Companies are using free smartphone apps as ‘fronts’ to allow them to spy on users’ text messages, intercept calls and even track their location, it was claimed yesterday. By accepting little-read terms and conditions when downloading apps, consumers give developers the right to harvest vast swathes of private information. Facebook insists that people using its Android smartphone app agree to give them permission to read their text messages, although the internet giant said it had not yet taken...

She tells her children to do as she says and not as she does. But the words of mother of 14 Joanne Watson – who receives more than £2,000 a month in state handouts – have fallen on deaf ears. Her 15-year-old daughter Mariah is pregnant, the father has ‘left the scene’, and the youngster is about to start living off benefits. Mrs Watson, 40, is raising her giant brood alone after parting from her husband John, 46, three years ago, and breaking up with subsequent partner Craig le Sauvage,...

Rihanna's raunchy performances are known to be hot and fiery. But the singer's stage literally caught on fire last night during a concert stop in Dallas as part of her Loud tour forcing her to cancel her performance. The show started normally with the Bajan songstress singing and dancing on stage but when a light on a beam above the star set ablaze it caused panic in the American Airlines Center. Scary: Rihanna was rushed off the stage at the American Airlines Center in Dallas last night...