I’m quite proud of how far I’ve come with accepting house spiders.

They’re not going to hurt us, after all, and though we might see more of them in autumn than any other time of year, they’re not “coming indoors” – they’ve likely always been there, and cannot usually survive outside.

But I confess I’m not so zen about craneflies – the winged, giant mosquito-looking critters I’ve always known as “daddy longlegs”.

These flitting, eerily spindly insects are terrifying for a reason. As a child, playground chatter had it that they carry the most powerful venom of any spider, yet they can’t break our skin to administer it.

Speaking to HuffPost UK, ecologist, conservation scientist, and entomologist Professor Adam Hart of the University of Gloucestershire said this myth is wrong on more levels than I expected.

Firstly, he told us, craneflies “aren’t spiders”.

“They are in the same insect group as house flies and mosquitoes,” he said.

And not only do they not bite or sting people, but they “are not venomous in any way” – never mind being the most venomous spider in the world.

Granted, some people – especially those in America – use the term daddy longlegs for other species, like cellar spiders and harvestmen.

Harvestmen have poison (not venom), which they spray all over themselves when attacked, but this can only kill insects and spiders – and is far from the most powerful toxin in the world.

Cellar spiders can bite and do have venom, but not enough to kill us. The British Arachnological Society said “this species presents absolutely no danger to humans or to pets”.

Though I find the creatures – which apparently love to fly in your face for no reason other than looking menacing – petrifying, Prof Hart points out that they have their place in the ecosystem.

Especially during the start of the colder season, he said, when they can help to provide a vital food source for birds and pollinators.

“They are totally harmless and provide a huge energy boost for insect-feeding birds and mammals at a difficult time of the year,” he shared.

They can also reveal the health of an ecosystem. More craneflies might mean a more diverse and flourishing natural environment, the Natural History Museum said.

“But,” Dr Hart conceded, “they can be really annoying! Keep windows shut and they will mostly stay outside.” You don’t have to tell me twice.

Nicole Kidman is getting reflective about her past relationship with fellow A-lister Tom Cruise.

The Eyes Wide Shut co-stars were married for more than a decade between 1990 and 2001, with the Australian performer looking back on this time during an interview with British Vogue.

“Because of who I married at such a young age, I was thrust into [the spotlight when] I was 22,” she claimed.

“I got married so young,” she continued. “Suddenly I was 22, 23 years old and I had this huge movie star husband. But it just seemed completely natural. We just fell madly in love and it was that simple.”

Nicole admitted: “I remember people saying to me, ‘OK, well this is really going to affect your career.’ I’m like, ‘I don’t care. I’m in love. I want to be married.’ And then I was his ‘wife’ and they were like, ‘See, we told you.’ I’m like, ‘So what? I wasn’t meant to marry the man I love? Of course I’ll throw my career away. I don’t care’.”

Back in 2015, Nicole reflected on how the breakdown of her first marriage led to her career entering a new phase.

“I was running from my life at that time, I wasn’t able to handle the reality of it and as an actor you have this wonderful thing where you can go and get lost in somebody else’s life,” she recalled.

“Out of my divorce came work that was applauded so that was an interesting thing for me.”

Nicole later married fellow Australian star Keith Urban, to whom she was wed for 20 years until their divorce was finalised back in January.

She told Variety earlier this year: “I am [doing well], because I’m always going to be moving toward what’s good. What I’m grateful for is my family and keeping them as is and moving forward. That’s that.”

“Everything else I don’t discuss out of respect,” she claimed. “I’m staying in a place of, ‘We are a family’, and that’s what we’ll continue to be. My beautiful girls, my darlings, who are suddenly women.”

Read Nicole Kidman’s full interview in the September issue of British Vogue.

Vodafone has rejected Zia Yusuf’s call for them to stop donating mobile phone SIM cards which are then given to asylum seekers.

Reform UK’s home affairs spokesman has written to the company’s board of directors warning them that they face jail if his party wins the next election.

It emerged recently that Vodafone has given more than 2,000 SIM cards to the Care4Calais charity, which gives them to migrants arriving in the UK.

Yusuf said: “Vodafone’s CEO is paid £10 million a year while her company hands thousands of SIM cards to illegal migrants in Calais, helping them break into Britain and putting British women and girls at risk.

“I have given her and Vodafone’s board the opportunity to publicly disavow this activity and cut ties with Care4Calais.

“Under a Reform UK government, there will be serious consequences for companies that knowingly facilitate illegal entry.

“Those responsible, including Vodafone’s CEO and company directors, will face criminal sanctions and prison. The company would be removed from government contracts and face regulatory sanctions.

“The days of gilded elites enriching themselves while ordinary British communities pay the price are coming to an end.”

But a spokeperson for Vodafone defended the company’s policy.

He said: “VodafoneThree’s programme provides mobile SIMs to registered UK charities – against strict programme criteria – for distribution to vulnerable people in the UK.

“Participating charities, regulated by the Charity Commission, distribute the six months connectivity to those they identify as being in need.

“All calls, texts and data are for UK use only.”

Listen to Commons People, the podcast that makes politics easy. Every week, Kevin Schofield and Kate Nicholson unpack the week’s biggest stories to keep you informed. Join us for straightforward analysis of what’s going on at Westminster.

Anne Hathaway attended the premiere this past week of her new movie, The End of Oak Street, in Los Angeles, but online, conspiracy theorists were not focusing on the film or Hathaway’s style. Their target was on the actress’ pregnant body.

Hathaway wore a blue top and low-rise jeans that revealed the bottom of her pregnant stomach. Social media comments from the event questioned whether her bare bump was real.

“That belly looks fake,” one top comment from Entertainment Tonight’s post reads, while another on X declares, “Is this what a fake bump looks like? Why does her tummy look so odd?”

In her Instagram post sharing her premiere photos, Hathaway seemingly addressed the conspiracy with her caption that included a peace sign and a kissing emoji: “Fake hair, real bump.”

This is not the first “bumpvestigation” targeting a powerful, famous woman in the public eye. There have also been online conspiracy theories that Beyoncé and Meghan Markle faked their pregnancy bumps or used surrogates.

So why do so many people on the internet believe that women are faking their pregnancies?

The most generous interpretation is that people are confused with what they see online. The ease with which people can make artificially generated photos is making people mistrust photos and videos. Just last week, an AI-generated pregnant photo of Zendaya circulated on the internet before being debunked.

But it’s also likely that these conspiracy theories are in bad faith. Bumpvestigations are a tool to question and challenge the success of women, according to gender and pregnancy researchers.

In the comments, people used the physical shape of Hathaway’s belly button and the size of her bump as proof that she is faking it. And this real judgment about a fake conspiracy is yet another example of how so many people believe they’ve got a claim on a person’s pregnant body, said Elizabeth Weigle, a scholar at the University of Georgia who has researched maternity wear.

“To me, every baby bump looks beautiful,” Weigle said, but noted that people can hold unrealistic beliefs of what a “perfect” bump on a celebrity should look like.

What might also be fueling the internet backlash is that Hathaway, who is expecting her third child, appears happy.

When Hathaway reveals her pregnant body, “it’s a proud-mother flaunt of ‘I feel good in my body, and I’m carrying child.’ That’s why they don’t like it because it is a display of our power and people want to squash that,” Weigle said.

Questioning someone’s pregnancy as fake “is a way to try to upend and delegitimise their status and power and to keep the gender hierarchy of men above women firmly in place,” said Amy Diehl, a gender equity researcher and co-author of Glass Walls.

“It is also another way to send a message to all women that they should stay out of public roles, or their lives, their bodies and their families will be publicly scrutinised in the same way.”

In this way, making people wonder if a bump is fake is meant to shame a woman who doesn’t fit this mould of what a pregnant woman should do or look like, said Jay Daniel Thompson, a senior lecturer at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in Victoria, Australia, who researches conspiracy theories.

“The ‘fake pregnancy’ allegations might also reflect a deep discomfort at seeing a pregnant woman – and a famous one at that – in public, living her life,” Thompson said.

This policing of pregnant bodies does not just happen to famous ones. “A bare baby bump draws overt attention to the femaleness of one’s body, which is why bump images draw intense scrutiny,” Diehl said. “For this reason, many women at work feel compelled to hide their pregnancy bump for as long as possible.”

One 2022 survey found that one in five mothers have experienced pregnancy discrimination at work, and the finding held across race, income and other demographics.

That’s why women styling their pregnancy so that the bump is the focal point is still radical. How singer and business mogul Rihanna dressed during her pregnancies created a “Rihanna effect” in the evolution of maternity dress because it modelled the message of “Just because I have a protruding bump doesn’t mean I’m not sexy,” Weigle said.

In 2022, Rihanna wore a sheer black, fishnet teddy dress to Paris Fashion Week while pregnant with her first son, and is known for her iconic maternity looks that displayed her bare stomach and used haute couture.

Hathaway, who is dressing more “straight-edge” than Rihanna did, is showing how normal and popular it now is for women to show their pregnant bodies fashionably, Weigle added.

And yet that same normalcy might be causing more fake pregnancy rumours. Weigle doesn’t think bumpvestigations will ever die, because people interpret pregnant women showing their bodies as “a flaunt,” and that bothers people.

The best way to keep the internet ablaze is to keep living your life unbothered, after all.

Since her new movie premiered, Hathaway has continued to highlight her pregnancy during her press tour, more recently in a black top that revealed her bare bump during a Jimmy Kimmel appearance.

“I’m sure she’s going to have fun with this now,” Weigle said about the conversation Hathaway’s maternity wear has started, but noted that she wishes the actress didn’t have to in the first place.

Hathaway’s comeback statement about her “real bump” shows she is “being playful about it, but also, it just makes me mad that she even felt like she had to do that,” Weigle said.

Nigel Farage has easily won the Clacton by-election – but refused to turn up for the result being declared.

The Reform UK leader told a rally of his supporters that he had been advised by Essex Police that “there is an organised campaign to disrupt” the announcement.

A spokesperson for the party said: “Essex Police advised Nigel not to attend the count tonight due to a credible threat against him.”

However, the force denied telling any of the by-election’s 34 candidates not to attend the count.

A spokesperson said: “We have a proportionate and robust policing operation to ensure the safety and security of all participants in the count.”

Farage received 22,239 votes, 12,784 more than his nearest rival, Count Binface, who received an astonishing 9,455.

The bottom line, however, is that Farage has been re-elected to the seat he originally won at the 2024 general election with a majority of 8,500.

The Reform leader resigned as an MP last month amid the furore over his failure to declare to a £5 million gift he received from a Thailand-based crypto billionaire shortly before that election campaign.

Parliament’s standards commissioner has launched an investigation, prompting Farage to claim he is the victim of a “witch-hunt”.

That probe, which was paused when the Reform leader resigned, will now re-start and could result in another by-election if he is found to have broken Commons rules and is suspended for more than 10 days.

Labour, the Tories, the Lib Dems, the Green Party and even Restore Britain refused to put up candidates in the by-election.

Labour chair Bridget Phillipson said: “Let’s be clear: this is no victory for Nigel Farage. The mountain of sleaze and scandal he and Reform are now engulfed in has grown and grown while he’s been trying to distract the public by fighting a by-election against a bin.

“This morning, Nigel Farage shouldn’t be celebrating – he should wake up and smell the coffee.

“He must come clean with the public and put all the facts on the table over his secret £5 million gift, his relationship with a convicted fraudster, and the other scandals his party is drowning in.

“Farage’s distraction by-election doesn’t clear his name – it just shows he likely has so much more to hide.”

Lib Dem Cabinet Office spokesperson Lisa Smart said: “Like most people who win a fight against a bin, Farage has come away looking daft and smelling of yesterday’s chip paper.

“Now that he’s heading back to Westminster, the investigation into his shady financial affairs and £5 million ‘gift’ must crack on. Reform claims to fight for the people, but they answer to crypto-billionaires.”

Listen to Commons People, the podcast that makes politics easy. Every week, Kevin Schofield and Kate Nicholson unpack the week’s biggest stories to keep you informed. Join us for straightforward analysis of what’s going on at Westminster.

The summer blockbusters don’t stop coming in 2026.

After The Odyssey and Spider-Man: Brand New Day make break records at the box office, audiences could have a new cinema obsession on their hands, and this one doesn’t feature Tom Holland or Zendaya.

The End Of Oak Street is a new action-horror film led by Ewan McGregor and woman of the hour Anne Hathaway, which was met with an overwhelmingly positive response in the lead-up to its release on Friday.

Written and directed by It Follows’ David Robert Mitchell, the film follows a family in 1980s suburbia who notice strange prehistoric goings-on in their idyllic neighbourhood.

Of course, there have already been plenty of comparisons to Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park, but that hasn’t stopped critics from describing the nostalgic romp as “thrilling,” “exciting”, and a “great rollercoaster” of a dinosaur movie in its own right.

After the aforementioned The Odyssey and The Devil Wears Prada 2, it looks like Anne Hathaway has another hit on her hands.

Here is what critics are saying about The End Of Oak Street so far.…

“Even when we’re watching people trying to escape a vehicle being stomped on by a 900lb extinct reptile, The End Of Oak Street feels original and exciting and not, to borrow a little internet lingo, like Jurassic Park’s ‘reheated nachos’.

“It’s one of the best films of the summer. And it didn’t even have to star Tom Holland and Zendaya.”

“Mitchell makes for one of the better Spielberg tribute acts in recent memory. Your inner seven-year-old will have a great time.”

“Just when you thought there was nowhere new left for hungry dinosaurs to rampage, here come producer JJ Abrams and writer-director David Robert Mitchell with a fresh, fun spin on stompy saurian carnage.”

“The film is only 99 minutes, wastes little time getting to the goods, and never stops for a moment to let us realise this is all pretty silly, but really who cares?”

“Everything from the conspicuously faded visual palette — all the better to conjure up that spirit-of-’82 feeling, my dear — to the Jaws-to-Jurassic Park method of withholding the monsters as long as possible reeks of a bygone era of Spielbergmania.”

“The End Of Oak Street is a story about the secrets in our homes, the bloodshed that’s latent in our paradises; about our pride meeting and subsequently being torn asunder by the apocalypse. It’s also the most thrilling dinosaur movie in ages and an ode to the life and sacrifices of dads.”

“I can’t fathom how The End Of Oak Street actually exists, even if it is a perfect example of what the big studios should be doing right now — making original spectacles, ideally ones in which Anne Hathaway fires a rifle at a velociraptor.”

“It still might be too earnest an approach for anyone more interested in a broader meta sci-fi swing. For those who want to check out a genuinely great rollercoaster of a dinosaur movie this summer, however, The End Of Oak Street delivers the best one in decades.”

“The End Of Oak Street may not be the follow-up that fans of Mitchell’s work were expecting, but it’s 90 minutes of edge-of-your-seat entertainment that commits to its concept and entertains throughout.

Big, loud, and guaranteed to make you jump at least once, it’s another eye-catching performance from the always-busy Hathaway, and proof that blockbuster entertainment doesn’t need to follow a franchise formula.”

“David Robert Mitchell delivers the biggest surprise of the summer with the best dinosaur movie since 1993.”

“The End of Oak Street expertly recalls this [Spielberg’s] style of genre filmmaking, right down to its score, choice of lenses, and more. Yet it isn’t mere throwback or homage. Instead, Mitchell has made a highly personal movie that resonates with its depth as much as it delights with its action and visual effects.

“Ultimately, the movie is like an old friend. There aren’t a lot of surprises, but you still enjoy their company. Maybe you haven’t seen each other in eight years or so, but there doesn’t need to be any explanation when you get back together. You know their secrets, warts and all, so maybe they don’t impress you like they used to but damn if it isn’t nice to see them again anyway.”

“The final act is on an entertainment level that the first hour is nowhere close to, delivering tense set pieces and humour (mostly intentional, we think).”

“You could argue that it’s not ‘good’ by conventional standards, but the film has a sui generis oddness that’s rare in summer popcorn productions. That quality is heightened by how hard it is to tell how much of it is intentional and how much is inadvertent.”

“The first chunk of the movie is a teary adventure drama; the last, an amiable group hug. In the middle, Mitchell decides his characters are morons and Oak Street becomes a comedy. Once the audience gets past their disorientation, the slapstick triggers enough silly goodwill that my auditorium squeezed out generous spurts of applause.”

“It is initially amusing but oddly inert; contrived, derivative, commercially driven and weirdly inconsequential, a Spielbergian mashup about dinosaurs running amok in suburbia that doesn’t feel like homage so much as a pastiche produced by an AI Spielbergbot.”

“If you’re looking for carefree summer fun, look elsewhere. The End Of Oak Street is not fun. It’s bleak, brutal, and ultimately infuriating.”

The End Of Oak Street is out in cinemas now.

Denise Welch has announced that she is stepping down from Loose Women.

In a video message posted on her Instagram page on Thursday evening, the Waterloo Road star revealed that she is leaving the panel show 25 years after first appearing on it, to focus on her acting career.

“This show has been part of mine and my family’s life for, well, nearly a quarter of a century,” she explained. “I have the most wonderful, wonderful memories and it’s just that acting has always been my first love and, I think, the thing I’m best at.

“At the moment, I’m having the most wonderful opportunities coming my way, and I’m grabbing them by the you know whats and running with it for this new chapter of my life. So, I just wanted to say that in person.”

She continued: “I’ve shared my life with you, the good, the bad, and the ugly. I’m very Marmite but I cherish all the comments, good or bad, that I’ve had over the years. And I just hope you wish me well for this new exciting chapter in my life.

“I’ll miss everybody, but I will remain friends with the whole gang – because despite what you might read, we are a happy band of campers.”

Denise concluded: “Anyway, lots of love, and thanks for sticking with me.”

Her Loose Women exit comes at a time the show is already facing scrutiny, with panellist Nadia Sawalha claiming she’s taking legal action against ITV due to them allegedly treating her “unlawfully due to my protected beliefs”.

ITV has not yet publicly responded to Nadia’s claims.

Originally known for her roles in shows like Spender, Soldier Soldier and Coronation Street, Denise first served as a guest panellist on Loose Women in 2001, before joining the show as a permanent presenter in 2005.

She left the show in 2013 amid creative differences behind the scenes, before finally returning in 2018.

In recent years, Denise has appeared in shows like Hollyoaks, Emmerdale and Channel 5’s Benidorm Is Murder, and she’s due to return to the reboot of Waterloo Road in 2026, too.

Earlier this year, she also appeared in the hard-hitting drama Tip Toe, with showrunner and writer Russell T Davies telling HuffPost UK: “She’s gorgeous. And a properly good actor! That’s the point!

“And I think, sometimes, [she’s] underrated as an actor, and that’s what was lovely about [having her be part of Tip Toe]. It was like, ‘come on, come and watch her do her stuff’.”

Outside of her acting career, Denise is also the mum of The 1975 frontman Matty Healy, which has allowed her to garner a new following thanks to her appearances at musical events like Glastonbury, as well as more celeb-focussed moments like Charli XCX’s wedding last year.

Splits within Reform UK have burst into the open despite Nigel Farage’s comfortable victory in the Clacton by-election.

Senior party figures have been left baffled by their leader’s decision not to turn up for the result declaration.

A Reform UK spokesman said: “Essex Police advised Nigel not to attend the count tonight due to a credible threat against him.”

But this was denied by Essex Police sources.

In a statement, the force said: “We have a proportionate and robust policing operation to ensure the safety and security of all participants in the count.”

Addressing supporters at a rally in the early hours of Friday morning, Farage suggested that the real reason for his non-attendance was he wanted to avoid the other candidates.

He said: “I’m damned if I’m going to stand on a stage, having won a resounding victory, a ringing endorsement of all that I’ve tried to fight for, and you’ve tried to fight for, and be demeaned and humiliated by nobodies.”

Farage won with 63% of the vote and a majority of 12,784 over self-styled intergalactic space warrior Count Binface, who came second with nearly 9,500 votes.

Labour, the Tories, Lib Dems, Greens and Restore Britain refused to put up candidates in the by-election, which Farage triggered by quitting as Clacton’s MP last month.

That came after parliament’s standards commissioner launched an investigation into his failure to declare a £5 million gift from a Thailand-based crypto billionaire.

Tim Montgomerie, who defected from the Conservatives to Reform with great fanfare last year, openly criticised Farage’s decision to dodge the count on X.

He said it had been “a very good result” for Farage, but added: “He should be on every TV screen this morning – underlining his win – and with that cheeky, trademark smile on his face. Being the Nigel that so many voters like the idea of hanging out with… in a pub.

“But this recently far too dominant aggrieved tone is still with us. It’s not good. You don’t skip your own victory count without a much better explanation.

“Anger from politicians can work but only if it’s on behalf of others – not yourself. He’s distracting from his victory. Puzzling.”

A Reform source told HuffPost UK it was “not a good look for Nigel to skip the count”.

But Reform deputy leader Richard Tice told GB News: “Ultimately, it was judged by Nigel’s team that there was there was sufficient anxiety, and concern, and threats, that meant that whilst of course he would love to have been at the count, ultimately his security counts for more than anything else, and I don’t think anybody, frankly, should in any way question his… team’s judgment on that.”

Listen to Commons People, the podcast that makes politics easy. Every week, Kevin Schofield and Kate Nicholson unpack the week’s biggest stories to keep you informed. Join us for straightforward analysis of what’s going on at Westminster.

For some people, the joy of a holiday is slightly dampened by the inevitable impacts holidaying can have on sleep. In fact, according to new research commissioned by sleep technology firm Simba has found that over three quarters of Brits 76% find that holiday travel affects their sleep, with over 2 in 5 UK adults finding that tiredness affects the first day of their holiday and more.

Very relatable. The first day of every holiday for me seems to be experienced in a tired and wired daze.

It doesn’t stop there, though. In fact, this tiredness can reoccur once you’re back home in what sleep experts have dubbed a “Holiday Sleep Hangover”.

According to Lisa Artis, Deputy CEO of Simba’s charity partner, The Sleep Charity, the “holiday sleep hangover” describes the lingering effects of travel-related sleep disruption caused by early airport starts and poor in-flight sleep to unfamiliar hotel rooms, changing time zones and disrupted routines

But unlike a traditional hangover, it can strike twice: “once when you arrive on holiday and again when you return home.”

“The holiday sleep hangover has become the hidden physical and mental cost of modern travel,” says Artis.

“Sleep disruption usually starts much earlier and can continue long after you’ve unpacked your suitcase. It’s the combination of lost sleep, changes to routine and, for some travellers, jet lag that can leave people feeling out of sync for days.”

Additionally, if you’re a sucker for an early flight so you can “make the most of the day” once you arrive at your destination, you may be doing yourself a disservice, Artis warns, saying: “If you’re up at 3am for an airport transfer after a restless night’s sleep, you’re already asking your body to function on less recovery than it normally would. That sleep debt can follow you into the first few days of your trip.”

“It can be tempting to over-optimise the night before you travel. But trying to force a really early night can make it harder to switch off,” she explains.

“You end up clock-watching and feeling more alert.”

Instead, she recommends keeping your usual evening routine calm and consistent.

According to Lisa, the most effective approach is getting back to a consistent routine as quickly as possible. That means returning to regular bedtimes, exposing yourself to daylight during the day and avoiding the temptation to stay up late to prolong the holiday feeling.

“Your sleep environment can help speed up recovery. When you’re trying to get your routine back on track, comfort and temperature become important,” adds Arts.

“If you’re waking because you’re too hot, too cold or uncomfortable, it can make recovery feel slower.”