Manchester United were inactive in the January transfer window but have won three games in a row under new interim boss Michael Carrick

Manchester United chose not to make any first-team additions with the January transfer window now closed. But interim boss Michael Carrick has won his first three matches in charge.

After a summer in which they welcomed the likes of Benjamin Sesko, Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha, United opted not to splash any cash in the winter window. These players were purchased for head coach Ruben Amorim, but he was shown the door in January after a 14-month stint at the helm.

Carrick has been handed the reins as interim manager and after wins against Manchester City and Arsenal, his side left it late versus Fulham but prevailed 3-2 to make it three wins from three. Away from the club, loanee Marcus Rashford is still strutting his stuff for Barcelona and a decision has reportedly been made regarding his future.

The English forward has been dealt a blow from the pitch however, with a United icon snubbing the 28-year-old. Mirror Football brings you the latest updates from Old Trafford.

FOLLOW OUR MAN UTD FB PAGE! Latest United news and more on our dedicated Facebook page

Marcus Rashford snubbed

Rashford joined Barcelona over the summer and in that time he’s made quite an impact under Hansi Flick. He has contributed 10 goals across all competitions.

READ MORE: Marcus Rashford makes final decision on Man Utd return after Michael Carrick lifeline

OPINION

Abbie Meehan

Despite this loan period being so prolific, United hero Nani still does not think Rashford measures up to one of his Blaugrana team-mates, Lamine Yamal.

In a video uploaded to social media for Goal, Nani was asked to compare some of Europe’s best attackers. Firstly, the Portuguese star was told to choose between Barcelona’s Yamal and Chelsea starlet Estevao. He chose the former.

Then, Rashford and Bukayo Saka were put to Nani for a verdict. He opted for Rashford before making a few more decisions. In the next round of picks, it was Rashford and colleague Yamal who were put side by side.

Here, Nani snubbed the United loanee and said: “Right now? Lamine Yamal.” In fairness to Rashford, the 39-year-old went on to choose Yamal as his No. 1 out of all the players he was queried about, adding: “He’s my type of player.”

Casemiro U-turn blocked

In January, Rashford’s team-mate at his parent club Casemiro was subject to a stark announcement. It was revealed the Brazilian is set to depart at the end of the season upon the expiry of his contract.

A goodbye video was released last month with United making it very clear that the 33-year-old will not remain at the club beyond the summer. But the Brazilian has impressed in his previous few fixtures.

Advertisement

Under Carrick, Casemiro has looked confident in the middle of the park and grabbed a goal and an assist in the win against Fulham. Fans have called for United to U-turn on their decision to let Casemiro leave, but Sky Sports reports they will not be backing down.

The report claims that although fans are asking why United are letting the Brazilian go, he is one of the club’s biggest earners, will soon turn 34 and United have a long-term plan in place for their midfield. All of these, they say, contribute to the club’s firm stance blocking any form of U-turn regarding Casemiro and the player remaining at Old Trafford.

Join our new MAN UTD WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Manchester United content from Mirror Football. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.

Sky Sports discounted Premier League and EFL package

Advertisement

This article contains affiliate links, we will receive a commission on any sales we generate from it. Learn more

£43

£35

Sky

Get the deal here

Sky has slashed the price of its Essential TV and Sky Sports bundle ahead of the 2025/26 season, saving members £192 and offering more than 1,400 live matches across the Premier League, EFL and more.

Sky will show at least 215 live Premier League games next season, an increase of up to 100 more.

Advertisement

Now a man and a teenage boy are on electronic monitoring and awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to offences following a residential burglary in Hindley Green.

The arrests followed swift action by PC Elsden and police dog Dre, who were deployed at around 2.25am on Wednesday, January 21, after reports of a burglary on Woodland Avenue, where suspects had made off from the scene.

PC Elsden and PD Dre carried out an extensive track of the suspects.

During the search, a man matching the description of one of the offenders was seen running down an alleyway.

A challenge was issued, but the man continued to flee.

PD Dre was deployed and swiftly detained him.

The track then continued, leading officers to a second suspect who was found hiding behind a shed in the rear garden of an address.

The suspect was called out and surrendered to PD Dre, as can be seen in the Greater Manchester Police footage.

Property stolen from the address was also located along the track by the police dog.

The incident is one of several successful operations involving Greater Manchester Police’s Tactical Dog Unit so far in 2026.

The unit operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, supporting officers across Greater Manchester and keeping communities safe.

The creator of No More Heroes is about to release new game Romeo Is A Deadman and we’ve talked to him about modern development and setting his next game in the UK.

The games industry has a number of great characters and Goichi Suda – known to all as Suda51 – is emphatically one of them. The CEO of Grasshopper Manufacture is more than a mere games developer; he’s an auteur, no less, whose extensive and utterly distinctive games catalogue (whose highlights include killer7 and No More Heroes) has earned him comparisons with the likes of Quentin Tarantino.

I caught up with him on a rare visit to London, as part of a tour to drum up interest in his latest game, Romeo Is A Dead Man, due to be released on February 11 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. There’s no mistaking Romeo Is A Dead Man for anything other than a Suda51 game and it’s surely already a shoo-in for 2026’s most bonkers game.

It follows the bizarre exploits of Romeo Stargazer, a small-town American cop who is killed but resurrected, thanks to his boffin granddad, as a lightsaber and gun-wielding operative in the FBI’s Space-Time Department, zipping back and forth in space and time to take down a bunch of time criminals (including his ex-girlfriend in many different guises) who are creating world-destroying anomalies.

The most immediately striking aspect of Romeo Is A Dead Man is that, in its first hour, it zaps through a welter of different art styles, from a diorama style intro, via comic book style cut scenes, and more conventional third person 3D to a spaceship hub that’s rendered in top-down retro 8-bit graphics (in which homages to both Pong and Pac-Man can be found). Miraculously, what should be a mish-mash of conflicting style coalesces into a highly distinctive whole, with a weird logic of its own.

‘Whenever you’re developing a game, things are going to change at some point,’ explains Suda. ‘There’s always something that gets taken out, put in or tweaked a little bit. And at first, we were going to do the whole game in full polygon, 3D graphics style. We got to some point in the development and realised: ‘OK: this is not only going to take a lot longer than we thought, but it is going to cost a lot more money too.’ Some people think that it must have been really expensive putting all these different visual styles in the game, but actually, it’s the opposite.

‘One of the things we came up with was the realisation that we have a bunch of people at the studio who are really good at a specific art style, or at a specific aspect of the development. It could be someone who is really good at realistic illustration, somebody who is really good at comic book style stuff, somebody who is really good at video production, somebody who is really good at environments and backgrounds, stuff like that.

‘So what I wanted to do is have the light shone on each of these people who are really specialised in these certain styles. And it took a while to figure out how to get everything to fit together, to make a coherent game out of it. But I feel the end product came out pretty well for the jumble of stuff that it is, you know?’

Suda51 alludes to a situation which arose at Grasshopper Manufacture, which has been operational since 1998 but in 2021 was bought by Chinese publisher NetEase, when it was on a massive acquisition spree. In early 2025, NetEase announced its desire to sell most of the international game developers it had acquired.

Although it still owns Grasshopper, Suda51 says: ‘When we started out, I was kind of hoping that this would be the sort of game that we would be able to take our time on and relax while we put it together. But it ended up being the opposite. It ended up pretty much from the earlier stages of development, both as a studio and also for me personally being: ‘OK, we’ve got to do something about this, or this has to be worked out somehow’.

‘Every time I make a game, I figure: ‘Oh wow, that was rougher than I thought it would be.’ But it was the first time in a long time that I’ve thought: ‘OK, making games is not as simple as a lot of people who don’t make them think it is’.’

Luckily, improvisation is Suda51’s superpower. He has always been regarded as a maverick in the world of games development, so I ask him whether he thinks that is fair enough, and whether he embraces the term: ‘I feel like maybe one of the reasons I get called something like that is obviously because of the games I make and the way I make games. But, specifically, I have learned how to improvise, and figure out how to make things work that normally wouldn’t work in a certain way.

‘When I started out at a company called Human, in my first job in the games industry, I began writing for games, then ended up as director, and I’ve been doing both of those things ever since. Especially back in the day, when game specs were a lot lower than they are now, and you couldn’t do nearly as much stuff in a video game as you can now; if there was something that you wanted to express visually or story-wise, you had to figure out: ‘Yeah, OK, this is what I want to show, but we simply don’t have the technology to actually show it, so how can I express this either a different way visually or in literary terms, or thematically?’

‘I feel like one of the strengths that I’ve gained over the years is being able to figure out ways of creative problem-solving. Nowadays, when things are a lot more advanced than they were before, you’ve got a lot more technical freedom of expression, and there’s more stuff that you actually can show, and things that you actually can do with a game than you could 20, 30 years ago.

‘So there aren’t as many limitations as there were before, but conversely, since there is so much more stuff that you can do, I keep trying to find new ways to use these new means of expression, and new ways to come up with on-the-spot ideas.

‘A lot of the development we do, I kind of view as ad-lib development, as tossing ideas back and forth – it’s kind of like jazz-jamming: ‘This guy’s doing this, and if I do this, it’s going to match in some cool way.’ While the other guy is like: ‘Actually, no, I think I’m going to add this in.’ And when you get a really good bunch of improvisers together, then you have a really good jazz jam band, you know?

‘I feel like that’s probably a reason that I get thought of as something like a maverick – not necessarily because I’m trying to break rules on purpose. To answer your question of how I feel about being called a maverick, honestly I’m happy, because it feels kind of cool, like a pro wrestler nickname or something like that, so I dig it.’

Romeo Is A Dead Man will be the 28th game that Suda51 has helmed at Grasshopper. During that non-stop burst of creativity, he has collaborated with some other legends of the games industry, but one creative partner stands out for him: Shinji Mikami, originator of Resident Evil and co-founder of Clover Studio, PlatinumGames, and Tango Gameworks.

Suda51 says: ‘We worked together both on killer7 and Shadows Of The Damned, as a kind of producer-director tag team. I’ve learned so much from him over the years, especially back in the day, when we started working together. When it comes to action games, he’s done so much and he’s taught me so much – I truly consider him to be a mentor of sorts. And he’s even given me permission to call him that.

‘He’s had the biggest impact, not only on myself, but on Grasshopper Manufacture as a studio, as far as the way we make games is concerned, and specifically regarding how to make action games work. It’s not necessarily that he sat there and gave me these lessons and told me verbally: ‘This is how you make an action game.’ It’s hard to explain, but it’s almost as though I learned it through feeling and sensing and working with him.’

With his career spanning over 30 years, Suda51 is ideally placed to pinpoint how the art of games development has altered, as the technology underpinning it has exploded in complexity: ‘It’s hard to say whether this is a good thing or a bad thing – it’s both good and bad at the same time, for different reasons. But as the general scale of games got bigger and bigger, over the past 30 years, the amount of work that goes into a game, the amount of people that you need working on a game, and the number of types of specialists and professionals you need working on a game has also expanded.

‘For example, back in the day, there weren’t level designers. One of the planning guys would draw the map on a piece of paper, and the graphics guys would turn that into a level, and there you go. But now you have to have somebody planning this stuff out, and somebody actually designing the level itself, then people adding graphics to that, plus backgrounds and so on.

‘So while it’s a good thing in that it provides more work for more people, it also means that things take more time and cost more money. Also, there are less and less people these days who are able to do multiple types of development, multiple jobs. Again, it’s a good thing, because you get people who are really specialised, who get really good at doing a specific part of game development.

‘Personally, I was always worried about not being able to maintain my career and my lifestyle if I was only able to do one thing, so I started out in game design as a scenario writer and tried to work out how to do things like backgrounds, direction, and game design. Ever since I started working in the industry, I’ve been trying to spread out as much as possible, to at least be somewhat proficient, or have usable skills, in multiple areas of game development, just because, again, I never thought that one person would be able to make a career in game development only focusing on one thing.’

So now that Romeo Is A Dead Man is ready for release, what’s next for Suda51? You might expect that after that game’s fraught development, he would be looking forward to holing out on a southern hemisphere beach. But that isn’t Suda51’s style: ‘No: I’m going right back into work, work, work mode, basically. I’m actually at the point where I’m planning on taking some time to sit down and put some thought into what kind of projects I should come up with next.’

Jokingly, he dangles what would be a delicious prospect indeed: ‘While we’re on this promotional tour, I’m just constantly trying to work out what the next thing is going to be. Maybe the setting is going to be in the UK. You feel like there should be lots of games set in London, but when you think about it, there aren’t that many. Recently I was watching that show MobLand, and it made me think, oh man, the UK would be a really cool place to set a game.’

Suda51 was laughing while he said that, but his brand of hard bitten, off-the-wall, literary-infused action would work gloriously well in a British setting. Who knows what he may come up with next?

Email gamecentral@metro.co.uk, leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter.

To submit Inbox letters and Reader’s Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here.

For more stories like this, check our Gaming page.

MORE: The Outer Worlds 3 is not going to happen as Avowed underperforms for Obsidian

MORE: GTA 6 has at least three cities claims new fan theory – and it could be more

MORE: Mario Tennis Fever, Super Mario Bros. Wonder Switch 2, and Virtual Boy previews

The tunacado sandwich from Joe & the Juice has become a favourite among customers, with many rushing to try the tasty toastie after it went viral. Now, one employee shared how to make it at home

Advertisement

Joe & the Juice is presently establishing itself across the UK, having launched 15 new outlets in 2025, including one more expected to open in Greater Manchester later this year. The Danish juice, coffee, and sandwich chain is recognised for serving fresh smoothies, juices, and sandwiches to customers seeking a healthy bite to eat.

One of their most sought-after offerings, though, is the tunacado sandwich. Following multiple viral moments on social media, people have been flocking to sample the now celebrated sandwich, which features a tasty tuna mixture, accompanied by fresh slices of avocado and tomato on rye bread. However despite how easy the sandwich might seem to make, customers have reported never being able to replicate the sandwich at home.

With the cost of living having been on the rise, affecting how people have been able to spend on themselves, takeaways and takeout indulgences are typically the first expense to be cut.

To assist, one Joe & the Juice staff member has turned to social media to reveal the precise techniques they use to make the tunacado sandwiches in their outlets, allowing customers to better replicate it at home.

“How to make a famous tunacado,” they captioned the video as they proceeded to show one of the staff members preparing a tunacado toastie in the Joe & the Juice kitchen.

After initially removing the rye flatbread from the toastie maker, having ensured it’s nice and warm, it’s time to add the delicious filling, but first slicing it in half. They then applied a pesto sauce, drizzling it across both slices of bread.

Whilst this appeared more like a liquid dressing than traditional pesto, similar results can be achieved using shop-bought pesto from a jar. Using a knife, they carefully scooped out the flesh from half an avocado, placing four slices on top of one piece of bread.

Following this, they used a scoop to add two generous portions of tuna, which was spread across the second slice of bread with a fork. A couple of tomato slices were then placed on top.

The final step involves sandwiching the two pieces of toast together, before wrapping it in baking paper and carefully placing it inside the iconic Joe & the Juice packaging. It was then handed to the customer to enjoy.

The video quickly amassed over 5.8 million views on TikTok, with viewers flooding the comment section to share their reactions.

“Long live the tunacado reign!” one user declared, whilst another person commented: “Bruh that looks so good.”

However, someone else remarked: “Even if I did that at home, it wouldn’t taste the same.”

Another viewer added: “No we just want the bread, tell us where to order the bread.”

The Wednesday letters page thinks Obsidian Entertainment will be forced to return to the Fallout franchise soon enough, as one reader celebrates 20 years of Ōkami.

Games Inbox is a collection of our readers’ letters, comments, and opinions. To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@metro.co.uk

Insufficient data
It does amaze me how little we know about GTA 6 at this point, and I wonder when we would’ve learnt more, if it had come out as planned in May. Would we have had another trailer by now? Would the website have filled out with info and maps and info or would they still keep things close to their chests?

And what’s the best guess for the next trailer now, if it’s out in November? Ignoring the fact that I think a delay is likely I don’t see one happening until the summer. Rockstar like to rain on other people’s parades, so I wouldn’t be surprised if it was very close to Summer Game Fest or whatever is due this year.

I’m not convinced it’ll give much more info though; it’ll still be the bare minimum. Everyone’s imagination is working overboard on what the game will be like. that Rockstar don’t need to step in and tell them they’re wrong. Who needs marketing when you’ve got millions of desperate fans?
Gibson

To infinity and beyond
I forgot about Sony suddenly moving the goalposts about how much the PlayStation 2 sold, so now it can never really be beaten, since ‘more than 160 million’ basically means every number up to and including infinity.

As far as I’m concerned, the Switch is the best-selling console ever. Not only did it beat Sony’s original number for the PlayStation 2 but it did it under very difficult circumstances, with proper competition from PlayStation (and not so much Xbox). Not only that but it was late starting in its generation, thanks to the Wii U, and still wiped the floor with its rivals.

Not to downplay the PlayStation 2 in anyway but the reason it did so well is because it had no serious competition in its generation, just the GameCube and the original Xbox. So, for me at least, the Switch’s performance has been much more impressive.
Onibee

Unnecessary store
I won’t miss GAME. The stores were never that necessary after Amazon, etc. sold games and the staff were never very knowledgeable.

Sad to see one less physical disc seller but that has been on the wane for years now. CeX offer better service and warranty and HMV still hangs on, so there are local options if I feel like leaving the house.

I might now be in the minority but at least 95% of my console games are physical discs. I like to display them. I like the fact most of them will work sans internet. They provide a storage medium for me. I don’t have to download a dozen gigabytes of data each time I want to play the game, updates and DLC not included but most games work fine on version 1.0 anyway.
Bobwallett

Email your comments to: gamecentral@metro.co.uk

You cannot be serious
It’s interesting that the short film for Resident Evil Requiem seems to be a lot more serious than the game. But I think five minutes is about as long as you keep that kind of tone and still be true to the series. Even the bit where the S.T.A.R.S. guy is going along the street looked kind of goofy and that was only for a second.

Zombies being zombies is all well and spooky but the minute you have policemen firing bazookas at monsters with five foot long tongues it all gets very silly (in a good way, in the games at least). I can’t believe that Zach Cregger is going to make his new movie serious. It might not be a comedy but there’s another zaniness in films like Weapons that I think that short will end up being as serious as anyone every takes Resident Evil.

Not a criticism or praise, just an observation. Even something like 28 Years Later has some purposefully sill stuff in there, just because it’s got zombies in it doesn’t mean it has to be grimdark.
Pilot

TV review
I’d say it’s pretty obvious that Fallout countdown is going to be a remaster of Fallout 3. I don’t know what else it could be without being a complete letdown. Whether it’s shadow-dropped or not I don’t care but Oblivion Remastered came out in April so we’re close to the same time and I’m sure Bethesda will want to repeat that success.

If Fallout season 2 has been good then I think it might even do better, because I’d say that Fallout 3 was a better game than 4 (but not New Vegas). I haven’t seen the show though. I zoned out halfway through the first one and, to be honest, don’t really understand why it’s been such a big hit. Have any readers seen it that could say whether it’s been better or worse?
Lurgie

Calm response
I’m not going to dogpile on Nintendo again for their line-up, but I would be very surprised if anyone was totally onboard with what they’ve got planned for the next few months. They’ve messed up Mario Tennis so many times by now that even if this one is good, I don’t think many people are going to be willing to take a chance on it.

Super Mario Bros. Wonder was great, but I don’t think many people were thinking that it would be that much better if it had a ton of gimmicky multiplayer modes. Especially if you can’t play them properly online.

And the Virtual Boy? The whole thing about it is that it was terrible and those red and black screenshot are so ugly I can’t believe it existed back then, let alone that they’re going to bring it back now. I like that it’s there, for preservation and everything, but I can’t imagine playing any of the games for more than a few minutes.

Is the line-up a disaster or a betrayal of fans or any other kind of overreaction? No. It’s just not very inspiring and I’m not sure I’ll pay for any of it. That’s not much for fans to get upset about but I imagine it’s not what Nintendo wants to hear when the console is still less than a year old.
Roland

One more for the pile
Just to add to the list of anniversaries for this year but it’s Ōkami’s 20th in April. Capcom set up an anniversary website for it and while it doesn’t say anything about the sequel, it’ll probably get updated nearer the time.

There is going to be a concert in Japan but the most interesting thing I noticed on the website is that there’s no mention of Ōkamiden on the DS. I’m pretty sure I read that Hideki Kamiya doesn’t like it and/or resented not being involved, so looks like he’s trying to memory hole it. I thought it was alright myself, but I guess this means you’re never going to see a remaster.
Inky

Don’t miss Gaming news! Add us as a Preferred Source

As a loyal GameCentral reader, we want to make sure you never miss our articles when searching for gaming stories. We have all the latest video games news, reviews, previews, and interviews, with a vibrant community of highly engaged readers.

Advertisement

Click here and tick Metro.co.uk to ensure you see stories from us first in Google Search.

Return to Vegas
So what you’re telling me with that news story about all Obsidian’s role-players flopping is that they’re now on Microsoft’s list and right in the danger zone with Double Fine. Maybe worse actually, because at least Double Fine have a new game coming out. If there’s not going to be a Outer Worlds 3 what are Obsidian going to do now?

I actually really like The Outer Worlds 2, but it should’ve been obvious it wasn’t going to be a big hit. People weren’t exactly knocking the door down for a sequel and it came out at busy time of year with very little marketing or hype.

I forgot Avowed even existed and I don’t think I’m the only one. Even looking at it now, I’m not sure what the hook is, other than it looks very generic and nerdy.

This seems a familiar problem with Microsoft though, where the instant they get a whiff of success they convince themselves the game’s a culture icon and everyone’s talking about it. They’re a lot like gamers in that sense, where there can’t ever be middle ground, everything’s got to be a mega hit or a flop.

Thinking about it though, Microsoft probably won’t shut them down entirely. They’ll probably downsize them but then send them to work in the Fallout mines, making remakes and sequels to New Vegas. That doesn’t sound like such a bad idea in theory, but I don’t think people working under duress is going to result in the best games.
Focus

Inbox also-rans
I see Sonic Racing CrossWorlds underperformed for Sega. Can’t say I’m surprised, as releasing it alongside Mario Kart World always seemed silly. In fact, it probably helped Nintendo by making their game look even better by comparison.
Toxie

I think this got overlooked a bit at the end of the year but I’m really surprised that Marvel Cosmic Invasion seems to have bene a flop, as I thought it was really good. Another example of the Marvel curse, where every game not made by Insomniac is a flop, even with the licence attached?
RobertCop

Email your comments to: gamecentral@metro.co.uk

The small print
New Inbox updates appear every weekday morning, with special Hot Topic Inboxes at the weekend. Readers’ letters are used on merit and may be edited for length and content.

You can also submit your own 500 to 600-word Reader’s Feature at any time via email or our Submit Stuff page, which if used will be shown in the next available weekend slot.

You can also leave your comments below and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

MORE: Games Inbox: Are you sad to see the end of GAME stores?

MORE: Games Inbox: What will a post-GTA 6 video games industry be like?

MORE: Games Inbox: Have video game consoles become too expensive?

Egg cartons can really come in handy this month without you even realising! So next time you finish a pack of eggs, make sure you keep the package for your garden

Advertisement

Ever wondered how eggs can benefit your outdoor space? It’s no secret eggshells could work wonders for your garden during the colder seasons – but it so happens the packaging is also important too.

In fact, one gardener revealed how the cartons are crucial for this time of the year and it all starts now. One green-thumbed enthusiast shared how she gets her homegrown potatoes to a flying start ahead of spring. With a popular garden practice called chitting, you must begin by breaking the seed potato dormancy by pre-sprouting them and to do that, you’ll need an egg carton, or two.

The gardener shared her advice on TikTok under the handle @allotmentality where she said: “Here’s how I get my homegrown potatoes to a flying start.

“And it all begins before the sprouts even hit the ground. With a practice called chitting. Chitting basically means breaking the seed potato dormancy by pre-sprouting it. As a result, they emerge sooner than planting and are ready to harvest earlier.”

She begins by getting good quality, disease-free seed potatoes from a reputable source.

The gardener continued: “You can start chitting your spuds about 6 weeks before planting out and I only do it to first and second early varieties.

“I’m using egg cartons but any container with compartments will do. All you need to do is place your seed potatoes the eye side up, by eyes we mean these nobbly bits here and this is where the shoots will sprout.

“And put the potatoes somewhere cool and light, for example a windowsill in an unheated spare bedroom.”

Sharing the results, she continued: “After six weeks, the sprouted potatoes will look like this, at which point they will be ready to plant out, nicely primed for faster growth and earlier harvest.”

Best time to grow potatoes:

Before you begin the practice, it’s important to chit your potatoes from late January to February, approximately 4-6 weeks before planting from mid-March to April.

It’s important to begin your potatoes this month so they’re ready for spring. Begin by placing tubers in a light, cool, frost-free area (like a garage or windowsill) with the “rose” end (most eyes) upwards.

Then once spring comes along and the soil has warmed up, your potatoes can be planted to grow beautifully.

For the best results, start planting in late March.

People on Personal Independence Payment (PIP), Disability Living Allowance for Children (DLAc) and Carer’s Allowance who permanently move to Scotland must now make new claims for equivalent Scottish benefits

The Department for Work and Pensions ( DWP ) has confirmed that new regulations are now in effect for individuals living in England or Wales who receive Personal Independence Payment ( PIP ), Disability Living Allowance for Children (DLAc), and Carer’s Allowance, who permanently move to Scotland.

Prior to November 6, claimants’ cases were automatically transferred to Social Security Scotland, which then disbursed the equivalent devolved benefit. These claimants were not required to submit a new claim.

However, following the completion of case transfers to Social Security Scotland at the end of last year, individuals who permanently move from England or Wales to Scotland must now submit a new claim for the equivalent Scottish benefit.

From this spring, individuals receiving Attendance Allowance who move to Scotland will also need to apply for Pension Age Disability Payment.

To avoid disruptions in payments, individuals are encouraged to apply for the replacement benefits – Adult Disability Payment, Child Disability Payment, Pension Age Disability Payment, and Carer Support Payment – as soon as possible after relocating, reports the Daily Record.

Before applying to Social Security Scotland, individuals must inform the DWP or the Department of Communities in Northern Ireland about their relocation.

Older individuals on DLA will also need to notify their benefit provider and contact Social Security Scotland to request Scottish Adult DLA.

Karyn Dunning, deputy director at Social Security Scotland, said: “It’s vital disabled people and carers who move to Scotland take action to ensure they continue to get the financial support they are entitled to.

“We know applying for benefits can feel daunting, especially alongside moving to a new country, but there is an in-depth guide available on mygov.scot.

“Our staff are also here to answer questions and help people apply. We can provide help over the phone, through webchat or through a face-to-face appointment with one of our community-based advisors.

“I urge people not to put off applying. The Scottish approach to benefits is very different from that of the DWP. For example, we do not use private sector assessors to make decisions.

“Our system is built on the principles of dignity, fairness and respect, and we want disabled people and carers to get every penny they’re entitled to.”

It’s crucial to understand that the DWP and Department of Communities in Northern Ireland will keep paying PIP, DLA for children and Carer’s Allowance for 13 weeks following a move to Scotland.

The push to apply early stems from processing timescales, aiming to prevent any gaps in payments when transferring between welfare systems.

Those who successfully apply for a devolved disability benefit might qualify to have their payments backdated to the day following the end of their DWP benefit. Further details on relocating to Scotland and applying for devolved benefits can be found on MYGOV.SCOT or by contacting Social Security Scotland on 0800 182 2222.

Disney has named its parks chief Josh D’Amaro to succeed Bob Iger as the entertainment giant’s top executive.

D’Amaro will become the 9th CEO in the more than 100-year-old company’s history. He has overseen the company’s theme parks, cruises and resorts since 2020. The Experiences division has been a substantial moneymaker for Disney, with $36 billion in annual revenue in fiscal 2025 and 185,000 employees worldwide.

The 54-year-old takes over a time when Disney is flush with box-office hits like “Zootopia 2” and “Avatar: Fire and Ash” and its streaming business is strong. At the same time, Disney has seen a decline in foreign visitors to its domestic theme parks. Tourism to the U.S. has fallen overall during an aggressive immigration crack down by the Trump administration, as well as clashes with almost all of country’s trading partners.

D’Amaro will be tasked with tapping into Disney’s vast collection of intellectual property to help create successful movies and theme park additions, while also pushing for streaming growth and continuing to build up its sports business.

The decision on the next chief executive at Disney comes almost four years after the company’s choice to replace Iger went disastrously, forcing Iger back into the job.

Only two years after stepping down as CEO, Iger returned to Disney in 2022 after a period of clashes, missteps and a weakening financial performance under his hand-picked successor, Bob Chapek.

Disney meticulously and methodically sought out its next CEO this time. The company created a succession planning committee in 2023, but the search began in earnest in 2024 when Disney enlisted James Gorman, who is currently Disney’s chairman and previously served as Morgan Stanley’s executive chairman, to lead the effort. That still gave it ample opportunity to vet candidates, as Iger agreed to a contract extension.

Disney said that Iger will continue to serve as a senior adviser and board member until his retirement from the company at the end of the year.

While external candidates were considered, it was widely expected that Disney would look internally for the next CEO. The advantage would be that Disney executives were already being mentored by Iger, and had extensive contact with the company’s 15 board members, of which Iger is a member.

Disney is unique in that its top executive must oversee a sprawling entertainment company with branches reaching in every direction, while also serving as an unusually public figure.

D’Amaro and Disney Entertainment Co-Chairman Dana Walden quickly emerged as the front-runners for the top job.

D’Amaro, who has been with Disney since 1998, has been leading the charge on Disney’s multiyear $60 billion investment into its cruise ships, resorts and theme parks. He also oversees Walt Disney Imagineering, which is in charge of the design and development of the company’s theme parks, resorts, cruise ships, and immersive experiences worldwide. In addition, D’Amaro has been leading Disney’s licensing business, which includes its partnership with Epic Games.

“Throughout this search process, Josh has demonstrated a strong vision for the company’s future and a deep understanding of the creative spirit that makes Disney unique in an ever-changing marketplace,” Gorman said in prepared remarks. “He has an outstanding record of business achievement, collaborating with some of the biggest names in entertainment to bring their stories to life in our parks, showcasing the power of combining Disney storytelling with cutting-edge technology.”

In her most recent role as co-chairman of Disney Entertainment, Walden has helped oversee Disney’s streaming business, along with its entertainment media, news and content businesses. She joined Disney in 2019. Before that, Walden spent 25 years at 21st Century Fox and was CEO of Fox Television Group.

Walden will now step into the newly created role of president and chief creative officer of The Walt Disney Co. She will report to D’Amaro.

“I think if you think about what is the heart of the Disney company, it’s the creativity. It’s this amazing IP that’s been produced over decades, going back to Walt, and the storytelling that comes from that creativity. And I think Dana, working with Josh and ensuring that the best creativity permeates all of our businesses, is what we wanted,” Gorman said in an interview with CNBC.

There had been speculation that Disney might go the route of naming co-CEOs, a move that has started to become more popular with companies. Oracle and Spotify are among those who named co-CEOs in 2025.

D’Amaro and Walden’s appointments are effective on March 18.

A spokesperson for the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology said: “Through the Online Safety Act, we have taken some of the boldest steps anywhere in the world to ensure children have age-appropriate experiences online, mandating that social media companies protect children from harmful content.

Mr Ban, who is a father, noticed a group of children mucking about on the frozen lake near Luoyang City, China, and one of the youngsters plunged through the ice

A brave dad rushed to save the life of a young boy who fell through ice on a frozen lake.

Mr Ban needed rescuing himself after grabbing the boy and lifting him to safety. The father, who has recovered from his own injuries sustained in the rescue, has now been lauded as “a hero”.

The youngster plunged through the ice when he and friends were playing on the lake, ignoring their parents’ warnings against this behaviour. Mr Ban, who noticed the horror unfold as he playe nearby with his daughter, lay horizontally across the icy surface to distribute his weight to scramble the boy to safety.

But the courageous witness fell through the ice himself and, after he was freed from the water in Luoyang City, China, spent half an hour in a hot shower to revitalise himself.

READ MORE: Desperate mum dives into freezing pond in bid to save her three young childrenREAD MORE: Tragedy as toddler dies after falling through ice in freak accident playing in snow

Advertisement

The boy has also recovered from his injuries following the accident, which happened on Thursday January 29. Speaking today, Mr Ban said: “My first feeling when I fell into the water was an icy chill that went straight to my bones. My legs were instantly enveloped in cold with stinging sensations. I was a little bit scared.”

The dad said he was aware how to save the child, having watched rescue videos online in his spare time. So, he leapt into action to break the ice with his hands and rescue the little boy.

But he does not believe he is worthy of the tag “hero”. Mr Ban, who is already back at work, continued: “I still can’t accept this title. To me, I just did something that most people would do. I just happened to be there at the time.” He has also received praise from strangers online, who have seen videos the rescue.

The case follows the tragedies of brothers six-year-old Howard, eight-year-old Kaleb, and EJ, nine, who plunged through ice on the pond off Recreational Road in Bonham, Texas, and were later declared dead. Cheyenne Hangaman, the boys’ mother, jumped into the water but was tragically unable to save her children last month.

The mum said: “I tried to save them while also trying to keep myself alive. As soon as I jumped in, I locked up. I couldn’t do anything.” Other have-a-go heroes and emergency service personnel also dived into the pond.

Kaleb and EJ were hauled from the water but declared dead minutes later. Police in Texas said Howard, the youngest of the brothers, “did not resurface but was later recovered after an extensive search of the pond”.