In case you haven't noticed, it's very hot. Major heat waves have hit regions all

Netflix's 'Five-Star Chef' Season 1 features talented chefs vying for the opportunity to run a five-star restaurant in London

Whether it’s a payday treat, self-gifting or some darling décor to refresh and get you in the mood for stress-free styling, it’s funny how little pleasures can pick you up. From sweet side plates for a bank holiday bake-off, to beautiful bedding, these decos and homewares will make everyday items that more special – and won’t pull at your purse strings… 1. Mini Succulents, £2.50 each, B&M, in-store The cutest way to green up your work space is with faux flora. 2. IKEA Färgklar 18-Piece Service, Matt Light Pink, £35, IKEA Pretty in pink, this tableware blends function with flair and can be glammed up with gold cutlery and glass goblets when it’s time to pour the rosé wine. 3. Picture Frame, A6, £2.50, Flying Tiger Wall art made easy, this pansy print can be switched out for something more dramatic depending on your scheme. 4. Set of 4 Baking Side Plates, £16, Next Whether it’s home baking or a cupcake platter, these porcelain plates are made for tasty treats. 5. Eternal Bouquet, £6, Flying Tiger Think a summery tablescape illuminated in sunshine… and these pops of yellow can be placed along the centrepiece. 6. Habitat Mushroom Steel Lamp – Brass, £40, Habitat This modish mushroom light with satin brass finish loves the spotlight, and will add a little bit of glitz, radiance and shimmer wherever it’s placed. 7. George Tufted Pebble Cushion, £11, (left), Natural Teddy Knot Shaped 3D Cushion, £15, Lilac Chunky Boucle Cushion, £12, (centre), Natural, £12 (to right), rest of items from a selection, Direct.asda Scatter cushions are a stylist’s favourite feature. Whether it’s breathing new life into a tired sofa or refreshing your colour scheme, you’ll get a lot of bang for your buck with this funky knot shape and luxurious-looking boucle. 8. Habitat 90ml Scented Diffuser – Very Amber, £6.67, Habitat Decorative diffusers are brilliant for scenting a forgotten corner or guest bathroom, and this one comes in a beaming ceramic bottle you can always use again. 9. SO’HOME Red and Pink Abstract Duvet Cover & Pillowcase Set, King, £35, SO’HOME Rainbow Design Cotton Tufted Throw, Grey, £30, La Redoute It’s not easy to scrimp when you’re dressing a king-size bed, but this showy print is picture perfect. A lavish colour clash of lipstick pink and racy red, style it with the contrasting grey tufted throw for an ultra cool, boutique hotel vibe. 10. Everyday 4-Piece 100% Cotton 450gsm Quick Dry Towel Bale – Saffron, £14, Very An easy, instant pick-me-up, a bunch of buttercup yellow towels will make your bathroom look as fresh as a meadow. Includes two hand towels and two bath towels. 11. Midi Folding Crate, Dark Pink, £10.50, Daisy Park If a summer sort-out is on your to-do list, this folding crate is a fun, space saving, storage solution – and stackable if you buy more than one. Holds up to 8kg. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live How to help your teen with comparison culture on GCSE results day Women more severely affected by ME, study claims 4 hacks to get teens off the sofa and get active – as study warns of heart damage

A ceremony notorious for its shocking on-stage moments and outrageous red carpet looks, the MTV Video Music Awards, otherwise known as the VMAs, will take place on Sunday 30 August. But, due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, this year will be unlike any other. The event, which celebrates the best music videos of the year, was originally set to air live from Barclays Centre in Brooklyn, but those plans have since been scrapped. Instead, the show will consist of various live outdoor performances across New York City from artists including Ariana Grande and Miley Cyrus, which will all be streamed online and presented by Scream Queens and Hustlers star Keke Palmer. While little else is known about the details of the ceremony, one thing viewers can be sure of is that there will be plenty of show-stopping looks to enjoy. According to direct messages shared by fans on Twitter, the VMAs is planning on having a formal red carpet of some kind, but in what capacity it will take place is uncertain. Since the first ceremony in 1984, the VMAs has delivered some iconic outfits aplenty, ranging from the truly show-stopping to the downright bizarre. Over the years, we have seen Lady Gaga arrive in a dress made out of meat, Katy Perry pay homage to Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake’s double denim moment, and Lil’ Kim wear one of the most famous body-baring jumpsuits of all time. Click through the gallery above to take a look back through the most memorable and iconic looks to have ever graced the VMAs red carpet. Read More Fashion experts pick the essentials you need for your staycation

Princess Eugenie is often told she is "much better looking" in real life and is unsure if the remark is a compliment or not.

Aviation safety technology that helps prevent runway near-collisions should be deployed at more US airports, the government’s top

Girls miss more school or college days due to periods than any other reason – including colds, mental health or truancy, according to a new report. Periods cause girls to be absent from school or college for three days a term on average, compared with colds and flu (2.6 days), mental health (1.9 days) and truancy (1.2 days), the data released by washroom provider phs Group has revealed. This equates to 54 lost education days over the course of their teen years, the equivalent of 11 academic weeks. The findings form part of phs Group’s Period Equality: Breaking the Cycle report, now in its third year, for which Censuswide polled 1,262 girls aged 13-18 years across the UK. The majority (82%) cited cramps as the main reason for this, while almost one in five (19%) said they stay away from lessons because they’re embarrassed about being on their period, and one in 12 (8%) said it’s because no period products were available to them. This is despite the introduction of period equality measures in recent years, designed to improve access to free period products in education settings. “It’s important to recognise that huge advances have been made in giving girls access to free period products in schools across the UK. What we must do now is close the gap between providing schools with all the products they need and getting them into the hands of any girls that need them, for whatever reason,” said Kelly Greenaway, period equality lead at phs Group. “We know from our own data providing schools with products, that they have more than enough for their girls, so we need to tackle the misconceptions around free access to products in washrooms, and the stigma and shame that goes hand-in-hand with failing to have open conversations about menstruation.” Since the launch of the Government’s Period Product Scheme in January 2020, which provides free period products to education settings in England, via phs Group, 99% of secondary schools and 94% of post-16 organisations have ordered products through the scheme. However, the report published today highlights how periods remain a barrier to education for many girls – with the number of girls missing school due to their periods almost the same for the 2023 findings (54%) as the findings in 2019 (52%), before free sanitary product schemes were introduced. Despite the roll-out of such schemes, over half (52%) of the students surveyed said they did not find period products freely available in their school and college settings, while one in seven (14%) said they did not know if they were available. To help tackle the issue and raise awareness, phs Group is launching a new period equality podcast – called The Blobcast: Free The Period – hosted by menstrual wellbeing and confidence educator Kasey Robinson. Robinson said: “I know too well about the barriers facing so many of us when it comes to our menstrual health. It’s simply not enough to blame absenteeism figures on access to products alone. “On the ground, the story is clear: we aren’t being educated, supported and informed enough about periods. Menstruation is still a taboo subject, and our experience is a secret to keep to ourselves and something we feel forced to hide. In education settings, this is leading to more and more girls staying away from school. “Without workshops, learning resources and the support for and from teachers and caregivers, this issue will stay the same, or get worse,” Robinson added. “It should not be a revolutionary act to teach people about periods, it’s a right. We need to break the cycle of shame and encourage open and honest conversations about periods – exactly what The Blobcast is seeking to do.” The Blobcast: Free The Period launches on all free streaming platforms on October 18. More information can be found at www.phs.co.uk/TheBlobcast.

TL;DR: The Vitamix 5200 blender is on sale for $299.95 this Prime Day, saving you

As a society, we like to swear. Swear words have a strange power over us.

It’s Saturday night in Sin City, 9pm local time. One hour until lights out. Walking out of the media centre, across Tuscany Suites and Casino car park and up through the various security checkpoints, you arrive at the highly-coveted, yet strangely downplayed open space that is the Formula 1 paddock. Halfway down, between the garages of Aston Martin and Alfa Romeo, lies the grid access lane: a portal to the chaos forthcoming. There is a chill in the air. A cool 15C temperature which, told all week, is about to play havoc with tyres in the 50 laps ahead. A pause for breath and then the steel-faced American bodyguard gives the go-ahead. On you stroll, pretending you belong here. Welcome to the curiously flummoxing experience that is the F1 pre-race grid. And this is not any old grid. This is Las Vegas: F1’s newest super-venue, where no multi-million-dollar expense has been spared (save a manhole cover or two). In the near-distance are 20 cars all lined up in order, with at least a dozen mechanics and engineers per car. And in the gaps in-between lie everyone else – the VIPs, the executives and the media – relishing or reeling in the madness of it all. Forty minutes until lights out. Effectively, there are two choices as a grid bystander: stay at the front of the pack, scrummaged in the melee to catch a glimpse of the A-listers, or head speedily to the back of the start-finish straight to rise up for air. Your route? By any means necessary. Down the middle, tiptoeing down the sides, most likely a zigzagging of both. Aston Martin owner Lawrence Stroll trots down alongside his wife to the back where his son Lance starts in 19th. He exchanges a joke with Sky Sports grid walk pioneer Martin Brundle: “Don’t bother me today!” he says. Brundle, sporting a striking dark blue jacket for Vegas’ F1 reincarnation, laughs as he awaits his cue from a producer in his ear. This is his terrain. He may well hate this, but Brundle is now best known for his memorable grid-walk encounters as opposed to his 15-year racing career. It started in 1997, when ITV first gained the rights from the BBC for F1 in the UK and executive producer Neil Dunacson first floated the idea. Before that, attempts to encapsulate the pre-race frivolities to audiences at home were caught up in old-school Formula One Management red-tape. Yet as Bernie Ecclestone took the sport into the 21st century so the broadcasting access expanded – and Martin’s grid walk era was born. He was said to be reluctant at first. Now it is his unorthodox home away from home. A plethora of TV companies have followed suit. Today, we’ll let Martin and the rest of them get on with it. It is a striking juxtaposition of the grid: while the pressure is high on broadcasters to keep viewers entertained with minute-by-minute soundbites, the written media can stand back and absorb this whole… thing. Whatever this is. Mulling around, with no real purpose other than the process of mulling around. Looking at the grandstands to the side, ticket-holding F1 fans record and capture every moment and you think to yourself in the real, morally just world, they’re probably more deserving of this spot than you. Nonetheless, on you go. Engineers sit in the cockpit, toying with the complex intricacies of these 220mph machines, revving the engines so brashly it is hard to hear yourself speak. It is a baffling mish-mash of car-staring, celebrity-glancing and photograph-taking. “Portrait or landscape?” I ask one VIP couple, who request a photo in front of Daniel Ricciardo’s AlphaTauri. “Let’s do both” comes the response. Those “very important people” are signified with a pink pass dangling around their neck. But the real celebs are simply identifiable by the hordes of people around them, people desperate for that picture which will deliver hundreds upon thousands of likes on Instagram. They come in all shapes and sizes: DJ Steve Aoki, model Paris Hilton, LIV rebel golfer Ian Poulter. And, towering menacingly over them all, seven-foot-plus NBA icon Shaquille O’Neal. Fifteen minutes until lights out. Stumbling towards the front, a gap opens up around the outside of Charles Leclerc’s pole-sitting Ferrari, before it’s blocked off again. Instead, head down, you attempt to carve your own racing line through the chaos down the middle and bang: you’re in the shot of Brundle’s conversation with one star or another. Quick, act natural: hurry on through. As is procedure, the home national anthem of the Star-Spangled Banner rings out. A loud horn then blares indicating a quickening of proceedings. Walking back into midfield again, you saunter past FIFA president Gianni Infantino. Is there any occasion he does not miss? Today I feel… Formula 1. Bumping into recent interviewee Willy T Ribbs – “howdy partner” – is the last brief interaction. Any conversation on the grid is usually short-lived but now, 10 minutes until lights out, time’s up. FIA personnel rush the lot of you away, herding the cattle to the exit-door. The process now is a delicate balancing act: walk slowly enough to take in every last second yet quick enough to avoid an ear-clipping from the racing bouncers. Mechanics frantically push tyre trolleys through the crowds back to the garages; one Williams staffer swears under his breath. Las Vegas 2023 is a far cry from the tranquillity of yesteryear at Budapest and Spa-Francorchamps. Eventually the grid is cleared and, quick as a flash, it's over. You can breathe. The drivers can breathe. Brief respite before the action out on track. Sharing the spotlight with the stars of yesterday and tomorrow is entertaining. A privilege. A taste of a different world, even if it is as a supporting act loitering in the background. Now though, the food chain is restored. The unparalleled uniqueness and flashiness of the Formula 1 grid is perhaps unmatched in world sport. For half an hour you walk with the stars, real and fake, and then return to normality. But after a build-up saturated in speed and splendour, lights out is finally imminent. You’ve had your time: back to the laptop and coffee machine you go. Read More Christian Horner suggests Las Vegas Grand Prix solution to ‘brutal’ schedule Las Vegas Grand Prix dazzles on debut with usual dose of Max Verstappen reality How Formula 1 cracked America Christian Horner suggests Las Vegas Grand Prix solution to ‘brutal’ schedule ‘It happens’: F1 fail to apologise or issue refunds to Las Vegas fans F1 2023 official calendar: All 23 Grand Prix this year

TL;DR: Through May 31, you can score the Watch From Anywhere Bundle — which includes

If you’re a body-care stan (like we are), then I’m sure you’ve heard of the scrub king brand himself, Frank Body. Best known for its coffee scrub-in-a-bag, Frank Body is honest, clean, and likely popping up on a FYP near you. While I loved its popular coffee scrub, the messy aftermath was a major turn-off. That’s why when I heard that the brand’s new chemical exfoliator/scrub hybrid in tub packaging had gone viral on TikTok, I simply had to put it to the test — along with some other goodies like a cherry lip scrub and an AHA body lotion. Spoiler alert: I loved them all, and I not only know why the Glycolic Body Scrub has TikTok fame, but I also understand why it’s currently on pre-orders only (no worries, you can still add to cart, it’ll just be two weeks longer to ship). I suggest you keep on reading to see exactly why I think this scrub is well worth the wait — before it all sells out again.