Stokes has not played since the end of England’s dismal Ashes defeat. He sustained an adductor injury on the penultimate day of the series in Sydney and was severely hampered.

Stokes was expected to feature along with many England players in the early rounds of the County Championship amid competition for places in the Test XI.

He has been retained as captain despite the 4-1 Ashes loss, while coach Brendon McCullum and managing director Rob Key have also been kept on in their roles.

After those decisions were confirmed this week, Stokes said the past three months have been “the hardest period” of his England captaincy, and backed the current regime to take the team forward.

“He has been training so hard to be ready,” Campbell said.

“He has a lot to prove. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to know the Ashes didn’t go so well and he is a proud man who wants England to be the best team in the world.

“He, as a professional, is working at getting right and ready to go.”

Campbell also revealed Stokes plans to play for his county in the One-Day Cup this summer.

The 50-over competition is played alongside The Hundred, with counties often fielding second-string sides.

Stokes has not played in the 50-over format since the 2023 World Cup in India and has not featured in the competition for Durham since 2014.

But with Stokes having opted out of The Hundred and not currently in England’s white-ball sides, the One-Day Cup would provide him with some cricket between England’s Test series.

The series against New Zealand ends in late June and a three-Test content against Pakistan begins on 19 August.

Join the Woodland Trust’s volunteer-led walks every first Wednesday of the month, with relaxed routes designed to help people explore the countryside.

The Smithills Estate is the largest site the Woodland Trust has ever acquired in England, steeped in history and offering a wide variety of scenic walking routes.

With picturesque woodlands and expansive open spaces, the Estate attracts visitors from across Bolton and beyond.

Eddee Endley, events and communications officer for Smithills Estate, told The Bolton News: “We work with guided walk leaders on-site, who are all volunteers.

“They have been trained to confidently lead their own walks with groups.

“However, in the past few months, they haven’t had the opportunity to do so due to the winter weather.

“So, we wanted to establish a new monthly group that will run consistently.”

Smithills cows (Image: Richard Cooke)

The walking group is called Step Out at Smithills and is hoping to encourage more Bolton residents to take part.

“We have a walk on May 6, part of Greater Manchester’s Walking Festival, and there’s still space to come along.”

During the walk, guided leaders Pete Hargreaves and Alex Lidis will share insights into the Estate’s rich history.

“It’ll be quite a relaxed hike, so it’s not too strenuous,” said Eddee.

“We’re trying to bring both new and returning visitors to the site to establish a community of local walkers.”

The guided walks can accommodate between 15 and 20 walkers in total and will cover approximately 5km, running from 11am until 1pm.

There are some areas of slightly uneven footing, which participants should be mindful of.

“It’s a really exciting opportunity to meet people and be led by an experienced guide.”

Places can be booked via Eventbrite or by emailing SmithillsEstate@WoodlandTrust.org.uk.

Upcoming walks are April 1st with Pete Hargreaves and May 6th with Alex Lidis exploring the history of Smithills, scenic views, habitats and wildlife!

Walks are ~5k on footpaths and partly on uneven ground. Its moderate with some slightly challenging parts and may not be suitable for anyone with mobility issues.

MONACO (AP) — Pope Leo XIV visited the cosmopolitan Mediterranean principality of Monaco on Saturday to encourage its people to use their Catholic faith and wealth for good.

As a cannon boomed, Prince Albert and Princess Charlene met Leo at the Monaco heliport, just down the coast from the marina that is home to the megayachts of the rich and famous.

A brilliant sun made the Mediterranean sparkle as Leo emerged from the Italian military helicopter that had ferried him from the Vatican for the nine-hour stay. It’s the first papal visit to Monaco since Pope Paul III came in 1538.

At the palace, members of the royal family stood in the courtyard, the women dressed in black and with lace head coverings, waiting for Leo to arrive.

Leo is aiming to show how small states, such as the Holy See and Monaco, can punch above their weight on the global stage, especially in times of war, to uphold traditional Catholic values on the sanctity of all human life.

Monaco is one of the few European countries where Catholicism is the official state religion. And Prince Albert recently refused a proposal to legalize abortion, citing the important role Catholicism plays in Monaco society.

The decision was largely symbolic, since abortion is a constitutional right in France, which surrounds the coastal principality of 2.2 square kilometers (about 1 square mile).

But in refusing to allow it in Monaco, Albert joined other European Catholic royals who have taken a similar stand over the years to uphold Catholic doctrine on an increasingly secular continent. When Pope Francis visited Belgium in 2024, he announced he was putting the late King Baudouin on the path to possible sainthood because he abdicated for a day in 1990 rather than approve legislation to legalize abortion.

The visit includes a private meeting with Albert and Princess Charlene at the palace, a meeting with Monaco’s Catholic community in the cathedral and Mass in the sports stadium.

A coastal playground for the rich and famous, Monaco is renowned as much for its tax-friendly incentives and Formula 1 Grand Prix as its glamorous royal family. The son of the late American actress Grace Kelly, Albert spoke in perfect, unaccented English when he greeted Leo at the heliport. Leo was heard noting that he landed three minutes late.

Monaco’s population of 38,000 is heavily Catholic and also multinational, with only a fifth of the population actually citizens of the principality.

___

Winfield reported from Rome.

___

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

Is it by accident or design that Dakota Johnson has become the star for zeitgeisty sex and romance films? Johnson’s breakthrough role was as Anastasia Steele in the enormously popular Fifty Shades of Grey (2015). Adapted from the book series by E.L. James, it spawned a franchise that, for better or worse, has come to define BDSM in the mainstream cultural imagination.

In Celine Song’s recent film, The Materialists (2025), Johnson plays Lucy, a high-end matchmaker who enables wealthy individuals to bypass the random scrolling and swiping of dating apps and experience a hand-picked romantic match. Although in my review for The Conversation I suggest that the film is muddled in its message, The Materialists makes an effort to address the cynical business of marriage in our modern age – and the dangerous outcomes that can befall women when blind dating goes wrong.

Enter Splitsville, a new comedy film written by and starring Kyle Marvin and Michael Angelo Covino, with Covino also directing. This latest film is about open marriages.

While polyamory, ethical non-monogamy and private arrangements have existed for many years, these practises have recently come to the attention of the mainstream. This has happened alongside other identities, sexual orientations and practices that do not fit squarely into the rigid heterosexual monogamous norm.

Open relationships frequently attract everything from morbid curiosity to disbelief and ridicule in the media. Rarely, however, are they taken seriously. The time is ripe, then, for a film that explores open relationships as a legitimate lifestyle and practice.

How to be polyamorous (and flawed)

In Splitsville, Carey (Marvin) is married to Ashley (Adria Arjona). Ashley is unhappy in their marriage and is especially dissatisfied by their sex life. After Ashley announces that she wants a divorce, heartbroken Carey consoles himself in the company of his friends Julie (Johnson) and Paul (Covino).

Julie and Paul reveal to Carey that they are in an open marriage. Carey, while shocked, is also curious and asks about the rules of their arrangements: can they sleep with anybody, even someone they both know? “Yes,” Julie says, “there are no rules.”

Carey takes this proposition back to Ashley. Why go through the complications of a divorce when they could open up their relationship instead? The rest of the film follows the comedic fall-out of their sexual dalliances. But opening up their relationship doesn’t provide an easy solution to their problems.

Let’s return to our question. Does Splitsville take open relationships seriously? Well, no. The answer is easily found in Julie’s response to Carey’s question: there are no rules. Look at any guidance on open relationships and the best practice is clear: there must be agreed upon rules (or at least expectations), boundaries and communication between all parties.

The couples in Splitsville adhere to none of these things. Yes, this is not a didactic manual for how to be an ethnically non-monogamous couple. This is a fictionalised work about flawed couples whose bad practising of open relationships leads to trouble. But this is also another example of a film using a non-normative sexual practice as a metaphor for something else.

The aforementioned Fifty Shades of Grey isn’t really interested in BDSM. It uses BDSM (bondage, discipline, sadism, masochism) to symbolise Christian Grey’s childhood abuse and his warped sense of power – something practitioners of BDSM take issue with as it reinforces the idea that BDSM is a form of abuse. Similarly, Splitsville isn’t really about open marriages as it uses this as a plot device to allow the couples simply to get messy.

So what is the film interested in? Men getting into scrapes, maybe? After Carey sleeps with Julie (yes, of course this happens), Paul rages (even though technically this hasn’t broken any of his and Julie’s non-rules). Carey and Paul start fighting, which turns into an extended set piece.

Although this got laughs in my screening, I found it indulgent. The men destroy Paul and Julie’s house, kill the pet goldfish and singe off Carey’s eyebrows. Later, Paul becomes involved in some dodgy dealings, including taking out loans in the name of his son, Russ (Simon Webster). This ends badly for Paul and his family. Even Russ gets in on the bad behaviour, stealing a jet ski and breaking another kid’s arm.

And what about the beleaguered wives? They have some fun. Ashley has a string of partners who provide some laughs. But the women certainly don’t behave as badly as the men. I doubt they’d get away with a destroying a home, stripping their marriage of assets, or committing fraud. Although perhaps the real loser in all this is ethical non-monogamy.

Confirmed Liverpool Legends Squad: Pepe Reina, Jerzy Dudek, Sander Westerveld, Sami Hyypia, Martin Skrtel, Ragnar Klavan, Martin Kelly, Fabio Aurelio, Gregory Vignal, Steven Gerrard, Thiago, Yossi Benayoun, Vladimir Smicer, Igor Biscan, Mark Gonzalez, Jay Spearing, Louise Schillgard, Peter Crouch, Dirk Kuyt, Ryan Babel, Jermaine Pennant, Albert Riera, Florent Sinama Pongolle, Natasha Dowie

A three-year programme called Culture Start is under way in Sunderland to build a “protective framework” around children in the most disadvantaged areas, aiming to close the UK’s entitlement gap around access to culture.

Nick Malyan, chief executive officer of Sunderland Culture, said: “More than 15,000 children and young people in Sunderland have lived experience of poverty.

Sir Nicholas Serota with Nick Malyan and students from Sunderland college (Image: Supplied)

“When heating, food, and housing are precarious, then cultural activities and experiences are often seen as a luxury.

“We know however that positive cultural experiences can be game changer.

“It’s more than a ‘nice-to-have.’

“Cultural participation is proven to build life skills, foster a strong sense of identity and self-worth, and improve life chances and social mobility.

Sir Nicholas Serota with Nick Malyan and students from Sunderland college (Image: Supplied)

“We see culture as being part of the essential scaffolding that helps improve life outcomes for children.”

Now in its second year, the scheme is already making an impact.

So far, it has reached 3,000 children and recorded more than 6,400 individual engagements in arts and cultural activities.

Culture Start is being delivered by Sunderland Culture on behalf of a partnership spanning culture, education, health, housing, youth services, and the community.

It focuses on year-round activities for 8,000 children in their own neighbourhoods, with free travel, food, and materials provided.

Professor Graham Thrower, head of the Institute for Economic and Social Inclusion at the University of Sunderland, said: “A key innovation of Culture Start is working collectively as a city to create a cultural eco-system for children and young people.

“This has enabled a step change in the city and the hope is it will provide learning for other places facing similar challenges.”

The evaluation shows the programme is helping to build resilience, confidence, and aspiration among five to 18-year-olds.

Funding for Culture Start has come from a range of supporters, including a £1.2 million Place Partnership award from Arts Council England.

Sir Nicholas Serota, chair of Arts Council England, said: “Culture Start is an inspiring example of how sustained investment in creativity and culture can make a real difference to the lives of children and young people.

“By placing culture at the heart of a wider partnership across education, health, and community services, Sunderland is helping to address barriers that too often limit access to excellent art and culture and the life choices and chances that can offer.”

The programme has also received backing from one of the city’s most famous cultural figures.

Singer Bryan Ferry, who grew up in a council house in Sunderland, said: “It’s important to have a cultural education.

“I was so lucky to have some great arts teachers and it opened up so many doors for me.

“I wish Culture Start all the best.”

Cultural activities are delivered in schools, youth centres, and community hubs, with free transport, meals, and materials provided.

The scheme also provides ‘Ignite bursaries’ of up to £500 for young people experiencing hardship to develop their artistic practice.

Nearly £50,000 has been invested so far.

Mr Malyan said: “Culture Start is about meaningful impact on those who need support the most, who might be impacted by poor health, poor housing or have educational and emotional challenges.

“This should not be lost.”

Roy Hodgson has stepped back into the pressure cooker of English football after making his return to management at 78 years old

English football has regained one of its greatest servants after Roy Hodgson made his coaching comeback this week. And the game is all the better for having one of the brightest managerial minds of the past 30 years back.

The former England, Liverpool and Inter Milan chief has signed on to lead Bristol City as interim boss for the rest of this season. And it will be his job to help salvage some success from the campaign after the Robins started this term in such bright fashion.

Hodgson has taken over the team as a short-term replacement for Gerhard Struber, who was fired on Friday. Bristol City sit 16th in the Championship with only a handful of games remaining, though the play-off places aren’t mathematically out of reach just yet.

The development has come as a particular shock after Hodgson appeared to retire for good when he left Crystal Palace a little more than two years ago. However, Mirror Football takes a look at some of the signs suggesting he would struggle to keep his distance from football for long.

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Health scare

Hodgson’s last deployment at Selhurst Park came to an unfortunate end after he was taken ill during a training session in February 2024. He was accompanied to the hospital by Palace chairman Steve Parish in a move that prompted his replacement.

READ MORE: Roy Hodgson makes shock return to management at 78 after Championship club sack bossREAD MORE: England reveal two pre-World Cup opponents in Florida training camp

“Following news that Roy Hodgson was taken ill during today’s ­training session, we can confirm that he is now stable and is currently undergoing tests in hospital,” read a Palace statement at the time. “Everybody at the club sends their best wishes to Roy for a speedy recovery.”

It wasn’t long before confirmation arrived that Hodgson was in a stable condition, though further details on the health scare were scant. Nonetheless, Hodgson soon stepped down from his role as manager and was replaced by Oliver Glasner, who was among those tipped to replace him at the time if he was fired anyway.

As a result, it was widely assumed Hodgson was retired from the job after such a frightening episode. That was until a certain Championship admirer with a lot still to play for this season came calling.

Managerial comeback

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Bristol City have demonstrated their taste by appointing Hodgson on a short-term deal until the end of the season. The Robins may be 12 points off the play-off spots with only seven games to play but it’s hardly mission impossible just yet.

After two years out of the game, there are valid questions to be asked as to whether the ex-West Brom and Watford chief is still up to the task. However, the club clearly has faith in his ability to make an impact in numerous areas of the club during his short-term spell.

“Roy’s appointment is about more than the results of the next seven games,” said Bristol City’s chief executive officer, Charlie Boss, in a statement announcing Hodgson’s arrival. “Over the remainder of the season, he will help us set the standards and values at the club that we will need to be successful going forwards.

“Roy is a vastly experienced coach who has achieved and won at the highest level. He will support me, our players and our football staff as we build towards achieving our potential. We are in the process of appointing a sporting director who will have a direct input into the recruitment of a new permanent head coach.”

Wife’s honest take

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Amid the chaos that comes with a return to coaching at 78, one who will be feeling its impact the most is Hodgson’s wife of more than 50 years, Sheila. However, it was actually his better half who helped convince him to return to the sport the first time he packed it in.

After a disappointing Euro 2016 campaign, Hodgson stepped down as England manager and went into hibernation for a year. He took over boyhood club Palace in 2017 and enjoyed a particularly bright spell in charge, which may never have come to fruition were it not for Sheila’s encouragement.

“We’ve been married 46 years,” said Hodgson in 2018 when discussing his wife and the move back into football. “There have been moments when we have discussed that together. There have been moments when we’ve thought, well, is this the moment now to do something else?

“Well, we tried that for a year. And she came to the conclusion that she better let me back in for a little bit longer.”

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The F1 bandwagon has arrived in Suzuka for round three of the 2026 F1 World Championship. The first two weekends of the season have been dominated by Mercedes, with George Russell winning the opening race in Melbourne before his teammate Kimi Antonelli took his maiden grand prix victory in China last time out. Russell leads the way in the drivers’ standings, four points ahead of Antonelli whilst Mercedes are over 30 points ahead of Ferrari at the summit of the constructors’ standings.

The FIA have made a rule tweak to qualifying coming into this weekend, which will see the permitted energy recharge per lap reduced from nine megajoules to eight. This should see the amount of energy saving the drives are required to do around a lap reduced. There has also been some spotlight over the Mercedes front wing following the race in China. Championship leader Russell believes other teams are playing games to try and affect Mercedes’ dominance in these early stages of the season.

“That is just how sport goes on to be honest,” Russell said. “That has always been the case. We have worked so hard to get ourselves in this position, and the best team should come out on top. We have obviously had four years of struggle. There have been two other teams over four years who have dominated and won.

“Just because we are sort of back on top, I do not think it is quite right, everybody is trying to slow us down, especially when you are two races in. It is a big old season, so things will change. We have already seen Red Bull is overweight and some things we saw in the press last week, McLaren have not brought an upgrade to the car. They are still running their Bahrain package. We should not forget these things. We do have an advantage right now, but I think we have just really hit the ground running and done a great job. We hope it continues.”

Defending constructors’ champions McLaren will be hoping for a better weekend than China a few weeks ago, where neither Lando Norris nor Oscar Piastri started the main race due to unrelated power unit-related issues on both cars. Piastri was fastest in second practice yesterday, with Norris fourth.

Max Verstappen has taken the last four pole positions and wins at the Japanese Grand Prix but it would be a major shock if that run continued this weekend, considering Red Bull’s struggles at the start of this season. The Dutchman was involved in some drama before the weekend has even got going, demanding a journalist “get out” of a press conference coming into this weekend.

With the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grand Prix weekends next month cancelled as a result of the war in the Middle East, this is the final race for five weeks until we reach Miami at the start of May. Conditions are set fair for qualifying so the session should be a dry one. Qualifying begins at 6am GMT.

Ulster are in a strong position in the race for the last eight of the URC, sitting in third position on 42 points

Ulster are back in action on Saturday in the United Rugby Championship, looking to bounce back from defeat on home soil last weekend.

Richie Murphy’s side were beaten 26-19 by provincial rivals Connacht at the Affidea Stadium eight days ago. They have the chance to get right back to winning ways in Italy this weekend as they take on Zebre.

Ulster are in a strong position in the race for the last eight of the URC, sitting in third position on 42 points.

Zebre find themselves rooted to the bottom of the URC, with just 12 points after 13 games.

Here is everything you need to know about the game..

When is the game?

The game is on Saturday, March 28th at 7.45pm

Where is the game?

The game takes place at Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi, in the city of Parma, Italy

Is the game on TV?

Yes the game is live on Premier Sports

Is the game being streamed?

Yes, the game can be streamed at Premier Sports or on URC.tv

Team news

Ireland Triple Crown winning stars Stuart McCloskey and Nick Timoney return for Ulster, with James Humphreys set to make his first start.

Ulster: McIlroy; Kok, Hume, McCloskey, Z Ward; Humphreys, McKee; O’Sullivan, Herring, McAllister; Henderson, Hopes; McCann, B Ward, Timoney.

Replacements: James McCormick, Angus Bell, Scott Wilson, Matthew Dalton, Juarno Augustus, Nathan Doak, Ben Carson Ben Moxham

Betting odds

Zebre 2/1

Ulster 4/11

Draw 50/1

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Antonelli became the youngest driver to take an F1 pole position in China and is emerging as a serious threat to Russell in the championship – they start the race separated by four points, less than the margin between first and second places in a grand prix.

Russell, who was complaining of a lack of rear grip throughout qualifying, was quicker than Antonelli in the difficult first sector of the lap but lost out over the rest.

“Really strange session,” the Briton said. “We were both very fast all weekend. We made some adjustments after final practice and in this qualifying we were nowhere so we have to try and understand.”

Piastri, meanwhile, was pleased with the obvious progress McLaren have made this weekend, during which they have for the first time been in the mix with Ferrari as the closest challengers to Mercedes.

“We have looked good all weekend,” said the Australian, who is yet to start a grand prix this season after a crash on the reconnaissance lap in Australia and a battery failure in China before the start.

“We don’t have the pace to match Mercedes still but we are getting closer.”