The news comes as the city marks No Smoking Day on Wednesday, March 11, with renewed efforts to encourage smokers to quit for good.

Councillor Kelly Chequer, deputy leader of Sunderland City Council and cabinet member for health, wellbeing and safer communities, said: “We know how damaging smoking is to health, and it’s fantastic that fewer people are smoking in Sunderland than ever before, but we really want to help more people go smoke free to improve their health and wellbeing.”

Sharon Pearson, 63, from Washington has quit smoking with the help of the Stop Smoking Service. (Image: Sunderland City Council)

Washington resident Sharon Pearson, 63, recently quit smoking with the service’s help.

Ms Pearson said: “I used a vape and patches to help me quit but having the advisors phone me to check in and remind me how far I’d come encouraged me to keep going.”

She began smoking as a teenager and eventually smoked up to 60 cigarettes a day, a habit that seriously affected her health.

Ms Pearson said: “I was out of breath all the time and I couldn’t walk very far.

“I was just smoking for smoking’s sake and to be honest I don’t know how I could afford it.”

She has now been smoke-free for 12 weeks and says she has seen real improvements in her health.

Ms Pearson said: “I can save money too; I’m putting away the money I spent on cigarettes to spend on holiday with my daughter.” 

Help is also available through GPs, pharmacies, family hubs and the free Smoke Free app, which includes expert advice, progress tracking and a vape starter kit.

Councillor Kelly Chequer added: “For many people the idea of quitting can be daunting, but there’s more support than ever before, so I’d encourage anyone wanting to quit to contact the Sunderland Stop Smoking Service to find out what support is right for them.”

Sunderland’s Specialist Stop Smoking Service offers free one-to-one support, nicotine patches, prescription medications and access to a free vape.

Anyone wishing to access stop smoking support can visit sunderlandstopsmokingservice.co.uk or call 0800 169 9913.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his teenage daughter observed tests of strategic cruise missiles fired from a warship, state media reported Wednesday, as North Korea threatened responses to U.S.-South Korean military drills.

Images sent by the Korean Central News Agency showed the two in a conference room looking at a screen showing weapons being fired from the Choe Hyon, a year-old naval destroyer.

Kim Jong Un watched the missiles launches via video on Tuesday and underscored the need to maintain “a powerful and reliable nuclear war deterrent,” KCNA reported in a dispatch that did not mention his daughter.

The girl, reportedly named Kim Ju Ae and about 13, has accompanied her father at numerous prominent events including military parades and weapons launches since late 2022. South Korea’s spy agency assessed last month Kim Jong Un was close to designating her as his heir.

KCNA said the missiles hit target islands off North Korea’s west coast. It quoted Kim Jong Un as saying the launches were meant to demonstrate the navy’s strategic offensive posture and get troops familiarized with weapons firings.

Kim Jong Un observed similar cruise missile launches from the Choe Hyon in person last week, but his daughter was not seen at that appearance.

Tuesday’s missile firings came after the start of the springtime U.S.-South Korean military drills that North Korea views as an invasion rehearsal.

On Tuesday, Kim Jong Un’s sister and senior official, Kim Yo Jong, warned the drills reveal again the U.S. and South Korea’s “inveterate repugnancy toward” North Korea. She said North Korea will “convince the enemies of our war deterrence.”

The 11-day Freedom Shield drill that began Monday is largely a computer-simulated command post exercise and will be accompanied by a field training program. North Korea often reacts to the two sets of training with its own weapons tests.

Stephen McAlley, 43, initially dismissed his sons symptoms as flu

A Cheshire father of a 12-year-old boy who received a shock diagnosis within 24 hours of a GP appointment has told of the warning signs to look out for.

Stephen McAlley initially dismissed his son Ollie’s symptoms as flu after he complained of tiredness and pain in his lower back. The 43-year-old said he ‘certainly wouldn’t have’ taken Ollie to a doctor if it was not for his concerned wife, Kirsty, who is a nurse.

Within hours of Ollie’s visit to his local GP in February 2025, the father-of-three said his son was rushed to Warrington Hospital, where they took some blood and broke the news that he had a ‘high risk’ form of leukaemia, starting chemotherapy at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital the very next day.

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Stephen, an operations manager for Network Rail, said Ollie’s treatment is ongoing but that he may need a stem cell transplant in future, which is part of the reason why Stephen has signed up to run the London Marathon for the charity Anthony Nolan.

Stephen, from Warrington, said: “Take your kids to the GP. If you think that there’s something going on, take them because I wouldn’t have done, if it wasn’t for my wife.

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“It’s just the whole stupid dad mentality of ‘man up, you’ll be fine, get on with it’, which is just complete rubbish in hindsight.”

Ollie’s symptoms first started in December 2024 while the family were on holiday in New York City for Christmas, where Stephen noted he was ‘fluey’ and ‘really struggling to get around’.

Once the family got back to the UK in January 2025, Stephen said Ollie kept complaining of tiredness and a sore back.

“My wife took him to the pictures a couple of times,” Stephen said. “He was in one of those cinemas where you lie down in the seats and he just screamed out, holding his back. It only lasted 20 seconds or something like that.”

“Then he did it again at home a few days later,” he added.

Within a few days of Ollie complaining of a sore back, Stephen said his wife called their local GP and managed to get an appointment for 4pm that same day. Kirsty and Ollie saw a junior doctor, who Stephen said was ‘amazing’ because she ‘trusted her gut’ and went to her supervisor, who urged them to go for further tests.

That is when Stephen said Kirsty called him and told him to meet them at Warrington Hospital, where Ollie went straight into a ward to have blood taken. By midnight, Stephen said four doctors took him and his wife into an empty side room away from their son and confirmed Ollie’s blast blood cells were ‘through the roof’ and they were ‘pretty sure it was some form of leukaemia’.

Stephen said: “They told us that we needed to go to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital straight away and asked us if we wanted an ambulance. I remember the doctor basically said: ‘You’re going to be spending the next few months in hospital’. Initially, it was just complete confusion, panic, and I was scared to death.”

Stephen said he went home to pack a suitcase for Ollie at around 2am, before having to wake up his two other children – Evie and Caden, 20 and 17 respectively – and tell them the news.

Stephen said: “I was on my own and sobbing as I was driving, so I ended up giving my mum a call and I just remember her screaming. Then when I got home, the kids were fast asleep. So I shouted upstairs and asked them to come down. We sat in a bedroom and I explained to them that Ollie’s bloods came back, and what the doctors thought it was.”

“Everyone’s crying…The three of us were upset and cried and had a hug. And then I basically just tried to calm them down.”

At Alder Hey, Stephen said Ollie was immediately wheeled into theatre for his first round of chemotherapy and to perform a Bone Marrow Aspirate, which confirmed it was leukaemia. Within a few days, Ollie received his specific diagnosis of High-Risk Philadelphia Positive ALL.

Ollie has had multiple rounds of chemotherapy and immunotherapy, which Stephen said ‘completely nuked everything in his whole body’ and scared the father of three because of how sick it made his son.

At present, Stephen said Ollie’s cancer is currently at an ‘undetectable’ level, but he will continue to be tested regularly until April 2027. It is possible Ollie may end up needing a stem cell transplant.

Inspired by their son’s leukaemia diagnosis, Stephen said he signed up for the London Marathon on April 26, which Stephen said Ollie is ‘buzzing’ for him to undertake.

For Stephen, the most important thing is raising awareness of leukaemia, but specifically of charities like Anthony Nolan: “Loads of people that we know – friends and family – have already signed up, which has been amazing for us.”

“There’s been a couple of positives to come from Ollie’s diagnosis and that’s certainly one of them. We plan to get as many people on [the stem cell registry] as possible.”

You can donate to Stephen’s London Marathon fundraiser here.

The pub owners wanted to help meet a ‘substantial unmet need’ for homes in the area

Plans have been refused to build a pub car park and three new homes due to concerns over potential harm to a village’s ‘special qualities’. Owners of the Waggon and Horses in Church Street, Steeple Morden proposed to build three new self-build homes to help meet the “very substantial unmet need” for houses in South Cambridgeshire.

Also, the owners proposed to add a new garden and replacement car park to provide a “greater capacity” of cars. In the design and access statement, the applicants said the homes would add a “meaningful contribution” to the housing needs for the area.

They added: “Occupiers of these dwellings will benefit from being in immediate walking distance to the church, primary school, pub and village hall and the dwellings will be located where they will enhance or maintain the vitality of rural communities.”

Land at the back of the pub has been vacant and unused for sometime. Despite comments of support, describing plans for a pub garden as a “welcome addition” and the additional housing being “beneficial” for the village, the plans were refused.

South Cambridgeshire District Council said the plans would cause “significant harm” to the rural character of the village. The council added: “The proposal would through the imposition of hardstanding and residential development within a rural and open landscape, adversely impact and urbanise the rural and open character of the site.”

As the pub is in a conservation area, the council also believed it would affect the “special qualities” of the area. It added that it would “negatively impact” the surrounding area, and it would result in a “moderate less than substantial harm to the grade II listed pub and cottages”.

Previous plans have been refused for similar applications. In 2021, plans were refused to build six homes also due to harm to the area’s character.

A year later, more plans were submitted to build four homes and a car park, but these were again refused. These were refused on the grounds of “impact on heritage assets”.

Erika Kirk has entered the forefront of American politics after her husband and Turning Point USA founder, Charlie Kirk, was killed last year.

Erika, 37, had two children with the activist, and has now been appointed by Donald Trump to the US Air Force Board.

She’s already been appointed as chief executive officer of Turning Point USA and chair of the board.

Now, she joins a 16-member panel of the Air Force Academy’s board of visitors, which ‘inquires into the morale, discipline, curriculum, instruction, physical equipment, fiscal affairs, academic methods and other matters’.

White House spokesperson Olivia Wales said: ‘Charlie Kirk served proudly on the board, inspiring not only the next generation of service members, but millions around the world with his bold Christian faith, defence of the truth and deep love of country.

‘Erika Kirk will continue his legacy, and will be a fearless advocate for the most elite airpower force in the history of the world whose warriors keep our nation safe, strong and free.’

In a statement announcing her appointment, Turning Point USA’s board said Charlie had previously expressed that Erika should take over in the event of his death.

‘Charlie prepared us for this moment,’ the board wrote, describing her as ‘the natural successor to his work’.

Who is Erika Kirk?

Born Erika Lane Frantzve in Scottsdale, Arizona, on November 20, 1988, she grew up in a Catholic family where charitable work was encouraged.

Her mother involved her in volunteer work at soup kitchens, something that Erika has credited with shaping her values.

Sport was another central plank of her early life. She played basketball at Notre Dame Preparatory High School in Scottsdale, winning awards for sportsmanship and teamwork.

Erika went on to play basketball for Regis University in Denver before transferring to Arizona State University, where she earned a degree in political science and international relations.

She combined her studies with entering beauty pageants, being crowed Miss Arizona USA 2012 on her 23rd birthday, and going on to represent her state at the Miss USA competition.

After her undergrad, she completed a master’s in 2017, followed by a doctorate in Christian leadership in 2022.

Alongside this, she launched the nonprofit Everyday Heroes Like You, an organisation that supports grassroots charitable initiatives.

She also created a faith-based fashion label, Proclaim Streetwear, and founded Bible in 365, a ministry project.

Alongside this, she worked in real estate and hosted a faith-oriented podcast called Midweek Rise Up.

How did Charlie and Erika meet?

Erika met Charlie Kirk in New York in 2019 through mutual connections. At the time, Charlie was already well established as a conservative commentator and the head of Turning Point USA, which he founded in 2012.

Their relationship developed quickly, and they got engaged the following December before tying the knot in May 2021 at a ceremony in Scottsdale, Arizona.

A reception was held at the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess hotel, coinciding with Turning Point’s ninth anniversary.

The couple went on to have two children together and lived between Arizona and New York.

As Charlie’s profile grew, Erika became a visible presence at many of his events, often appearing alongside him on stage or in interviews.

Since her husband’s murder, she has spoken of her devastation but also of her determination to continue his work, telling supporters: ‘Charlie gave his life to this cause. I will not let it end here.’

What are Erika’s policies?

Erika’s public statements indicate that she is just as conservative, if not more, than her late husband.

During an episode of The Charlie Kirk Show broadcast last year, Erika and Charlie did a Q&A with listeners.

One asked who was more conservative, to which Charlie replied, ‘Erika by far. (We’re) not even close. I am a moderate compared to Erika.’

She could be heard agreeing with this statement.

Her approach to marriage is often interpreted as being a ‘trad wife’ — a term used to describe women who embrace traditional gender roles, emphasising marriage, motherhood, and homemaking.

During the same episode as mentioned above, she described their bond as one modelled after the fifth chapter in the Bible’s Book of Ephesians.

In it, the wife submits to the husband, who, in turn, according to the Bible, protects and cherishes the wife, just as Christ also loved the Church and gave himself for her.

In 2025, she made a speech calling on listeners to ‘revive biblical womanhood — not the watered-down version the world offers, but the kind forged in fire, rooted in obedience, and patterned after the women who came before us: Esther. Ruth. Deborah. Hannah. Mary.’

For Erika, this has gone hand-in-hand with a strong public commitment to faith and conservative politics.

Her advocacy has focused on issues such as opposition to abortion, the promotion of ‘biblical family values’, and the conviction that American culture must remain rooted in Christianity.

Through her nonprofit and podcast work, she has also highlighted themes of community service, youth mentorship, and mental health.

What is Erika Kirk’s relationship with Donald Trump?

After her husband’s death, Erika has been seen multiple times with Trump, even hugging him at Charlie’s funeral.

The president called Kirk’s killer a ‘radicalised, cold-blooded monster’ during the service.

Trump said that Kirk’s assassination was really targeted at all American conservatives.

‘The gun was pointed at him, but the bullet was aimed at all of us. That bullet was aimed at every one of us,’ he said.

Trump and a grieving Erika embraced at the end of the service, before kissing her on the cheek.

During the State of the Union this year, Trump invited Erika and spoke of Charlie’s murder, as Erika wept.

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Sean Dyche, who left Nottingham Forest last month, has said he’s already been approached about a return to management

Sean Dyche has said top clubs have already approached him but he feels no urgency to take another job or prove a point after the difficult way his time at Nottingham Forest ended. Dyche was dismissed by Forest in mid-February, just four months after being appointed to help pull the club away from the Premier League relegation zone.

The 54‑year‑old, who became Forest’s third manager in a turbulent campaign, following Nuno Espirito Santo and Ange Postecoglou, is being linked with a move to Tottenham. Their interim head coach Igor Tudor is enduring a torrid spell since arriving last month.

The Croatian, who stepped in after Thomas Frank’s departure, has yet to win a game, leaving Spurs just a point above the relegation zone. After their 5-2 Champions League defeat at Atletico Madrid on Tuesday night, Spurs now head to Anfield for a must‑win clash with Liverpool – a result that could determine Tudor’s future if they come up short.

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However, just weeks after his exit, Dyche admitted he’s in no hurry to jump back into management and even suggested he wouldn’t lose any sleep if he never returned at all.

Asked about his future plans on The Football Boardroom podcast, he said: “I know what I am. I could branch off this minute now and do what you’re doing now and be quite happy.

“You know, I’ve done my bit so if I do more, great. If I don’t do more, I won’t be crying over it. I won’t be, you know, but you’re left with this moment or that moment.

“Okay, yeah, not bothered about that. I’ve given my lot, I always do. So I’ve got no problem with that.

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“So if I choose to step away, it will be my choice. It won’t be because no one will employ me.

“I could certainly, I’ve had offers already by the way, so that’s not a problem.

“Top level [offers] but the point is, you go, ‘Do I need that? Do I want to make a decision? Not at the moment.’”