“Vaccines are foundational to child survival,” Rana Flowers, the Unicef representative in Bangladesh, said in a statement on Sunday, adding that the current measles outbreak was “putting thousands of children, especially the youngest and most vulnerable, at serious risk.”

After a brutal winter storm season, cities across the United States are declaring a war on potholes as local officials race to make roads safe.

The East Coast and Midwest were battered by heavy snow and sub-zero temperatures for weeks in early 2026, leaving behind tens of thousands of potholes on roads and highways.

Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said his city is still dealing with the aftermath of “ice-mageddon”, even in early spring. The Maryland city is used to heavy snow that then rapidly melts but low temperatures in late January and February kept ice intact for weeks.

“We had below-freezing temperatures for basically a month,” Scott told The Independent. “So it wasn’t going anywhere, and it was chunks of ice.”

Scott, who has joined road crews filling potholes, is overhauling Baltimore’s resurfacing program with a new public data dashboard and changes to city contracting. He wants to fill 25,000 potholes in the next 90 days. The city tackled 134,000 potholes last year.

The work has involved breaking up ice blocks that felt like concrete, he said. The salt put down to combat icy conditions unfortunately worsened the pothole problem. Road salt lowers the freezing temperature of water which then seeps into pavement, and helps develop potholes.

“With the amount of salt that we had to put down, that’s going to create potholes,” Scott said. “Where there is salt used, there will be potholes.”

He’s just one of hundreds of city leaders facing similar challenges after this winter and who are now in the midst of “pothole blitzes.”

As of late March, New York saw a 119 percent increase in pothole complaints to the city’s 311 system compared to the same period in 2025, the largest year-over-year increase ever, according to a New York Post analysis.

In Nashua, New Hampshire, city officials warned that a “very wet winter with very low lows, and weirdly strange high temps” were creating a “perfect storm” for potholes.

Chris Leo, a resident of nearby Manchester, recently lost a tire to a massive pothole on the way home from dinner.

“Think of a black abyss, like a black hole, and then double it, is basically the deepness of these potholes,” Leo told NHPR. “It was like the Mariana Trench.”

In Connecticut, drivers reported more potholes on state roads in the first two weeks of March than in all of March 2025.

In some jurisdictions, potholes moved from a daily annoyance to an all-out crisis.

In February, Sumpter Township in the Detroit metro area declared a public safety emergency over the state of its gravel roads.

Roads in the township had become “severely washboarded, rutted and potholed, contain standing water due to drainage failures, and significant segments of road are nearly impassable,” town supervisor Timothy Bowman wrote in a public declaration.

In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, however, it was business as usual, according to John Samuelson, director of public works.

“We’re doing OK,” he told The Independent. “I have not heard of any increase in potholes as a result of the rains this year.”

He said the city generally fills potholes within 24 hours of being notified.

To raise public awareness and focus city efforts, leaders in places like New York City and Baltimore have launched “pothole blitzes” to tackle the problem. The Big Apple has filled more than 66,000 potholes since January, according to the local Department of Transportation.

Scott, the Baltimore mayor, said he enjoys joining the pothole crews on the job himself. It reminds him of helping out at his family’s HVAC business. “I’m a hands-on guy,” he said.

When mayoral elbow grease fails, cities have also turned to special equipment to patch up the winter-weary roads.

“We’ve had hundreds and hundreds of people calling after one of the worst winters on record — and that’s why I decided to put together a massive public facilities operation to repair the potholes, using what we like to call ‘the pothole killer,’” Bridgeport, Connecticut, Mayor Joe Ganim told News 12 last month.

The pothole killer set-up includes a truck with spray injection machines and a “hot box” asphalt recycler. Residents can also report potholes via an app, he said.

The costs of all these potholes can add up. A Manchester, NH, tire shop said this week it’s fixing a record number of damaged tires and rims as a result of the potholes.

Smaller municipalities only have so much money to patch holes. The Pittsburgh-area borough of Homestead told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette it has already blown through its full supply of 2,000 pounds of cold patch asphalt.

The holes can also be a major safety issue. A 46-year-old man in Queens, New York City, was fatally thrown from a motor scooter last month in the Ozone Park neighborhood when he hit a pothole.

Getting a handle on the pothole problem isn’t easy. Rising global temperatures, stronger storms, and unusual weather patterns as result of the climate crisis are expected to worsen potholes, while cities like Baltimore face persistent funding challenges.

The city, unlike others in Maryland, is responsible for maintaining both local and state roadways in its jurisdiction. It also lost nearly $1 billion in expected state funding thanks to years of budget cuts after the 2008 recession.

“You’re talking about thousands upon thousands of lanes of road that didn’t get surfaced that would have,” Scott said.

After securing funding increases in recent years, Scott is now lobbying state lawmakers to keep such support over the long term.

Little is certain in life, but you can always count on there being more potholes to fill.

Donald Trump has said he will not invade Canada despite repeated threats to turn it into America’s 51st state, questioning whether Canadians still recognise King Charles as head of state

Donald Trump has declared he will not be invading Canada after all, despite repeatedly threatening to eliminate the 5,525-mile border dividing the two nations and absorb Canada as America’s “51st state”.

The US president questioned whether Canadians still recognised the King as their head of state while discussing the “problem” of annexing the territory during his remaining time in office. “I suppose the Canadians have got 200 years of history and all that ‘Oh, Canada’ thing,” he said. “You can’t deal with that in three and a half years. I guess it’s not going to happen!”

Trump sat down for an interview with royal biographer Robert Hardman, who has recently released a new book about Elizabeth II. During the interview, published by the Daily Mail, Mr Hardman reportedly urged the US president to “please leave Canada alone”, warning it would “undoubtedly make the King of Canada unhappy”. “That prompted a slight pause,” Mr Hardman wrote.

“Do they still recognise the King? Or have they stopped that?” Trump asked, to which Mr Hardman confirmed that Canadians did indeed still recognise the King as head of state.

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“But they have these terrible politicians. They’re nice to my face and then they say bad things behind my back,” Trump replied, further remarking that most Canadians resided close to the US border regardless, owing to Canada’s harsh climate. “The problem is some guy drew that straight line to make a border. He should just have drawn it 50 miles further north and then there wouldn’t be a problem,” he added. This follows Trump sharing an AI-generated image depicting an Oval Office gathering with European leaders, in which the US flag was shown covering Canada, Greenland and Venezuela, reports the Mirror.

The King travelled to Ottawa in May for the state opening of Parliament, where he offered reassurance to Canadians that their nation remained “strong and free”. It is widely thought that Trump’s warm regard for the King has prompted him to temper his comments regarding a possible American annexation of the Commonwealth country.

During the interview, Trump spoke highly of the King, remarking: “He’s a great guy and he’s grown so much in the last 10 years and especially over the last couple of years as King. His fight has shown that.”

Buckingham Palace confirmed last week that the King’s scheduled state visit to the US in late April will proceed as planned.

The trip by King Charles and Queen Camilla to mark the 250th anniversary of American independence from Britain will go ahead despite mounting pressure for it to be delayed or called off owing to the continuing conflict in the Middle East.

It is understood, however, that Charles and Camilla will not be able to meet survivors of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein while UK police investigations into Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Lord Peter Mandelson remain ongoing.

Stephen Cottrell delivered his plea for “peace between warring nations” to a congregation at York Minster on Easter Sunday (April 5).

In the sermon, he likened the “thirst” of Jesus Christ on the cross, to the things people thirst for in the modern day.

Mr Cottrell said: “We thirst for peace between the warring nations of the world and on this Easter morning cry out for an end to the literally pointless conflict consuming the Middle East at the moment.

“We thirst for justice in a world where norms of international law are eroded and ignored, where basic human rights are denied.

“We thirst for unity within the church of Jesus Christ, itself so painfully divided by the conflicts of the past and an easy acceptance of a scandalous status quo in the present.”

The archbishop delivered the sermon as the war, launched by the US and Israel on Iran at the end of February, enters its sixth week.

The conflict has already killed thousands and it is unclear whether it is any closer to an end.

Outside of the region, consequences have included soaring fuel prices amid a blockade on the Strait of Hormuz, which is one of the world’s most important shipping routes.

Mr Cottrell referenced the “siloes and echo chambers” of social media and the need to acknowledge “our common humanity”, before turning to focus on his own congregation.

“We need this in our communities here in Yorkshire and across the north of England, where so many people feel left behind and where so many young people grow up with little hope of a better future,” he said.

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Mr Cottrell, who became the 98th Archbishop of York in 2020, ended the sermon on a lighter note of celebration.

He said: “Which is also why this Easter day we must quench other thirsts as well. Open the beer. Crack open the champagne. Make that margarita.

“Pop another olive in your martini, or if it is your thing, just do that very English thing, and put the kettle on.”

Meanwhile, the leader of Catholics in England and Wales spoke of a humanity “scarred by warfare”.

Delivering his first Easter sermon since becoming Archbishop of Westminster, Richard Moth said: “In our present times the world is so often confusing and conflicted, subject to ever-changing and often illusory demands and attractions.

“Humanity is marked, scarred, by warfare and injustice, often instigated by greed and misguided power, bringing harm and death to so many and so often the most vulnerable.”

L’Homme Presse, French Dynamite and Now Is The Hour were all taken out on Monday, while three others below the cut-off line were also scratched.

The field is again set to be dominated by Irish trainer Mullins, with the three-time winner currently having nine horses guaranteed to run.

Joining I Am Maximus and Nick Rockett are last year’s third-placed Grangeclare West, Spanish Harlem, Lecky Watson, Champ Kiely, High Class Hero, Captain Cody and Quai De Bourbon.

Gordon Elliott, who has also trained three National winners, has five entries with Gerri Colombe, Firefox and Favori De Champdou – the beaten favourite in the Cross Country Chase at the Cheltenham Festival – towards the top of the weights.

Another of Elliott’s stable, Pied Piper, is currently 35th on the list and will get a run if one more horse withdraws.

The Ben Pauling-trained Twig is the final guaranteed runner, although Spillane’s Tower has maintained his entry at this stage despite his owner telling RTE on Sunday he is an intended runner in Thursday’s Aintree Bowl instead.

Firefox is also entered in Friday’s Topham over the Grand National fences.

Henry de Bromhead, who won the race in 2021 with Rachael Blackmore and Minella Times, trains Monty’s Star and Gorgeous Tom.

Gavin Cromwell trains Perceval Legallois, who was a faller last year, and Cheltenham Festival winner Final Orders.

Dan Skelton will be represented by mare Panic Attack as he closes in on the UK trainers’ championship for the first time.

The Nigel and Willy Twiston-Davies-trained Beauport will carry the colours of Bryan and Philippa Burrough, whose Corbiere won in 1983 as Jenny Pitman became the first female trainer to triumph.

Nigel is a two-time winner of the race in 1998 and 2022 and the stable are also set to saddle Top of the Bill, who moved into the top 34 with Monday’s withdrawals.

Fourteen-time British champion trainer Paul Nicholls has no entries, while Nicky Henderson, who is yet to win the National, is also likely to have no runners with Hyland currently 41st on the list.

John McGall runs the I am Reusable food bank in the Leeman Road area of the city and organised a bumper Easter event this year.

He said: “We handed out Easter eggs to the homeless teenagers, children, those attending the food bank and many other places. 

“More than 500 plus eggs were donated in total and we also had the Easter Bunny as normal for our annual Easter egg event which we have been running for the past 11 years. 

“A massive thank you to everyone involved.”

John McGall runs the I am Reusable food bank in the Leeman Road area of the city and (Image: Supplied)

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As previously reported by The Press, Ebor Court Care Home, in Nether Poppleton, were just one of the organisations who donated this year.

They donated 168 eggs to I Am Reusable Food Bank to support families in need this year.

The collection was delivered during a visit from a representative of the food bank, who said she was “overwhelmed” by the generosity.

John and Julie McGall run the I am Reusable food bank in the Leeman Road area

I am Reusable was initially set up in a shed to help those in need through the pandemic, including NHS staff. It has been inundated to the point that they have run out of food on several occasions.

As The Press reported previously John had to put in an application for retrospective planning permission despite spending the past 16 years dedicating his time voluntarily to helping improve the lives of the homeless, disabled and less fortunate people in York.

Crowd funding raised money to pay for the application which was granted in 2024 by City of York Council.

At the time John said: “We can continue operating in our current residential location for up to two more years.

“We then have to look for an alternative location. We have to have weekly commercial waste bin collections and waste licences.

“The JustGiving money that was kindly donated has been spent on the planning application fee, and on getting the shed in a good condition to continue operating.

“We propose to also spend this money on the new costs which will occur as a condition of us staying open. These are weekly commercial waste pick ups and the relevant paperwork and licences required.”

The Easter Bunny at I am Reusable food bank in the Leeman Road area of the city (Image: Supplied)

Beverley is looking forward to taking another shot at the jungle crown after first appearing on the show back in 2020, when the series was filmed in a castle in Wales due to filming restrictions as a result of Covid-19

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Coronation Street legend Beverley Callard is looking forward to swapping the freezing cold weather in Wales for South Africa ahead of her second I’m A Celebrity stint. The star, who played Liz McDonald on the ITV soap, missed out on heading to the Australian jungle in 2020 because of Covid restrictions, instead filming in a castle in Wales, but she’s hoping to throw herself into the experience for the All Stars spin-off. Her appearance on the show – filmed back in September – came just months before she revealed she’d been diagnosed with breast cancer.

Tonight viewers will get to see a line-up of All Stars head to South Africa with the icons from series gone by battling to be crowned king or queen of the jungle once again. Ant and Dec are back as hosts and will welcome the returning campmates into the spectacular location as ITV promises some of the most epic and extreme trials in I’m A Celebrity history.

The special series was filmed last year, and the cast features several big names including actor Craig Charles, Olympian Mo Farah, an Essex diva in Gemma Collins and a King and a Queen of the Jungle – Harry Redknapp and Scarlett Moffatt.

Here, we look at the star’s life ahead of the show’s return.

Second time lucky

Beverley, 69, appeared on I’m A Celeb back in 2020, when the series was filmed in a castle in Wales due to filming restrictions as a result of Covid-19. She placed tenth, and said the experience boosted her self- confidence.

She said: “I do tend to suffer from low self-esteem and without sounding big headed, because people kept telling me they loved me and how down to earth I was. It gave me confidence and it was lovely to be with such a wonderful group of people.

“Our series was during Covid and the nation/world had had such a bad time, it was a real feel-good show. Everyone got on so well and we still meet up. We’ve got a WhatsApp group and we go out to dinner together.”

Bev didn’t hesitate when she got the call this time around. She explained: “I was really flattered when I got the call. In fact, I was gobsmacked! But I said yes because Wales was so different.”

Corrie exit

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Beverley gained a legion of fans thanks to her role as barmaid Liz McDonald in the ITV soap. She played the character for 30 years before announcing her departure in 2019. Beverley previously had two breaks from the show – pne for her mental health in 2010 and another to pursue other roles in her acting career.

Her exit was announced by Liz’ son Steve (Simon Gregson) revealing in a throwaway comment that she’d emigrated to Spain. She never got to shoot her final scenes after a hip operation.

At the time, she told Loose Women her decision was partly down to her fears she’d be killed off in the 60-year anniversary special. But in 2021, Beverley claimed she was axed from a special episode of Coronation Street because of her struggles with her mental health.

Then, in 2023, the star said the quality of the scripts had declined. Speaking on the How to Be 60 podcast, she said: “I just felt that the scripts weren’t what they used to be. I’m trying to be diplomatic. I wasn’t miserable, it’s difficult to put into words.

“But years ago, we used to get the script and you’d think ‘Oh my God, this is amazing, I cannot believe I’m going to be filming this!’ but for me it got to, well, they didn’t write for me as much because I was older and that really got to me.

“If you’re there, you want to be busy. There’s nothing worse than being bored. And I would open the script and think ‘Well we filmed that three years ago’ and it wasn’t very exciting.”

Health battles

It’s been a tough star to the year for Bev. The star told fans she had been diagnosed with the early stages of breast cancer and underwent her first bout of surgery just over a month ago. Over the weekend, she explained to fans her upcoming stint in the jungle was pre-recorded and took place before her diagnosis.

Beverley has been open and honest with her followers on social media and had been told that it would take around four weeks to get her results from the first operation, which would indicate whether she is cancer-free.

But the star was thwarted by bad news just before the onset of the long Easter weekend, as she took to Instagram to tearfully explain that she had not yet received her results and heartbreakingly admitted she couldn’t pretend any longer that everything was all right as she headed to a photoshoot to promote her new role on Irish soap Fair City.

She said: “Well, I had to do a photoshoot yesterday and on the way there – it was for a magazine about Fair City – and on the way there, Jon [my husband] was driving, and I was in the passenger seat. My phone rang, and it said the caller ID. Usually, it’s the hospital or one of the consultants from the hospital and I thought ‘Okay, this is it, my results.’ It was one of the amazing cancer care nurses from Norfolk and Norwich Hospital, they are fantastic.

“She wanted to know how I was doing. I told her that I’ve got quite a lot of soreness, which I’ve not had for ages but it came on a few days ago. She said I could be overdoing things, hopefully I’m not, I’ve had a lazy day today. But then she said ‘No results yet because there is a backlog,’ so hopefully I will get them next week.

“You know when your heart is in your mouth? You think ‘This is it. It’s coming now, any minute,’ and then, no, nothing. Obviously, we were still moving in the car, and I just thought ‘I can’t do this now, I cannot paint a smile on my face again.’

At the beginning of March, Beverley told fans that she had around four weeks of waiting to find out if the operation had been a success, and at the time, seemed optimistic about the situation.

She said: “So, the next stage, is, in about four weeks, we will find out if she managed to get all the cancer out and we’ll also get the results of whether it was in the lymph nodes or not.

“If I’m cancer-free, then, a few weeks after that, I will begin radiotherapy. If I’m not cancer-free, then we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. But I have a feeling I will be. I don’t why I have that feeling but I just have.”

Bev previously battled her way back from a hip injury that nearly left her unable to walk. She’s also been open about her mental health struggles, previously revealing how she “didn’t want to be alive.”

Bev revealed how her husband persuaded her to say how she felt, in a bid to help others. “Jon said to me, just say how you’re really feeling. I’d just had a really bad day, fortunately it was only a couple of days. But he said to say it, because ‘you’d help so many people’,” the soap actress revealed.

Fourth husband

Beverley’s husband Jon McEwan – who she married in 2010 – has been her “rock” throughout her various health battles. The pair had a huge white wedding a decade ago with 22 bridesmaids.

Bev was first wed to Paul Atkinson in 1974. Two years later, they had daughter Rebecca. In 1980, she married David Sowden and in 1989 she wed Steve Callard. They had son Josh.

But it’s Jon she credits with saving her life. He stood by her when she attempted suicide, spent months in the Priory with mental health issues and lost a fortune through business failures.

Bev proudly declared Jon the ‘love of her life’. The pair met in Spain at a time when Beverley was taking a break from Coronation Street to pursue her career as a fitness instructor. Bev’s pupils were adamant that Jon would be the perfect match for her but she wasn’t impressed when she first laid eyes on him on a blind date.

“I had decided all men are b*****ds by that point,” she previously told the Mirror . “I just wasn’t ­interested in meeting someone.

“When I saw Jon with his shaved head and gold tooth I wasn’t impressed but within minutes we were chatting away. We went on to sit together at dinner and we got on like a house on fire.”

The pair wound up a nightclub and agreed to meet up the very next day and did the same the following day, until they quickly became inseparable.

In May 2020 Jon proposed on a beach in Spain while Bev was dressed in a baseball cap and wearing no make-up.

They arranged the wedding in just five months – tying the knot in October the same year in a fairytale wedding at Hazlewood Castle Hotel, West Yorkshire.

The Liz McDonald actress wore a floorlength strapless ivory gown and matching lace veil. While Jon cut a dashing figure in a suit set off with an eye-popping pink waistcoast to match Beverley’s bouquet.

Bev roped in 22 bridesmaids and she and Jon got tattoos of their wedding date to commemorate the occasion.

Despite the dreamy start to their union, the couple faced some hardships in years that followed with bankruptcy, family illness and Beverley’s devastating battle with clinical depression that saw her attempt suicide twice.

She credits Jon for pulling her out of a ‘black hole’ and when asked what the secret to their marriage was, Bev revealed the answer was very simple.

“Every morning we have two cups of tea together and a chat and then he does a silly little dance in the kitchen.

“It makes me smile. When I’m at work I miss him. We laugh a lot and I still fancy him rotten. He’s my best friend as well as my husband.”

An equally smitten Jon popped the question all over again in 2017 when the couple were listening to BBC Radio 4.

“A woman was talking about recovering from serious illness and it made us look back on everything we had been through together,” recalled Beverley.

The emotional chat spurred Jon on to pop the question there and then promising a quieter bash than their last big, white wedding.

If you have been affected by this story, advice and support can be found at Breast Cancer Support.

I’m A Celeb All Stars launches tonight, at 9pm on ITV1 and ITVX. It will air every weeknight for three weeks, with the live grand final falling on Friday, April 24.

Like this story? For more of the latest showbiz news and gossip, follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok , Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , YouTube and Threads .

Stokesley’s Classics on Show returns to The Showfield for its fifteenth anniversary on Saturday, June 20, promising a day of vintage vehicles, entertainment, and community spirit.

Hundreds of classic cars, trucks, campervans, and motorbikes from across the North East, Yorkshire, and further afield will be on display from 10am to 4pm.

Mike Overy, spokesman for Classics on Show, said: “Following the success of the show’s established dedicated Motorcycle Arena and Campervan Corner at the show we decided to curate a specific feature for scooters so that fans can see them together in one place.

“We look forward to welcoming the many vintage scooter owners from around the region who will add a new and exciting dimension to an event which just keeps on growing.”

A new addition for 2026 is Scooter Square, a special area showcasing classic scooters, including Vespas, Lambrettas, and other vintage models.

This year, the show is being organised jointly by The Rotary Club of Stokesley and Erimus Middlesbrough Rotary Club, with all profits supporting Rotary initiatives and local charities.

Live music from The Bilsdale Silver Band and Crash Bang Wallop will add to the day’s atmosphere, along with a food court and children’s entertainment.

For the first time, organisers have introduced a small entry fee for exhibitors to help cover rising costs.

Vehicle entry is £5 for a vehicle and two occupants, while motorbikes and scooters can enter for £2.50.

Visitor tickets are £7.50 per person or £20 for a family of four.

More information, including exhibitor entry forms and visitor details, is available at www.classicsonshow.co.uk.

The crash is said to have taken place on the major A-road by Causey Park in Northumberland, before 2pm today.

As a result, the road has been taken down to one lane and delays are increasing, but the circumstances of the crash are not yet known.

There has been a traffic collision on the #A1 near #Causeypark between the #A697 and #A1068. resulting in a full closure for those going northbound

Southbound carriageway is currently still flowing.

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Expect delays

Updates to follow pic.twitter.com/s5YPP0U5jH

— National Highways: North-East (@HighwaysNEAST) April 6, 2026

According to AA Traffic maps, motorists are having about 15 minutes added to their journeys.

A National Highways spokesperson said: “There has been a traffic collision on the A1 near Causey Park between the A697 and the A1068, resulting in a full closure for those going northbound.

“Southbound carriageway is currently still flowing. Expect delays.”

“I’m having an experience in Brive that I’ll never forget, both on and off the pitch,” said Lawes.

“I’m going to give it my all until the end of the season to finish this adventure with CAB in the best possible way.”

Brive president Thierry Blandinieres said Lawes arrived at the club “with humility and ambition” and has “shown the full extent of his talent since his first day”.

Lawes was given his first England cap in 2009 and as well as the 2023 World Cup, he also played in the 2011, 2015 and 2019 tournaments.