Last season: 12th.

There has been trauma on Tyneside this summer. Some of their best players – sold. The manager who brought the first domestic trophy for 70 years – gone.

So, a challenging job awaits for new man Matthias Jaissle.

The momentum has gone out of the Saudi Arabian project with the departures of Eddie Howe, Anthony Gordon, Sandro Tonali and Bruno Guimaraes from St James’ Park. Uncertainty and instability reign.

Newcastle failed to land many of their top transfer targets, although Lukas Hornicek has arrived from Braga to address the goalkeeping problem, while midfielder Aladji Bamba is rich in promise after arriving from Monaco.

The same applies to Dutch midfielder Sean Steur, the 18-year-old signed from Ajax, and 20-year-old Bazoumana Toure, the Ivory Coast winger who has joined from Bundesliga side Hoffenheim.

Defender Amar Dedic has arrived from Benfica, having worked with Jaissle when winning the Austrian title with Red Bull Salzburg in 2023.

An experienced midfielder is key, with Tonali and Guimaraes gone, and Joao Palhinha has been mentioned after a deal for Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg failed to materialise.

Jaissle needs a good start – and more players – to settle the Toon Army’s nerves.

The notice for Joe Carthy, 15, was published on Monday morning but was taken down just hours later, amid a backlash over the circumstances of the fatal M9 motorway collision

Advertisement

The funeral notice for one of the five teenagers killed in Sunday morning’s M9 crash has been removed from RIP.ie following an influx of angry and abusive comments in its online condolences section.

The notice for Joe Carthy, 15, of Clonmullion, Athy, Co Kildare, was posted on Monday morning but taken down within hours, amid a backlash over the circumstances surrounding the fatal collision.

The remaining four teenagers who died — Kamil Pustkowski, 17, from Limerick; Jack Kennedy, 17, from Athy; Jeremy O’Brien, 18, from Carlow; and Alex McCarthy, 17, also from Carlow — have yet to have funeral notices published.

It is understood the death notice was removed due to a wave of negative and abusive comments left in the condolences section, where users vented their anger regarding the circumstances in which the group of teenagers drove the BMW the wrong way down the M9 motorway.

The BMW was involved in a head-on collision with a Hyundai near Moone, Co Kildare, killing all five teenagers instantly, reports the Irish Mirror.

The innocent driver and passengers in the Hyundai — sisters Alma and Niamh Kinsella, aged in their 30s, and their younger sister Ella Hendricken, in her 20s — sustained serious injuries in the crash.

Ella’s seven year old nephew, who was travelling as a rear-seat passenger in the car when it was struck by the BMW, is also seriously injured.

The sisters and the young boy had been on their way to Dublin Airport to catch a flight to the UK for a wedding. According to the Irish Times, RIP.ie, which is owned by The Irish Times Group, said it did not comment on individual funeral notices.

Meanwhile, undertaker Joe Rigney, of Rigney’s Funeral Directors, declined to comment on the removal of the notice, the Irish Times reports.

Want to see more of the stories you love from Belfast Live? Making us your preferred source on Google means you’ll get more of our exclusives… To add Belfast Live as a preferred source, simply click here.

Welcome to our Five in Five game.

The rules are simple. Each day we want you to give us five correct answers inside five minutes.

Will you beat the clock? Take part and return for more tomorrow.

Today’s question set by BBC Sport’s Joe Rindl.

After more quizzes? Go to our dedicated Football Quizzes and Sports Quizzes pages and sign up for notifications to get the latest quizzes sent straight to your device.

‘I rang them because I thought maybe there’s been an error on the website’

A woman has slammed a council for its “unfair” charges for garden waste to be collected. Radha Spratt, who only moved to Grafham in Huntingdonshire, last year, recently decided she was going to use her garden waste bins.

When she went to subscribe to secure her garden waste bin from Huntingdonshire District Council on August 14, she was left surprised by how much it would cost. She said: “I went online because that’s where you have to purchase your subscription.

“I saw that for one bin they charge you £57.50, and then for an additional bin it’s £30. And that subscription runs from April 1 until March 31. It said regardless of when in the year you pay for it, it will always run out on March 31.”

Radha believes it’s “unfair” that no matter what time of the year you choose to subscribe for the bin, people are charged the same. She added: “I thought this was a little bit unfair because for instance, if you’re moving into a new area maybe like February and you need garden waste, you shouldn’t really be charged that much for the whole year.”

Radha called the council to confirm if the charges online were true. She said: “I rang them because I thought maybe there’s been an error on the website or I wasn’t understanding the information properly.

“The lady I spoke to confirmed what was on the website was the right pricing structure. I said to her ‘don’t people complain about this’, and she said ‘people complain all of the time’.” Radha questioned if people complain, then why was the pricing set the way it was.

She added: “You can’t realistically hire a private company to get rid of water every few weeks, and the other option is taking garden waste to the tip. But, you can’t do that either because you don’t want to put it in your car, so what are you supposed to do?”

Radha feels the council “can’t justify” a flat fee, especially in a “cost of living crisis”. As a solution, Radha feels the subscription should be charged on a pro-rata basis or in intervals over the year, such as charged every quarterly.

On the HDC website, it confirms that the annual subscription runs between April 1 and March 31. It said: “Even if you join mid-year, you’ll be charged for the full year.”

If people don’t wish to sign up to the subscription, the council offers advice on garden waste community initiatives.

This offers several options including: Free Loose Compost, community compost schemes, subsidised home composters, shared bins, parish community bins, parish council allocation for land management, assisted collections, household recycling centres and free compost for parish councils.

Huntingdonshire District Council was approached for comment.

LONDON (AP) — In 2012, a smiling Jason Arday was photographed by the British press carrying the Olympic flame in the torch relay that preceded the London Games. He was back in the news in 2023 when Cambridge University hailed him as the youngest Black professor in the institution’s history.

Three years later, after weeks of news stories presenting evidence that he was a plagiarist and fabulist, Arday, 41, was found dead on Friday at his apartment in south London.

His death quickly led to a blame game. Cambridge has been criticized for elevating Arday in a rush to promote diversity — despite red flags about his qualifications — and the news media has been targeted for driving him to despair when his credentials and life story began to unravel under intense scrutiny.

Universities’ ‘due diligence’ criticized

James Cleverly, a Black member of Parliament who held Cabinet positions in past governments, said a number of universities “failed to do the proper due diligence” on Arday.

“We see now that he was not completely honest and he clearly did have frailties and failings,” Cleverly told Times Radio. “But he was teed up by a number of academic institutions because they desperately wanted a wunderkind. They desperately wanted to play on the fact he was young and Black and good-looking, and they wanted him to be their poster child.”

But Patrick Vernon, who was recently knighted for his work on racial equality, is focused on the media.

Coverage of the Arday story was out of proportion to his position in society, reflecting the higher standard to which people of color are held when compared with their white peers, Vernon said.

“The level of scrutiny that the late Professor Jason Arday faced was unprecedented,” Vernon said.

“He’s not the prime minister of this country. He’s not a current secretary of the civil service or local government or the (National Health Service) or a chief executive of a major PLC. … But he was treated at the same standard, which is outrageous,” Vernon said.

Cambridge trumpeted Arday’s arrival

Cambridge hired Arday as a professor of sociology of education in February 2023, when he was 37.

In announcing the appointment, Cambridge highlighted his place as the youngest Black professor in the university’s history and described him as a “respected scholar” focused on increasing the representation of Black, Asian and other minorities in higher education. Arday achieved this stature, the university said, even though he was born with a form of autism spectrum disorder that left him unable to speak until he was 11 and unable to read or write until his late teens — aspects of his biography that have since been questioned in news stories.

British universities have been working to hire more academics from racial and ethnic minority backgrounds so that their faculties better reflect the broader society.

Once F1 had left Europe in the autumn of last year, there was a shift.

“Suddenly, we felt like we were making really good progress,” says Shovlin.

“There were signs towards the end of the year. I’m not saying any of us thought we’d see what we’ve seen so far this year, but that we had a decent F1 driver.”

Antonelli has been rather more than that this year. He has taken the season by storm, and established a consistent supremacy over Russell.

In the best car in the field, Antonelli has taken six poles and six wins in 11 races and heads into the second half of the season, starting at the Dutch Grand Prix this weekend, with a 50-point lead in the championship, and well on course for his first world title. If it had not been for dodgy reliability, he could be even further ahead.

The extent of this turnaround has shocked almost everyone.

“We were all surprised,” Wolff says. “My thoughts were always that he needed to make the experience of knowing all the tracks, the pressure of performing on such a high level under the spotlight of the media, the constant public feedback, whether you’re doing well or not, the situations everyone wanted to be close to him.

“There wasn’t one single defining factor where I would have said that made it difficult for him, but this year, he knew exactly what to expect. What was really nice to see is that the self-confidence, without feeling any entitlement, has shone.”

Marco points to his son’s “very strong” mentality.

“In F4 and Freca, he started with not good results, and he was able to remake everything and, at the end, work hard and win the championship,” he says.

“We talk about F1. I don’t know what the spark is in his brain, but Kimi in the past did the same.”

Verstappen says: “For me, there was never any doubt that he would make the jump the year after and already be a lot more consistently competitive.

“It’s normal in the progression of a driver. In your rookie season, it can be quite tough, but at the moment, of course, he’s doing an amazing job.”

Kimi pays tribute to his father, describing him as his “rock”, while Wolff also praises the driver’s “typical Italian family”.

“They are caring, they are loving,” Wolff says. “Kimi’s character, he’s gentle, he has empathy, he has charisma, he has the right amount of intelligence for being a racing driver.”

Provost Kenneth Duffy joined members of the community at the open day where guests enjoyed teas, coffees and snacks while finding out more about the group and its activities.

A group helping men connect, socialise and learn new skills has welcomed local residents to its annual open day.

Wishaw Men’s Shed was launched by a small group of men in 2025, offering a welcoming place where people can sit down for a chat and take part in a range of activities.

While the open day took place at nearby Pather Community Centre, the group is normally based at Gowkthrapple Community Centre.

Local groups offering a wide range of support an information on a whole host of subjects including mental health and debt advice set up stalls in the main hall.

Provost Kenneth Duffy joined members of the community at the open day on Saturday, August 15, where guests enjoyed teas, coffees and snacks while finding out more about the group and its activities.

Robert McGinty, from Wishaw Men’s Shed, said: “We’re delighted to welcome people into our shed and show them what we’re all about. It’s a place to come along, have a chat, meet new people and get involved in activities in a friendly and relaxed environment.”

Provost Kenneth Duffy said: “It was fantastic to see the warm welcome at Wishaw Men’s Shed and to meet the members and local people who support it.

“Groups like this play an important role in bringing communities together, and I wish the Men’s Shed every success as it works towards securing a permanent home.”

Last week, it was confirmed that councillors approved a community asset transfer which will see Wishaw Men’s Shed take ownership of Gowkthrapple Community Centre.

The charity will pay £10,000 for the building, a price which is far below its estimated value but represents a significant discount justified by potential social benefit from the sale.

A programme of support will also be put in place by the council to help with issues such as maintenance, the group’s dependency on volunteers, fundraising and to improve plans for the building’s future.

The council’s communities committee unanimously supported officers’ recommendations to approve the transfer.

Councillor Fiona Fotheringham (SNP, Wishaw) said that the Men’s Shed team were “like coiled springs”, desperate to get going with the takeover and having already achieved great success with events and other projects.

This sentiment was echoed by Councillor Kaye Harmon (Labour, Motherwell South East and Ravenscraig) who praised the group’s open days which offered people a chance to see what it was like and enjoy tea and cakes.

Councillor Bob Burgess (Conservative, Wishaw) said the group had worked hard to get where they are now and emphasised the importance of their efforts to reduce loneliness, saying that the previous Men’s Huts were always full across the area.

*Don’t miss the latest headlines from around Lanarkshire. Sign up to our newsletters here.

And did you know Lanarkshire Live had its own app? Download yours for free here.

World Atlas has put together a list of the seven best cities to retire to in England, with York being recognised on the list.

When retiring, many people choose to move out of busy cities to quieter areas with thatched pubs, lots of countryside, and allotment gardens.

However, it is still nice to be in a place with lots of activities and things going on to fill your time with, and York is a great choice for this.

Why is York a great place to retire to?

On the city, World Atlas said: “York’s retirement appeal starts with how much of the city can be reached on foot.

“The downtown core sits inside just over two miles of medieval city walls, and a full lap of the ramparts is a habit for locals.

“The National Railway Museum, which bills itself as the largest of its kind in the world, is a short walk from the train station and drew more than 650,000 visitors in 2025.

“It holds Mallard, the steam locomotive that set the world speed record for steam traction in 1938, and entry is free.

“The Shambles is a narrow medieval street of overhanging timber-framed buildings, and it anchors an afternoon of browsing that stays comfortably walkable.

“York Racecourse runs a full flat-racing calendar between May and October, and York Minster, one of the largest Gothic cathedrals in northern Europe, hosts evensong most days of the week.”

York has so many restaurants to test out in your free time with spots covering a range of cuisines.

Whether you fancy some Italian pizza from Cresci or want to enjoy some good while looking over the river at Star Inn the City, York has plenty of food spots.

If you want to do some shopping, you can go to the Shambles Market for fresh fruit, cakes, and gifts.

After walking around the market, you can stop at one of the many food stalls such as Smokehouse Burritos, Thai Season, and Crumbles Desserts.

Through the summer, you can enjoy walks along the river and spend a day relaxing in the museum gardens.

Even in the winter, the city feels cosy with Christmas lights dotted around York and huge decorated trees.

Do you agree that York is a great place to retire to? Let us know in the comments.

A man was cycling through the woods when he crossed paths with an aggressive grizzly bear – and managed to escape with 60 injuries and an exposed kidney

When 47-year-old Colin Dowler went cycling to look for hiking routes on an unassuming summer day in 2019, he never expected to have one of the most dangerous experiences of his life.

The man was cycling down a narrow logging path near Mount Doogie Dowler, in British Columbia, Canada, when he came face to face with a grizzly bear – he told the Guardian.

Colin got off his bike, hoping not to scare the animal, and that it would move on past him – having encountered black bears before, he expected both animals to act the same, saying, “this was the first time I had seen a grizzly, and it was staring at me.”

Instead, the bear began moving towards him until they were just a couple of feet apart. Seconds later, it closed the distance further, prompting Colin to position the bike between them, holding out his hiking pole towards the animal.

The bear then bit down on the pole and tossed it aside. Growing nervous, Colin threw his bag to the side in hopes the animal would be attracted to the food he had packed, unsuccessfully.

The bear grew aggressive and began to prod Colin with its paw, prompting the man to throw his bike at it, to no avail.

With increasing violence, the bear lunged forward and sank its teeth into Colin’s side, then lifted him into its mouth and carried the man 30 to 40 feet towards a bush.

“I was in crushing pain,” he said, when the bear began tearing into his thigh with enough force for Colin to hear teeth grinding against his own femur.

Fearing for his life, Colin described his memories of silently saying goodbye to his wife and children.

Until he remembered he had packed a pocket knife to take on the ride. Using both hands while still pinned beneath the animal, the man was able to reach the blade and drive it into the bear’s neck.

Blood started spilling from the animal as it finally retreated from where it was attacking Colin.

Advertisement

With the little energy he had left, Colin managed to cut the sleeve from his shirt to create a makeshift tourniquet for his leg, fearing he would bleed to death otherwise.

Pedalling with only one leg for around 45 minutes, he finally reached a logger’s cabin, where he asked for help. Five workers rushed to help and used first aid kits to patch up Colin’s 60 puncture wounds before the air ambulance they had called for arrived, around an hour later.

At the time, one of the injuries was so serious that Colin’s kidney was showing through the wound. He then went through around six and a half hours of surgery and spent 40 days in hospital recovering from the incident.

Since then, Colin has reportedly been back in the woods and hasn’t abandoned his passion, relying on techniques to fight away the trauma.

“I have since bumped into a few black bears on the trails, too, but I yell, and they get out of the way,” he said.