Singer Lauren Mayberry hits back at critics who claim her stage outfits are 'too revealing'

"My body, my life, my choice."

Ellie Goulding on swearing off men - and then finding The One

After topping the charts, winning awards  and even playing at William and Kate’s wedding, two years ago Ellie Goulding almost crashed and burned.  Now she’s back with new music, a new attitude and a brand new fiancé.

Apollo 11 launch: The women who helped to put a man on the moon

As the Apollo 11 countdown began, JoAnn  Morgan was the only female allowed into the Firing Room. Eleanor Steafel hears how she, and two other exceptional women, fought for their place at Nasa – and in history

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Why are so many vulnerable Chinese women being detained at Yarl's Wood?

The note passed to a client in desperation reading, simply, ‘help me’ should have been enough to secure Shuai’s path to safety. But after handing the slip of paper to a man at the brothel where she was enslaved - forced to work there after her husband had taken insurmountable sums from loan sharks and then gone AWOL, leaving her to flee China for Britain amid ever worsening threats from the men seeking recourse - immigration officers arrived the following day, taking her to Yarl’s Wood, where she would go on to be detained for almost a year. A report released yesterday revealed that Chinese trafficking victims like Shuai make up the largest group of female immigration detainees in Britain: 420 in 2018, of whom 92 per cent were not removed from the UK but released, left to pursue their asylum cases.

Welcome to Wimbledon 2019: Vegan strawberries and cream, 'Eco-champions' and old balls please

The greenest thing at Wimbledon is usually the grass on Centre Court. But proceedings this year in SW19 have taken on a distinctly eco-friendly hue.

8 life lessons we've learnt from the new series of Big Little Lies

There’s television. And then there are television phenomena. And nothing prepared us for Big Little Lies. From the loins of Reese Witherspoon’s female-focused production company (oh how they sneered), it was glamorous, it was aspirational, it was murdery. There was sex, there was violence, there were explosive ratings (no one’s sneering now). There was Nicole Kidman. There was an abusive husband smashed to his death on a flight of concrete stairs. But most of all there was us on the sofa with a rustling crisp packet and a ‘hear me roar’ attitude. Now it’s back and so are we: fully addicted and viciously relating.

Sports day, and six other things we get competitive about when we really shouldn’t

Nobody likes getting caught out doing something they shouldn’t – not least when you’re being a bit of A Sort, and hoping no one will notice.

I left London for the sake of my family – but was it a mistake?

I know why a record number of Londoners moved out of the capital last year – more than 300,000, according to figures just published – joining an exodus to the countryside. After all, we did it, inspired by a different life for our young family. It’s not difficult to understand; we parents are biologically programmed to want the best, free-range lives for their children.

Jill Ellis hopes for a USA team win – but her loyalty is conflicted

When the England women’s football team squares up against current title holders, the USA, this evening, they will be challenging one of their own. Jill Ellis, the US team captain, will coach her players from the sidelines on how to knock England out of the cup – while her father, John, sings “You’ll Never Walk Alone” to himself.

Confessions of an eco-Glastoneer: how sustainable is it to be a green festival-goer?

“Are you regretting your choices?” It is 27 degrees and, as sun floods Castle Cary station in south Somerset, where I am standing armed with the 1.5 x 1m sheet of cardboard I’m due to be sleeping in for the next four nights, the answer is, unequivocally, yes. While a paper tent is likely not the living quarters of choice for most festival-goers (this one included), it is the most planet-friendly way to pitch up at Glastonbury, the music behemoth that has been held on Worthy Farm more than 30 times since 1970 and is this year more determined than ever to bleed green.

The secrets of Chernobyl that we’ll never hear

Chernobyl may have taken place in 1986, however something about it is clearly feeling very 2019. A couple of weeks ago, Harvard historian Serhii Plokhy’s gripping best-seller, Chernobyl: History of a Tragedy, won the coveted Pushkin House Book Prize, having already been awarded the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-fiction. Meanwhile, this evening a the series Abandoned Engineering, shown on the Yesterday UKTV channel, will be visiting Pripyat - once a showpiece city meant to represent the future of the Soviet Union which was abandoned after the explosion at Chernobyl.

Meghan Markle clearly suffers from American Wife Syndrome - and I should know

The news this week that £2.4 million pounds of tax payers' money has been spent on the refurbishment of Frogmore cottage caused more than a few eyebrows to be raised. One commentator said the renovation of the 19th century grade II-listed property, turning it from five separate homes into a single property, appeared excessive and extravagant, while the Telegraph’s columnist Allison Pearson speculated that could Meghan be suffering from American Wife Syndrome? American Wife Syndrome describes the sort of woman who initially deems a listed cottage “quaint” then sets about essentially razing it to the ground.

My dad gave up his career to look after me – and I’m so glad he did

My dad was the coolest dad at the school gates. That’s because he was the only one. The other mums assumed he was a mysterious divorcee with joint custody, or a tragic widower raising his daughter alone.

KT Tunstall: The day I learned the truth about my real dad

When singer-songwriter KT Tunstall was contacted last year by ITV series Long Lost Family, offering to trace her biological father, she swiftly accepted – but had low expectations of a fairytale ending.

Sheridan Smith: ‘People wanted to hear how happy I was. But inside I was screaming’

Three years ago, Sheridan Smith was lost to ‘Drink. Desperation. Humiliation.’ Once the  most promising actor in theatre, she became better known for her offstage troubles than onstage  performances. But now, back with a blockbuster musical role, new fiancé and renewed  sense of purpose, she tells Louise Gannon about hitting bottom – and bouncing back again

My husband’s put-downs have brought us to breaking point

As I walk up the path to my friend Millie’s* home for her 50th birthday party, the familiar nervous butterflies swarm in my stomach. My husband Dan* is at my side. He squeezes my hand as the door opens and we enter the throng. I’m still on edge as we sit down to dinner. Soon, Dan will take centre stage and, as usual, I’ll be the butt of his jokes.

9 weekend plans that midlifers always make... then break

You are going to do a face mask. You’re pretty sure there’s a tube of something mask-y in the cabinet, by the anti-anxiety drops/drugs/gels. Also, you need to find a scrub to prep for the amazing fake-tanning situation that is about to happen.

Meet Lady Cowdray: polo princess turned mindfulness guru

On a chain around Viscountess Cowdray’s neck hangs a tiny silver seated figure, with a pointed head, a heart and a hole in its middle. It’s called the Meditator and she designed it herself, as a reminder to live in the present moment, rather than fretting about the past or future.

10 skills that you only have if you're a midlifer

Not buttons and hems and socks and stuff. Not darning. No, no, no – can’t do all the Victorian mending. But we are quite good at helping to mend people’s broken hearts, relationship rifts, crises of confidence and shattered self-esteem. It’s what we’re here for, partly. That, and smashing the patriarchy. Oh, and is anyone else getting really quite impressively excellent at mending (or at least briefly prolonging the life of) domestic appliances using YouTube? So satisfying that it’s almost sexual.

The over-30s festival survival guide

Festivals, in the noughties, were the great divider. The litmus test. Were you serious enough about your music to deal with the horror that lay beyond the gates? Could you put aside your personal hygiene, sleep and nutritional requirements for four days? Were you that determined? That hardcore? Could you survive with just 10 packs of Marlboro Lights and a few litres of Jack Daniel’s for sustenance?

The 85-year-old tech entrepreneur who made her staff millionaires

The 'Free the Nipple' campaign is everything I hate about feminism

When I read about the “Free the Nipple” activists protesting topless outside Facebook’s New York headquarters last week, my head lolled forward onto my keyboard to spell this: tt1232!uweirh34 !1kjaeljrk. And actually that’s a pretty accurate summation of how I feel about most of the capricious campaigns embarked on in the name of fourth-wave feminism.

The disastrous truth about dating significantly younger men

Last week, Cosmo Landesman wrote about the appalling truth of dating significantly younger women in this article. Here, writer Kate Mulvey reveals the ups and downs of her experience with younger men after a year of living as a cougar

A midlifer's guide to sex education

So they are modernising sex education. Finally. Making it more inclusive. FINALLY. But here are some lessons and truths that we really think should be included in the curriculum. Since sex is so confusing. For teenagers. And everyone else. Oof. Here are some bits and pieces that may help ‘frame’ the action. Because everything in life is about sex. But sex is always about something else... See? Confusing.