. In the weeks before her tragic death at the age of 20, she relied on nitrous oxide as a coping mechanism to help her “feel happier” during periods of anxiety and low moods, Bolton Coroners’ Court heard on Friday.

Nitrous oxide, commonly known as laughing gas, is legally used in catering and healthcare, including during labour as a form of pain relief. However, the drug is also misused recreationally by inhaling the gas from balloons. Recreational use of nitrous oxide is classified as a Class C drug, the Manchester Evening News reports.

Amy first went to hospital on September 20, 2025, after experiencing 10 days of lower back pain, numbness and tingling in her legs, and bladder incontinence, the court was told.

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Prior to this, Amy had been using “one large canister of nitrous oxide every day for a period of time”, Detective Inspector Stuart Woodhead, from Greater Manchester Police, told the court.

Doctors initially suspected cauda equina – a medical emergency caused by severe compression of nerves at the bottom of the spinal cord – but later diagnosed Amy with subacute combined degeneration of the spinal cord, a progressive neurological disorder caused by vitamin B12 deficiency.

In Amy’s case, her “heavy, sustained, excessive abuse of nitrous oxide” led to a functional deficiency of B12, the court heard.

In the days after her hospital admission, Amy’s condition worsened. Her mobility decreased until she collapsed 10 days later on September 30, suffering two sudden cardiac arrests. Although doctors restarted her heart both times, she sustained severe brain damage and later developed a pulmonary embolism after deep vein thrombosis (DVT). She sadly passed away on October 2.

Consultant neuropathologist Dr Neil Papworth told the court that fatalities from nitrous oxide are “rare and unfortunate”. He said: “Nitrous oxide abuse is thought to be quite widespread. Most people who use nitrous oxide recreationally do not suffer fatal consequences. This is a rare and unfortunate consequence.”

Dr Papworth explained that nitrous oxide is rapidly absorbed into the bloodstream, inactivating vitamin B12 and causing a functional deficiency, which in Amy’s case led to subacute combined degeneration of the spinal cord.

Also giving evidence at the inquest was Kerry Taylor, a consultant forensic toxicologist, who said that nitrous oxide use has increased and there have been more deaths linked to the drug.

“I have seen an increase in deaths where nitrous oxide has been found at the scene,” Miss Taylor told the court. “We do struggle to look for it in the blood, but there has been an increase, even anecdotally, in incidents where nitrous oxide has been found at the scene.”

Concluding the hearing, Senior Coroner Timothy Brennand told the court that misusing nitrous oxide is “akin to playing a game of chemical Russian Roulette”.

“Drug misuse has killed and taken from a family a bright young woman,” he told the court. “She had so much to live for, she was at the heart of a functioning family.”

He ruled Amy’s death as misadventure, meaning it was an unintended consequence of her nitrous oxide use.

Amy’s family are desperate to raise awareness about the dangers of abusing nitrous oxide. Her brave mother, Katrina Proctor, recently appeared on Good Morning Britain to share her daughter’s story with the hope of preventing other families from experiencing a similar loss.

Amy is remembered by her family as a ‘bubbly and bright’ young woman who worked hard and was always the “life of the party”. Alongside her sister Caitlin, she was a finalist for the Young Business Woman of the Year award, with the final set to take place in three weeks.

The 20-year-old is also remembered for her work in mental health. She and her sister Caitlin created mental health journals called ‘Between the Lines’, designed to support others who might be struggling.

The Russian flag has returned to the global sporting stage, appearing at the Winter Paralympics for the first time in over a decade.

Boos were heard as Russian athletes followed the flag into the Milan Cortina opening ceremony – the first winter games the tricolour has appeared at since 2014 in Sochi.

The four-strong delegation waved to the crowd as they paraded at the ancient Arena di Verona in a ceremony boycotted by some nations because of their presence.

Russia was initially banned from the 2016 Summer Paralympics over a state-sponsored doping scandal, and a further ban followed its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

With the suspension now overturned, the Winter Paralympics could see the Russian national anthem played for the first time at a major international sporting event since 2022.

Russia’s ally, Belarus, also made a return, with two athletes participating in the parade, having likewise been banned over the 2022 invasion.

There was applause when Ukraine was announced, but no athletes represented the country in the parade after they went ahead with a boycott.

Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Poland and Lithuania also joined their protest.

Iran did not appear after its only competing athlete had to withdraw from the games, having been unable to travel to Italy due to the ongoing conflict with Iran in the Middle East.

Read more:
Russian suspected after ‘self-igniting parcel’ attack in Birmingham
Ukraine peace talks could be postponed due to Iran war

With the games taking place in multiple locations across Italy, many athletes were unable to attend, and only 45 of the more than 600 competing represented their nations at the ceremony.

The Milan Cortina games, which mark the 50th anniversary of the Winter Paralympics, will see athletes competing across 79 events in six sports.

Beirut’s southern suburbs have been subjected to waves of airstrikes by the Israeli military, but it has been virtually impossible to document the damage they cause. 

The area known as Dahiyeh, which consists of four densely populated districts adjoining the city centre, is simply too dangerous to access.

The sound of Israeli drones and fighter jets are a constant presence in the sky and plumes of smoke rise above this part of the city.

Iran war latest – Trump’s conflict timeline

We decided to make a trip to one of several large intersections that serve as gateways into Dahiyeh and informed representatives of Hezbollah, who effectively control this part of the city, that we planned to make a brief visit.

It presented an opportunity to assess the mood in a place being bombarded from the air – if not an opportunity to document the consequences.

On arrival, however, a local Hezbollah member wearing a full balaclava offered to take us to the nearest bomb site.

Two minutes’ filming in the ‘red line’

He jumped on his moped and drove down the so-called ‘red line’, which effectively divides the city from the ‘no-go zone’ declared by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

We stopped in front of a vast city block that had been rearranged – and largely destroyed – by Israeli explosives.

“We’ve got two minutes, two minutes to film,” said our local producer as we jumped out of our van and into the dust and the acrid smoke that was blanketing the area.

You can see what we saw and experienced in our video above.

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Bombing in Iran continues

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Watch: Inside an Israeli wedding amid a war

The IDF says it is targeting “executive council command centres” and “weapons storage depots” in Beirut’s southern suburbs, but Hezbollah told us the bomb site we visited was a popular local market.

With only a few minutes to film, our camera operator, Sam Williams, let his camera roll.

Exit blocked by Hezbollah

But on our return to the busy intersection, we found our pathway had been blocked.

There was another group of Hezbollah members who seemed unaware of our presence and suspicious of our activities.

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How Beirut is coming under heavy attack

They placed their motorcycles around our van in case we were minded to flee.

Hezbollah makes the rules in this part of Beirut, and there is a countless number of men who seem ready to enforce them.

Read more from Sky News:
Kurdish fighters ready to go to Iran
Satellite images show extent of damage from US-Israel strikes

As our identities were checked and our journalistic intentions interrogated, there was a loud bang or blast not far from our vehicle.

It was not immediately clear whether it was a missile strike – or some sort of Israeli warning device – but it was a reminder that we were operating at the edge of the warzone.

After a tortuous few minutes, Hezbollah allowed us to leave and our driver steered the vehicle into the intersection. As we edged our way through, the black-clad militiamen pointed their rifles in the air and fired off a few rounds.

It was warning to all to clear the area.

Alyssa Ramos’ evacuation from Kuwait involved a 48-hour journey across four continents. The U.S. government did not help with any of it, the travel blogger said.

“They keep going on the news and saying they’re doing everything they can to get Americans out,” Ramos said after landing in Miami on Thursday. “I know for a fact they’re not.”

She said she repeatedly messaged the U.S. Embassy in Kuwait and was directed to the consular section, which told her it couldn’t help her leave the country and that she should enroll in the U.S.’ smart traveler program and shelter in place.

Ramos is one of the many Americans and citizens of other countries who evacuated from the Middle East or were still stranded there Friday, almost a week after Israeli-U.S. attacks on Iran rapidly entangled more than a dozen nearby countries. U.S. citizens described frustrations and growing fear as they encountered closed airports, canceled flights and alarming U.S. government guidance while Poland, Australia, France and other countries more quickly dispatched military or chartered planes to bring their citizens home.

Chicago resident Susan Daley, who was on a work trip in the United Arab Emirates when the Iran war began on Feb. 28, arrived in the U.S. on Thursday aboard the first commercial flight from Dubai to San Francisco since the conflict started.

“Having the State Department or whoever tell us, ‘You need to get out immediately’ but there’s no help, so you’re on your own to get your own travel plans,” Daley said. “That was the most stressful thing.”

President Donald Trump’s administration has pushed back against criticism that the U.S. response was too slow. And two State Department officials said 30% to 40% of private Americans who had been offered seats on available charter flights had either declined the seats or had not shown up for the flight.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal administration operations, could not say how many people that percentage range would cover, but noted that about 13,000 Americans had reached out to the department for assistance in or information about leaving the Middle East. Not all of those 13,000 had asked for or were offered seats on charter flights, the officials stressed.

The U.S. State Department said the first government-chartered repatriation flight made it back from the Mideast on Thursday and that more would arrive daily. It wasn’t immediately clear how many people were on the planes or where in the Middle East they had departed from.

As of Friday, about 24,000 Americans had returned to the U.S. since the war started, the State Department said. The vast majority of them made it home on their own through commercial means. U.S. embassies in the region continued to direct Americans to rely on commercial flights to leave.

Chat groups help people evacuating

In the absence of advice from Washington or U.S. consular offices, some travelers said they turned to WhatsApp group chats and crowdsourced tips on social media for leads on commercial flights and alternative routes out of the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and other countries. Some set up GoFundMe campaigns to help cover hotel and other expenses from days spent stuck in Dubai and other Gulf cities.

Ramos started WhatsApp group chats Monday to help people following her difficult evacuation via her social media account, “My Life’s a Travel Movie,” and messaging her that they needed help getting out, too.

In three days, more than 2,200 people joined the chats about leaving Dubai, Doha, Qatar, and Kuwait. Members organized shared rides to airports where flights were still operating, passed along names of trusted drivers and listed prices and even types of currency accepted.

On Thursday, a member wrote that her husband and two children have been trying to get out of Dubai but had two flights canceled and that her 2-year-old, who is diabetic, was running out of medication. Other members immediately jumped in to offer advice.

American Cory McKane was stranded in Dubai before he caught a flight out of the region Wednesday after a long, sleepless and expensive journey to Muscat, Oman. He said he also relied on help from friends and other stranded travelers in a WhatsApp group chat.

Rather than risk the crowded airport in Dubai, McKane and friends rented a car and drove to the Oman border. There, he said, taxi drivers were charging up to $650 to take stranded travelers to Muscat’s airport, where flights were still operating.

“Everyone’s been sending each other resources because, quite frankly, the U.S. has not done a single thing in any capacity. That’s been really disappointing,” he said.

Democratic lawmakers call US response ‘unacceptable’

Jason Altmire, a former three-term Democratic congressman from Pennsylvania, made it out of Dubai after the UAE partially reopened its airspace and Emirates airline resumed limited flights.

“We never heard anything from the State Department other than the general email advising us to find our own way out,” Altmire said in an email interview. “I found this, along with the ‘you’re on your own’ State Department voicemail, to be infuriating.”

In a letter Tuesday to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Democrats in Congress said that “the lack of clear preparation, planning, and communication to Americans abroad is unacceptable and a violation of the State Department’s basic mission to provide consular assistance and the protection of U.S. citizens overseas.”

Rubio said Tuesday that the U.S. had organized recovery flights but officials faced challenges due to airspace closures.

“We know that we’re going to be able to help them,” he said, while cautioning that “it’s going to take a little time because we don’t control the airspace closures.”

Commercial flight options have been limited since the war began. As of Friday, more than 29,000 of roughly 51,000 flights scheduled in or out of Middle East airports were canceled, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium.

But commercial air traffic is picking up. Dubai Airports, which runs the UAE city’s main airports, said it has facilitated more than 1,140 flights over the past three and a half days — and the operator said more flights are being added to the schedule each day.

Dubai-based Emirates said Friday it expects to restore its full flight network in the coming days, depending on airspace access and operational conditions. A day earlier, it flew about 30,000 passengers out of Dubai, and it plans to have 106 return daily flights operating to 83 destinations by Saturday.

Oman, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan have emerged as key exit points for repatriation efforts because flights were still operating in those countries. Airspace over Iran, Iraq, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and Syria, however, remained closed, according to flight-tracking service Flightradar24.

Azerbaijan closed the southern sector of its airspace Thursday, after it accused Iran of a drone attack on its territory that injured four civilians and damaged an airport building.

Trenten Higgins, who took a taxi from Israel to Jordan, was able to fly out of its capital and get to New York on Thursday. He said the State Department wasn’t helpful.

“Every alert that they gave and all the advice they gave was a day at least too late,” he said. “Even when it wasn’t too late, it was impossible to act upon and then they would just hang up.”

___

Associated Press reporters Wyatte Grantham-Philips and David Martin in New York, Haven Daley in San Francisco, Matthew Lee in Washington and R.J. Rico in Atlanta contributed to this report.

All the songs Harry Styles sang as he returned to Manchester for one night only

Harry Styles made a long-awaited return to the stage in Manchester tonight (March 6), performing a special ‘One Night Only’ show at Co-op Live to celebrate the release of his brand new album.

The highly anticipated gig marked the first time the Cheshire-born singer has performed a show in nearly three years, with fans anxiously waiting to see whether they had been successful in securing £20 tickets after entering a ballot via Ticketmaster.

The arena show coincided with the release of Styles’ fourth studio album, Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally, which dropped in the early hours of Friday morning.

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Adding to the sense of occasion, the gig was declared a strictly phone-free event. Fans entering the venue were asked to secure their phones in a recyclable bag and use of the camera was not permitted.

Instead, ticketholders were given a disposable camera to capture parts of the event while encouraging the crowd to experience the gig without screens.

The Manchester performance is also being turned into a special broadcast event, with the full show set to stream globally on Netflix this weekend, giving fans around the world the chance to watch Styles debut the new album live.

Following tonight’s show, Styles will embark on the Together, Together tour as he heads to 50 stops in Amsterdam, London, São Paulo, Mexico City, New York, Melbourne, and Sydney from May through December this year.

The tour includes 12 nights at Wembley Stadium in London, as well as 30 consecutive nights at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Special guests and support acts across the global tour dates include Robyn, Shania Twain, Fcukers, Jorja Smith, Jamie xx, Fousheé, and Skye Newman.

After greeting more than 23,000 people in the crowd, Styles launched into Aperture, the album’s first track, which was released on January 22.

He then moved on to American Girls before playing through the album, featuring key tracks like Coming Up Roses, Dance No More and Carla’s Song.

Below is the full setlist from the ‘One Night Only’ show:

1. Aperture
2. American Girls
3. Ready, Steady, Go!
4. Are You Listening Yet?
5. Taste Back
6. The Waiting Game
7. Season 2 Weight Loss
8. Coming Up Roses
9. Pop
10. Dance No More
11. Paint By Numbers
12. Carla’s Song

Styles also included a surprise encore of what he called ‘golden oldies’ – the classics from his older albums.

Encore:

1. From the Dining Table
2. Golden
3. Watermelon Sugar
4. As It Was
5. Sign Of The Times
6. Aperture (again)

Stacy Sharples’ lies cost roughly £120,000 in public spending

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A mother faces time in prison after fabricating rape allegations against 10 men in what a court heard was a “wicked pack of lies”.

Stacy Sharples, from Bolton, triggered a series of police investigations that saw some of the men held in custody for hours and others left on bail or under investigation for months. None were ever charged.

Several of the men had engaged in consensual sex with her; others had never had any sexual contact at all. In one case, after a man who had been cleared happened to pass her in the street, Sharples ran into a chip shop and dialled 999, falsely claiming he was threatening to kill her, Bolton Crown Court was told.

When she was told that police were actually investigating her, Sharples told the man: “They’re not pressing charges. I’ve got away with it. Yet again.” However, she now faces a prison sentence after admitting charges of perverting the course of justice, MEN reports.

Sharples’ false allegations cost about £120,000 in public funds, the court was told, as she initially faced 19 charges. But, only 10 proceeded to court.

Judge Nicholas Clarke KC said that because Sharples had admitted a ‘sufficient number of counts to reflect the overall criminality’, it would not have been in the public interest to pursue more. Four of her victims attended the sentencing hearing.

“I want to make it clear to anybody that reads anything about their names anywhere, that these men’s lives have been blighted by unfortunate allegations which have been made involving some sort of sexual offending, none of which are true at all,” the judge said.

“Only belatedly by her pleas has she now acknowledged that it was all a wicked pack of lies.” Sharples’ lawyer admitted that he could offer ‘no satisfactory explanation’ for her crimes, but stressed there had been ‘concerns about her mental health and intellect for a significant period’.

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Sharples, from Farnworth, Bolton, will be sentenced on Wednesday (March 11). Prosecuting, Mark Monaghan detailed that Sharples’ first victim was Kaylum Davies, whom she had been messaging for a few days, after being put in touch by a friend.

The court heard how, on Boxing Day, 2013, Sharples attended Mr Davies’ friend’s house, where other people were present, and that she mostly spent her time by herself, looking at her phone. After an hour, she left the house without saying goodbye to others.

Sharples then called her brother, falsely claiming to be in danger. She told her brother and father that Mr Davies and other men had forced her to perform a sex act on him. She went on to fabricate that she had been attacked by nine men and threatened with a knife.

Mr Monaghan told the court that her claims were ‘complete fabrication’, and that he’d had no sexual contact with her at all. Mr Davies was arrested and interviewed, while Sharples refused to attend an appointment at a sexual assault referral centre.

Mr Davies was not charged, but spent 18 months on bail as police began to notice inconsistencies in Sharples’ claims.

A second victim, James Blundell, met up with Sharples after they had met via the dating website Plenty of Fish. He was invited to a hostel where she was living, in Burnage, on February 4, 2018. Mr Blundell said the pair had consensual sex, but explained that he had left after being made to feel uneasy by some of her comments.

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He told her that he was going for a cigarette, but left. Sharples messaged him, to no reply, before falsely telling hostel staff that someone had done something to her ‘which she did not want’. Police were alerted and told by Sharples that she had been raped.

Mr Blundell spent 17 hours in police custody after being arrested, and was eventually interviewed. He was released under investigation for six months.

Astron Inman, Sharples’ third victim, met her months later via Facebook after she ‘randomly’ added him. They met on August 11, 2018, after Sharples sent him a topless picture of herself and said she wanted to join him in the shower.

Mr Inman picked her up in his car, they had consensual sex, and later he dropped her off at her home. She then contacted police, describing the man as her ‘partner’ and stating he had raped her, but that she didn’t know his surname or where the alleged ‘rape’ happened.

Police took a graphic account of the alleged rape from Sharples, in which she also claimed that Mr Inman had added her on Facebook. Mr Inman was arrested and spent eight hours in police custody awaiting interview.

He provided his Facebook messages, and the police mapped out the real interaction. Continuing her twisted trend, Sharples contacted Andrew Dearden on Plenty of Fish in February 2019.

They had consensual sex before she asked him if they were now a couple. When they parted ways, Mr Dearden was ‘bombarded’ with messages from her, asking where he was, what he was doing and if he loved her. She also asked to meet again.

He agreed to meet again, at a Cash Generator shop near her home, to help her sell a TV. She told Mr Dearden to wait outside before entering the store and calling the police, reporting she had been raped by Mr Sharples the night before.

Police arrived and arrested him there. He spent eight-and-a-half hours in police custody before being interviewed. Mr Dearden was able to provide officers with the messages Sharples had sent. She refused to attend an appointment for an interview with police.

Reece Lockett and Conor Austin were also victims of Sharples. Mr Lockett met her through Plenty of Fish in late 2018. Mr Monaghan said there was some sexual contact between the pair but that he did not pursue it further because he thought she was ‘weird’.

Sharples asked to meet him again in April 2019. She said she would be with a friend, and Mr Lockett asked his cousin Mr Austin if he also wanted to attend. They went for a walk at a reservoir, but Mr Lockett had changed his mind about being interested in Sharples. After, Mr Lockett declined to drive Sharples home but said he’d drop her off nearby.

The court heard that Sharples was ‘annoyed’ and told him ‘watch what happens now’. She called 999 and accused both men of rape. Mr Lockett spent three hours in police custody, and Mr Austin two-and-a-half hours.

Mr Lockett later confronted Sharples in the street, after bumping into her, a couple of months later. Sharples ran into a chip shop and called 999, claiming ‘there’s a guy I got done for rape a while ago threatening to kill me’. Mr Lockett made a comment about the police taking an interest in her.

“I’ve been let go. They’re not pressing charges,” she said. “I’ve got away with it. Yet again.”

Anthony Green received multiple messages from Sharples before they met at his flat in June 2019. They engaged in sexual contact, but did not actually have sex, until she asked him to stop, and he did.

“All of this was done consensually,” said Mr Monaghan. Mr Green offered to get her a taxi, which he did, and she left. Mr Green then received a text saying he’d hurt her, bitten and strangled her. “None of that was true”, Mr Monaghan explained.

Sharples told police she’d been sexually attacked, that Mr Green had strangled and bitten her before penetrating her. She continued to allege that she ‘couldn’t get him off her and that he wouldn’t let her leave’.

Mr Green was arrested in 2019 and spent 12 hours in custody.

The defendant then changed her allegation, saying he hadn’t done much of what she’d claimed. The case was dropped against him in 2019. Two further victims of Sharples were Andrew Jackson and Jack Byrne. She made a single false allegation about them both.

They lived together at the time in a house, and in August 2019 received a Facebook message from Sharples saying she ‘wanted something to do’, along with a friend of hers.

The two men invited the pair to their house, and the women arrived with two bottles of vodka. They spend the next few hours drinking and taking some drugs. “There was no sexual contact”, Mr Monaghan said.

Sharples’ facial piercing was hurting and started to bleed towards the end of the evening, and she asked her dad to come and collect her. She then sent messages to Mr Byrne, who said ‘she was pestering me on Facebook and texting me loads all night’. Eventually, Mr Byrne said: “Will you f*** off? Don’t ever ring me at eight o’clock in the morning again.”

“It might not have been the kindest response, but it does not in any way justify calling the police,” Mr Monaghan said. Sharples alleged that the two men got her drunk to the point she ‘didn’t know what was happening’, pinned her down, threatened her and sexually assaulted her by penetrating her.

She claimed the two men said they would attack her, and called her a ‘sket’ and a ‘b****’. Sharples claimed they’d punched her, but there were no bruises to her face.

Both men denied any rape. Sharples refused to be medically examined, and tests on her underwear found no presence of semen. Sharples’ final victim was Lee Dixon, who met her through the dating app Badu.

They both exchanged ‘flirty’ messages, four days after Sharples had called the police on Mr Byrne and Mr Jackson. Mr Dixon invited her to his home on August 17, 2019.

The court heard how Sharples ‘suggested they go upstairs and made it clear she wanted sexual contact’. They had consensual sex, which was proved by a video recording which was taken, prosecutors said. More sexual messages were exchanged that day.

“‘Mr Dickinson’s first knowledge of any complaint was later that day when he was told the defendant had contact police and accused him of rape’.” Mr Monaghan said.

Sharples deleted her side of their WhatsApp chat, but the messages showed that they had been discussing how they’d enjoyed their sexual encounter. In his victim impact statement, Mr Dickinson said his experience with the defendant and her false claims led him to have a ‘mental breakdown’.

After Sharples was arrested, she told police: “You need to look into my mental health. That’s all I need to say. You’ll never understand, I had a s*** upbringing.” She also claimed she had emotionally unstable personality disorder.

“I’m a ticking timebomb,” she added, “you flip me off and I’ll flip back.” Mr Monaghan said it was a ‘conservative estimate’ that the defendant had cost the police, criminal justice, and sexual assault health services £120,000 as a result of her false allegations, due to the investigations they instigated, and all of the police, legal and medical time they required.

One victim in an impact statement told of how he’d ’moved to Sweden to reevaluate my life and I wasn’t part of my children’s life for a few years’. He said he now struggles to approach women, adding: “I have a lot of hate for that girl, I hope she gets what she deserves, it makes me sick to my core.”

A number of men told in their victim impact statements that they were prevented from seeing their children after the allegations, were excommunicated from their families and friends, struggled to form any romantic relationships, and have been left with PTSD. One man said the false allegations about him took him to such a dark place he thought about ending his life. Another called the defendant a ‘wolf in sheep’s clothing’.

Judge Clarke said: “I take the view that she was a sexual predator. This has taken resources away from genuine crime and genuine victims.”

Defending Sharples, Hunter Gray said the victims in the case would be questioning why the defendants had made the false allegations. Mr Gray said: “In reality there is no satisfactory explanation that can be given.

“It’s not just the harm to these victims, but genuine victims of rape are damaged, as is the wider administration of the criminal justice system.” He said of the defendant: “It is correct that there have been concerns about her mental health and intellect for a significant period of time.”

Mr Gray said that Sharples ‘still struggles to accept full responsibility’ but has shown ‘some remorse’ and ‘some insight’. He conceded that a custodial sentence was inevitable in her case.

Sharples, of Lucas Road, Farnworth, pleaded guilty to 10 counts of perverting the course of justice. She was remanded in custody.