The Wooden Cornhole Board with Bean Bags, sold by Smyths Toys, may pose a health risk due to possible asbestos contamination in the sand inside the bean bags.

The Office for Product Safety & Standards confirmed the recall, stating that the toy does not meet the requirements of the Toys (Safety) Regulations 2011.

A spokesman for the Office for Product Safety & Standards said: “This product presents a risk to health as the sand inside the bags may be contaminated with a small quantity of asbestos.

“Asbestos is a banned substance because it poses a risk to health even at low levels of exposure.

💛🐺 Bring out the claws.

The PlayStation 5 DualSense Wireless Controller – Marvel’s Wolverine Battle Yellow Limited Edition is available at Smyths Toys! 🎮🔥

ONLY £74.99!

Shop now at Smyths Toys 👉 https://t.co/LkG6itIsTX pic.twitter.com/K8Rwdp4SKf

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— Smyths Toys UK (@SmythsToysUK) September 15, 2026

“The product has been withdrawn from the market and recalled from end users by Smyths Toys.

“We recommend owners stop using the product immediately.”

Smyths Toys has stopped selling the item and is asking customers to return it for a full refund.

The affected product number is 233254 for the poplar wood board with six colourful toss bags in red, and blue and white stripes.

The company advised customers to visit www.smythstoys.com/store-finder to locate their nearest store, or to email cshelpdesk@smythstoys.com with further queries.

A spokesman for Smyths Toys said: “Testing has shown the sand-like material inside the toss bags may contain trace levels of asbestos.

“The overall risk is low, however the manufacturer is recalling the affected items as a precaution.

“Customers should stop using the recalled product immediately and keep it out of reach of children.

“Please return the article to your local Smyths Toys Superstores for a full refund.”

Cambridge City Council’s planning committee approved plans for a multi-million pound redevelopment of Cambridge Market Square, but traders say they have been left in limbo waiting to hear where they will be temporarily relocated

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Readers of CambridgeshireLive have been voicing their opinions regarding the council’s proposals for the market and the ambiguity surrounding future developments.

Traders at Cambridge Market say they have been left in a state of uncertainty as they await a temporary relocation following the approval of refurbishment plans. Cambridge City Council’s planning committee voted in favour of a multi-million pound redevelopment of the market square at the beginning of this month.

The council stated it was “committed” to maintaining the market, which has been in operation since the Middle Ages, but traders remain in the dark about their temporary location.

The council confirmed it had lodged a planning application last week for temporary stalls to be erected on several neighbouring streets, with a decision anticipated in November. These include King’s Parade, St Mary’s Passage, Petty Cury and Sidney Street, with additional stalls available on Fisher Square and Sussex Street during peak trading times.

One reader, Riccy said: “Surely these market traders didn’t think the council were going to do anything for them, did they? The council can’t even sort themselves out.”

Sinnikal says: “Stalls around both sides and the back of the church should suffice.”

Bogboy suggests: “The beginning of the end. And good riddance.”

Oopsiblewoff asks: “Can’t we have a theme park instead? Maybe a roller coaster that goes over King’s College. It should be solar powered.”

Imner questions: “What does the council propose to do? Cover it over? Provide new facilities? Replace the cobbles for ‘safety concerns’, or just make a mess of the whole thing and try to lose most of the stalls? I go for the latter, nasty, dirty place! Not! And when the council have finished concreting it all over (cobbles are so dangerous), not! The rents will double, market traders will go elsewhere, and the people of Cambridge will lose out, as will the occasional visitors, and the city will be soulless! BUT nice, clean, and tidy!

Thebo33man feels: “Not needed. Doesn’t need changing or upgrading. Leave it as it is.”

Nunu11 says: “It’s run since the Middle Ages, bit of a clue there, if it’s not broken, don’t fix it.”

Timbiscuit believes: “The betrayal by this council on a vanity project is awful. In a few years’ time, they should be held accountable when it has proven to be a failure.”

What would you like to see happen to the current market holders? Comment below or HERE to have your say.

By SOPHIE CHURCH – POLITICAL REPORTER

Published: 00:32 BST, 18 September 2026 | Updated: 00:33 BST, 18 September 2026

Labour was last night urged to get a grip on AI after a tech boss warned a ‘silicon species’ could develop to rival humans.

In yet another warning of AI’s threat to humanity, Mustafa Suleyman, the head of Microsoft AI, said on Thursday that developing autonomous AI risks creating a ‘a new silicon species which will no doubt compete with us for resources’.

Speaking on the BBC‘s Today programme, Mr Suleyman said: ‘If we all create AIs that are able to act autonomously, that can define their own objectives, that can earn money, that can own assets, that could run businesses, we’re essentially seeding a new silicon species which will no doubt compete with us for resources – no matter how much it cares about humanity and loves us – which I think is Anthropic’s intention.’

He added Anthropic’s aim is ‘mistaken and misguided’. 

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Mr Suleyman is the latest AI employee to sound the alarm over the existential dangers posed by AI.

And on Wednesday OpenAI revealed six new incidents where AI had attempted to conceal information from its human tester or acted against instruction.

In a rare interview on the issue, AI minister Kanishka Narayan said this week that AI could have ‘profound consequences’ for Britain’s national security.

He added that ministers were prepared to introduce regulations and legislation if necessary, and invest in Britain’s cyber-defence.

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Mustafa Suleyman, the head of Microsoft AI, said on Thursday that developing autonomous AI risks creating a ‘a new silicon species which will no doubt compete with us for resources’

On Wednesday OpenAI revealed six new incidents where AI had attempted to conceal information from its human tester or acted against instruction

Former armed forces minister Al Carns urged ministers to ‘move fast’ by ‘ensuring that any company in the UK has sufficient guardrails prior to using AI agents’

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But the Government was last night told to act more urgently to protect Britons from AI harms.

Former armed forces minister Al Carns urged ministers to ‘move fast’ by ‘ensuring that any company in the UK has sufficient guardrails prior to using AI agents’.

He told the Daily Mail: ‘The UK needs to mitigate the risk and seize the opportunity from AI. This is by becoming the safest place to use AI agents, enhancing everything from economic growth to daily life, whilst simultaneously becoming the world leader in AI assurance (the process of evaluating whether systems are safe).’

Labour MP and chair of Parliament’s All-Party Parliamentary Group on AI Allison Gardner pushed Government ‘to convene real experts and start planning an AI bill’.

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Ministers ‘also need to empower the AI Assurance Consortium that was set up last month and commit to creating a strong AI assurance sector,’ she said.

Dr. Janet Bastiman, chief data scientist at British company Napier AI, said: ‘Shared principles are a useful starting point, but ministers need to explain how those principles will translate into enforceable safeguards, who will be responsible and when businesses can expect clarity.’

Chair of Parliament’s science and technology committee Chi Onwurah meanwhile told Mr Suleyman to explain how Microsoft would work with governments to keep AI safe.

She said: ‘The boss of Microsoft is right to raise concerns about uncontrolled AI and Big Tech’s obsession with superhuman and silicon super powers, and I welcome his desire to set limits.

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‘But he might be more credible if he were setting out how Microsoft would work with governments and other tech firms to keep AI safe and secure in measurable and verifiable ways people can trust.

‘Microsoft has been bundling AI in with its products for over a year now. Surely Microsoft should already be ensuring it is safe?’

Both Microsoft and Anthropic did not respond to a request for comment.

To the King’s supporters it is an act of revenge served so cold it comes with a layer of permafrost. While there has been little love lost between the House of Windsor and the Spencers over the decades, few predicted a hatchet-job of such deliberate spite.

To Prince William, the betrayal is even more personal. He has spent decades imploring those who continue to profit from his late mother’s memory to let her rest in peace. Now he must add his own uncle to that list.

Whether Earl Spencer’s explosive book is truly an exercise in fraternal devotion – an overdue righting of the wrongs many feel were done to Diana before and after her death – may be a matter of opinion. But there is little doubt that he has flashed a finely honed scalpel to reopen old wounds.

When news broke that the four-times married aristocrat had put pen to paper after almost 30 years, I was privately told William was ‘deeply disappointed’.

‘What good can ever come of it?’ one source wondered.

‘You can imagine how this has gone down,’ said another.

Yesterday I heard indirectly that William was ‘furious’. I can’t officially confirm that, as Kensington Palace is staying out of the fray, at least for now.

Let us not forget that the Prince of Wales is in an invidious position. His late mother’s resting place lies within the sprawling grounds of Althorp, the Spencer family seat. In other words: to get to her, William has to get through him.

When news broke that the four-times married aristocrat Earl Spencer had put pen to paper after almost 30 years, I was privately told William was ‘deeply disappointed’, writes Rebecca English

Of course Earl Spencer – who so memorably vowed at Diana’s funeral that William and Harry’s ‘blood family’ would protect her boys – would never deny William access to pay his respects.

But one can only imagine how difficult this episode will be for the heir to the Throne, particularly knowing that his estranged brother, Harry, has recently forged such a close relationship with their uncle.

It is a moot point whether the Duke of Sussex knew precisely what was coming. Some have reported that he was ‘aware’ of what was written in the book, and some have wondered if it might have come up when the two men met during the Sussexes’ recent stay at Althorp. Others, however, claim that like the King and Prince William, Harry was not informed about the book’s contents because security was supposedly so tight around the final manuscript – this week’s theft of the Dutch-language edition notwithstanding.

As for the King, it’s difficult for me to convey the true sense of anger and disappointment at what Earl Spencer has done.

On Wednesday night, when the Mail reported the book’s sensational claim that the then-Prince of Wales said of Diana ‘we will forget her soon enough’ shortly after she died, it took just 90 minutes for the Palace to respond.

The speed of that response shows just how much the claim incensed the King’s senior officials and the monarch himself. The statement broke the Palace’s long-held mantra of refusing to comment on any royal biography or memoir (even Harry’s) as a matter of principle.

But the phrasing used to rebut the earl’s claims, clearly designed to inflict maximum damage, was the biggest clue as to how they truly feel: ‘His Majesty is mindful that the pain of fraternal grief can cloud reason, affect judgment and colour memory in ways others do not recognise, even many years after such a loss.’ ‘“Recollections may vary” on steroids,’ one former courtier remarked to me, referring, of course, to Queen Elizabeth’s famously masterful reaction to Harry and Meghan’s bombshell Oprah interview.

There seems little doubt that a conversation between Charles and the earl took place in those fraught days back in 1997. But there are only two men in the world who know exactly what was said – and both have wildly different memories of what was discussed, and of the emotions and language used. For what it’s worth, I am told that Earl Spencer, as a historian, has always been a strict note-taker.

Earl Spencer memorably vowed at Diana’s funeral that William and Harry’s ‘blood family’ would protect her boys

Julian Payne, the King’s former communications secretary, told the BBC yesterday: ‘I personally was working for (Charles) during the 20th anniversary of the late princess’s death in 2017… He was very clear that there was never to be any criticism, never to be any pushback on the narratives that were usually highly critical of him – but he was absolutely emphatic that we were to respect her memory and not undermine it in any way.

‘It seems to me very odd that in the moment itself, with the grief of his family and his own shock, that he would choose that moment to use those words. It’s just not language that I recognise.’

Another friend of the King candidly admitted to me that the breakdown of his marriage to Diana had been ‘wretched’ and there were ‘wrongs on both sides’. But they empathised how ‘paralysed’ he was with shock, grief and, yes, self-recrimination.

They also point out that it was Charles who went against both the initial wishes of his own family, and that of Diana’s, for her to be treated as a private citizen. And it was Charles who insisted on flying to Paris to bring his ex-wife’s body back home. By all accounts, he even fought for Diana to be afforded a full state funeral.

Why, they ask, would Charles have wanted her to be ‘forgotten’ or diminished in any way, when he was privately battling for her to be given greater recognition?

Whatever the truth, it must be hard to see what good can come of all this. Scores may have been settled. But at what cost?

Nathan Cammish, 35, is believed to be in the Scarborough area and is the subject of an ongoing public appeal from North Yorkshire Police.

Anyone who sees Cammish is urged to dial 999 immediately.

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He is described as white, around 5ft 10in (178cm) tall, with dark brown hair and blue eyes.

A North Yorkshire Police spokesperson said: “Extensive enquiries have been carried out to locate him, and we are now asking for the public’s help to find him.

“We believe he may be in the Scarborough area, where he has known links.”

Anyone who has seen Mr Cammish or knows of his whereabouts is urged to contact North Yorkshire Police on 101, quoting reference 12260179870.

Information can also be shared anonymously through Crimestoppers by calling 0800 555 111 or visiting their website.

Lillia, from Bolton, Greater Manchester has been missing for six days

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The tearful mother of a 13-year-old girl who has been missing for six days has made an emotional appeal for her safe return.

Lillia, from Bolton, Greater Manchester, was last seen at 1.50pm on Saturday at the Trafford Centre shopping complex – where she boarded the 247 bus towards Altrincham.

Greater Manchester Police said it is unclear how long she stayed on the bus or where she got off.

Lillia was wearing a black zip-up hooded top, light blue baggy jeans and a black Nike backpack.

She is described as white, slim, around 5ft 5in, and has light brown hair and wears glasses.

In a direct appeal to Lillia read on her behalf, her mother Jessica said: “Lill, I love you so so much.

“My heart is breaking without you here. I need to know you are safe. We all you need back home safe and well.”

Chief Superintendent Helen Critchley, of Greater Manchester, said officers have carried out “extensive inquiries” since Lillia was reported missing on Friday and “continue to work tirelessly to find her”.

The last confirmed sighting forms an important part of the investigation, she said.

The district commander for Bolton said: “We are asking for anyone who was on the bus and remembers seeing Lillia to get in touch.

“We are also keen to hear from anyone who has CCTV or Ring/Doorbell footage that could be relevant to the investigation, or people who have had any contact or conversations with Lillia to contact us since she has been reported missing.

“Lillia, if you see this appeal please know your family love you, miss you and just want to know you are safe.

“You are not in any trouble. They simply want you to come home.”

A Major Incident public portal has been set up where people can submit information on the GMP website at https://mipp.police.uk/operation/06GMP26K01-PO1

The late Queen dramatically offered to restore Princess Diana‘s royal title on the day of her funeral, a bombshell book claims.

Earl Spencer describes in his explosive memoir – being exclusively serialised by the Daily Mail – how Queen Elizabeth proposed handing back his sister’s Her Royal Highness title, which she controversially lost when she divorced Prince Charles.

The earl was told of the extraordinary offer by Robert Fellowes, the Queen’s Private Secretary and his brother-in-law, as they travelled by Royal Train to Diana’s private burial at Althorp, the Spencer family’s 13,000-acre estate in Northamptonshire.

Writing in Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, the earl, 62, said Diana was ‘dreadfully hurt’ by the ‘petty and vindictive’ removal of her HRH title a year earlier and that despite the Queen’s ‘well-meaning’ gesture, he decided to reject the ‘consolation prize’.

‘I felt that I knew in my bones how she would view this posthumous award,’ he writes. ‘That’s very kind of the Queen, of course. But what’s the point, Robert? Now? I mean – Diana’s dead.’

The revelation comes as the Mail today publishes its first astonishing extract from Charles Spencer‘s devastating memoir.

The book has sent shockwaves through the Royal Family. Earl Spencer’s incendiary claim that – days after Diana’s death in a car crash – Prince Charles said: ‘Rest assured, we’ll forget her soon enough’, triggered a war of words yesterday.

The earl’s description of Charles’s alleged outburst prompted an extraordinary statement from the Palace, with royal aides questioning the veracity of his account and suggesting that grief can ‘cloud reason, affect judgment and colour memory’.

Charles and Diana are seen visiting Venice during their trip to Italy in May 1985

Earl Spencer, Prince Harry and Prince William walk slowly behind the funeral cortege of Diana

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The response echoed Queen Elizabeth’s famous ‘recollections may vary’ retort to Harry and Meghan after their interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2021.

Royal commentators said the strength of the intervention showed the King was ‘absolutely incandescent’ with Earl Spencer. In today’s extract, the earl claims:

• Diana told her father she could not go through with the marriage to Prince Charles a month before the wedding – but he told her it was ‘impossible to pull out’;
• The day before the wedding Charles told Diana that while he was happy to marry her, he was not in love with her;
• Diana was so unhappy that she considered suicide and drove herself ‘more than once’ to Beachy Head cliffs in East Sussex;
• Charles sounded ‘giddily elated – like a lottery winner’ shortly after Diana’s death.

Announcing the book last month, Earl Spencer said that, ahead of the 30th anniversary of Diana’s death next year, he wanted to write down his own thoughts and memories ‘rather than having the discomfort of again reading the opinions of others’.

The Mail has learnt that Prince Harry was aware of his uncle’s memoir but has not read it and was not briefed on its explosive contents, despite staying at Althorp this summer.

Diana lost her HRH title after her divorce in August 1996 and was instead styled Diana, Princess of Wales.

Describing the Queen’s offer, made just hours after he delivered his defiant eulogy at Diana’s funeral, Earl Spencer writes: ‘When we had gone some miles, Robert beckoned me to follow him into a quiet corner of the carriage. 

‘I have just received a call from Her Majesty …and she would like to offer Diana her HRH title back.’ Mr Fellowes died in 2024.

The earl later wondered whether he was right to reject the offer, and that ‘maybe Diana would have seen some point in having HRH carved on her tombstone’. 

The Earl, Diana and Charles at the Earl’s 21st birthday party in 1985 at the Mirabelle restaurant in London

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The front cover of Charles Spencer’s book ‘Swan Song, Diana: My Sister’

But he said he ‘had no doubt that the consolation prize was hollow, however well-meaning the Queen’s gesture’, adding: ‘The title should never have been removed during her life, in which case it would not have been necessary to offer it to her in death.’

The memoir provides, for the first time, Earl Spencer’s insight into his sister’s deeply unhappy 15-year marriage and the then Prince of Wales’s love for her rival Camilla.

He recalls that on the day of Diana’s magnificent wedding in July 1981, he visited her at Clarence House where he found her ‘sitting quietly in front of a mirror’.

‘Only much later would I discover that, as she confided to a close friend, her husband-to-be had told her the previous day that she needed to know that he was very happy to marry her, but he was not actually in love with her,’ he writes.

Royal watchers were stunned by the Palace’s highly unusual response to Earl Spencer’s book.

In the statement, released on Wednesday night, it said: ‘While we do not comment on books as a matter of principle, His Majesty is mindful that the pain of fraternal grief can cloud reason, affect judgment and colour memory in ways others do not recognise, even many years after such a loss.’

One royal aide later described the earl’s account to the BBC as a ‘demonstrably untrue claim’ about a deeply compassionate man.

Julian Payne, the King’s former communications secretary, yesterday said the King had told staff never to criticise Diana for years after her death.

Mr Payne, who worked for the then Prince Charles and Duchess of Cornwall for five years from 2016, including during the 20th anniversary of Diana’s death in 2017, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘He was absolutely emphatic that we were to respect her memory and not undermine it in any way.’

The Palace declined to comment on the earl’s further claims last night.

A Belfast mum has spoken of her frustration and concern as her nine-year-old son has been left without a school place after being told his current one is no longer suitable.

Parker McGreevy, 9, has a number of additional needs but had been attending a primary school up until the end of last term. A SEN provision had been made available to him at the school but he struggled when there was an increase in the number of other children who began attending it.

His mum Louise McCrory says that at the end of the last school term a meeting was held where it was deemed that Parker would develop better at a dedicated special school and his SEN statement was updated to reflect this.

Parker then left his previous school after Louise was told it did not have the resources to meet his needs, and she believed he would get a new place based on the meetings that had taken place. However, three weeks into the new school year Parker is still without a place in school – with Louise claiming the Education Authority (EA) has told her there are no places available for him.

Parker made headlines a few years ago after he defied a tough start in life where he suffered multiple strokes shortly after his birth. The young boy has since been diagnosed with autism, epilepsy and is awaiting an ADHD assessment.

Speaking to Belfast Live, she said: “Parker had been going to a school in West Belfast since nursery and it had been very good at doing what it can to support him. He has had a statement of special educational needs throughout his time in school and had been in his own unit where he was doing very well.

“Last year things got a bit more challenging for Parker and as other children joined the SEN unit he found it difficult and his behaviour became harder to manage.

“At the end of last term there was a meeting and it was decided that Parker would do better in a dedicated SEN school and his statement was updated to say so. We agreed that it would be better for his development and I was led to believe that as he would no longer be attending his previous school there would be a place lined up for him. But it turns out there wasn’t.

“The EA has said Parker still has a place at his old school, but I have emails saying that it does not have the resources to meet his needs so he is stuck in limbo at home. We have been told there is only one school that would be suitable for him but there are no places there.

“After the meetings that we had at the end of last term it is disappointing that the new school year has started and Parker doesn’t have a school he can go to.”

An EA spokesperson said: “EA has repeatedly highlighted the urgent need for significant investment to increase special school capacity and expand specialist provision in mainstream schools. We fully recognise the family’s concerns and understand how important it is that their child receives the right support at the start of the school year.

By OLIVIA ALLHUSEN, FOREIGN NEWS REPORTER

Published: 21:19 BST, 17 September 2026 | Updated: 23:34 BST, 17 September 2026