A BBC cameraman was left needing stitches after he was attacked by people smugglers at a migrant camp.

A crew of journalists were investigating tactics adopted by the criminal gangs – who are rumoured to be preparing new ‘mega-dinghies’ earmarked for Britain’s shores.

But the reporters were confronted by a group of the ‘repeatedly frustrated’ crooks in Calais, angry at the sight of their camera.

Despite the crew agreeing to stop filming, one smuggler – standing at 5ft 8in and donning a new grey tracksuit – attempted to grab the equipment before reportedly throwing rocks ‘at a close range’.

The BBC’s cameraman, Pol, was struck above the eye and was later given ‘a few stitches’ – after the crew made a quick getaway as they were chased to their car.

It comes as illegal smuggling gangs are thought to be adopting new tactics as they are reportedly ‘running low on small boats’.

Criminal groups are now said to be working together by loading more migrants on fewer, larger vessels. 

Last month a record 230 people crossed the Channel in one small boat – with the arrivals being more passengers than the typical capacity of a Boeing 737.

It broke the previous record set in July when 165 people made the crossing on a single vessel.

The unprecedented crossing prompted accusations that politicians had ‘lost control’ of illegal migration, while French police once again came under fire for failing to intervene. 

Gang members say more mega-dinghies are now in the works, a source told the BBC.

The groups are said to be quoting up to €2,000 (£1,700) per person – a rise from around €1,300 just a year ago, with passengers being told to pay in cash, to show they are committed.

Former chief inspector of borders and immigration David Neal said: ‘Organised crime gangs are very adept at getting around any measures put in place by law enforcement.

‘If police manage to close down one avenue through which smugglers were obtaining dinghies and maritime equipment, the gangs will immediately switch to look for other manufacturers, importation routes, and so on. Dealing with organised criminals is a constant game of cat-and-mouse.

‘The use of extra-large dinghies suggests that traffickers have changed their tactics in this way. It is likely they have secured a new manufacturer which is now making these larger boats to order.

‘It could even indicate that law enforcement’s success in seizing outboard motors is driving up the size of the boats – in other words, they have fewer motors and so are using them to power a smaller number of larger dinghies.’

The public was stunned by images of a huge inflatable packed with 230 migrants arriving in Britain

He added that these giant boats pose a grave risk to life, due to the risk of people drowning and being trampled and crushed.

‘The authorities may even be more reluctant to approach such vessels at sea because the wake created by patrol boats would risk destabilising these unseaworthy dinghies already so overloaded,’ he said.

Previous ministers have privately spoken of the guilt they felt in the wake of Channel deaths, questioning whether there was anything they could have done to prevent the loss of life.

Mr Neal said: ‘Traffickers care only about their profits and are indifferent to the safety of the migrants they smuggle. They will corral ever-higher numbers of migrants into these death-trap dinghies just to make money, with potentially disastrous consequences.

‘All in all, the very worthy aim of targeting organised crime gangs and their supply chains may have had the unintended side-effect of making Channel crossings even more dangerous.’

However, it remains to be seen whether mega-dinghies will prove as effective as the smaller boats, with Channel crossings hitting a six-year low this summer.

Nearly 7,000 people made the journey in small boats between June and August, its seasonal lowest since 2020. The number of small-boat migrants arriving in Britain is at its lowest since 2019.

While critics have put the decrease down to bad weather, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood attributed the drop to increased international co-operation blocking people smugglers’ supply chain for boats, lifebelts and outboard motors.

By ED HOLT

Published: 18:22 BST, 3 September 2026 | Updated: 21:25 BST, 3 September 2026

A runaway capybara that escaped from a zoo five months ago has been spotted for the first time.

Samba vanished from her enclosure at Marwell Zoo, in Hampshire, on March 17 as she and another giant rodent were being moved in.

Her great escape prompted a massive search operation but after almost six months she has yet to be located.

However, zookeepers have their most ‘promising lead’ yet after a photograph of a capybara taken on August 11 was confirmed to be Samba.

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A Marwell spokesperson said: ‘Yes – the sighting was Samba but we haven’t got any further updates to share at the moment.’

The confirmation means Samba was still alive and moving around the area nearly five months after she escaped.

Her disappearance has attracted widespread attention, with members of the public reporting possible sightings during the search.

A running joke emerged online with social media users posting photos of Samba – often AI-generated – enjoying her life on the outside with various activities like lounging poolside or going to the pub.

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Pictured: Samba when she first escaped – this is not a new photo

Samba in Marwell Zoo before her disappearance. She vanished from her enclosure on March 17 as she and another giant rodent were being moved in

Marwell has not provided any further details about where Samba was seen or whether the latest confirmed sighting has led to her being located.

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In theory, a capybara could survive in the UK. The rodent has an abundant food source with plenty of grass and plants along riverbanks for it to eat.

They also have no natural predators that could hunt them. 

For Samba, the biggest risk to her life could come from traffic and, if she survives, until winter she might struggle to reach food sources due to the freezing temperatures.

Capybaras are also social creatures often living in groups of 20 to 100 animals and solitary capybaras can be prone to stress and depression.   

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Have YOU spotted the runaway capybara? Email: edward.holt@dailymail.co.uk 

The Trump administration wants to disqualify private schools from tax-exempt status if they consider race in school programs, impacting as many as 18,000 educational institutions.

In an effort to crack down on schools that utilize affirmative action to promote diversity, the IRS and Treasury Department said that under the new rule, any private institution that considers race in admissions, educational policies, scholarships, loans, athletics or any other school-supported program would be ineligible for tax-exempt status.

Over the last year, President Donald Trump has sought to punish schools that consider race to benefit racial-minority students, arguing that it violates the 2023 Supreme Court decision that banned the use of affirmative action in admissions.

Trump administration officials have taken the position that the policies are unfair toward white or Asian students.

“Schools rebranding race-based preferences as equitable, inclusive, or diversity-enhancing does not change their discriminatory nature,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a Thursday press release.

Bessent added: “Today’s Treasury and IRS proposed regulations establish a clear standard, and the institutions that continue to use discriminatory practices will no longer receive the benefits of federal tax-exempt status.”

The proposed rule still needs to undergo a lengthy public comment period before being adopted. But if approved, the final version could go into effect as early as June 2027.

Private schools can obtain tax-exempt status under 501(c)(3) if they are considered a non-profit corporation. In doing so, schools commit to reinvesting their revenue in education, rather than distributing it among owners or shareholders.

Tax-exempt status is a valuable financial tool for private schools – under it, a school does not pay federal income tax, and donors can consider their donation to the school a charitable contribution.

The Trump administration has capitalized on that, threatening to revoke schools’ tax-exempt status if they do not comply with the president’s demands. Last year, CNN reported that the IRS was looking to revoke Harvard University’s tax-exempt status after the president became embroiled in a battle over policy differences.

The IRS and Treasury’s proposed rule did not provide guidelines on how they would examine whether a private school was not considering race in school programs.

But the administration maintained schools would still be permitted to provide financial aid or admission assistance to disadvantaged students under the proposed rule by using race-neutral criteria.

In announcing the proposed rule, the Trump administration said it was relying on a Supreme Court precedent from the 1983 case Bob Jones University v. U.S. that determined an institution could not be tax-exempt if it is in opposition to “fundamental public policy.”

Imagine getting into a London taxi. Someone is sitting in the driver’s seat, but the car is driving itself. If the autonomous system gets into difficulty, they must recognise what is happening, decide whether to intervene and, within seconds, potentially take control.

This is no longer hypothetical. Uber and the British autonomous driving company, Wayve, have been granted licences to operate self-driving taxis in London with human safety drivers seated inside, with more than 100,000 people having joined a waiting list for the service. Uber launched its service, with 15 autonomous vehicles, on September 3.

Much of the debate thus far has focused on whether robotaxis will eventually replace human drivers. But there is another important question: what happens to human skill when our job changes from doing something to watching a machine do it?

Driving involves reading the road, anticipating others’ behaviour, judging risk and
responding to unexpected situations. Autonomous vehicles transfer much of this
work to software, but humans don’t necessarily become unskilled; their expertise
changes.

They become less of an operator and more of a critical supervisor. There
is, however, a problem with this arrangement, one that was identified long before
today’s enthusiasm for AI.

In 1983, Lisanne Bainbridge published an influential paper, Ironies of Automation, noting that automation tends to leave humans with the tasks machines find most difficult, namely, monitoring complex systems and dealing with unusual situations.

The irony is that automating routine work can leave people with fewer opportunities
to practise the skills they need when something goes wrong. Applied to robotaxis, this paradox is striking: the better the autonomous system becomes at driving, the less its human supervisor needs to drive.

However, the less that person drives, the fewer opportunities they have to practise the skills they may suddenly need when the system encounters something it cannot handle.

Meaningful oversight

There are signs of a similar problem elsewhere. For example, a 2025 study of clinicians using AI-assisted colonoscopy found that after routinely working with AI, their ability to detect precancerous growths when working without the technology declined, falling from 28.4% before regular exposure to AI to 22.4% afterwards.

This does not mean that AI makes doctors worse, nor that autonomous vehicles will
inevitably make people poor drivers. The significant distinction is between the
performance of the human-machine system and the capabilities retained by the
human within it.

A system can improve while the human supervisor becomes less practised. We hear about keeping a “human in the loop” in medicine, education, law and workplaces increasingly reliant on machine-generated analysis. However, having a human present is not the same thing as having meaningful human oversight.

For that, the person needs enough expertise to recognise when the machine is wrong,
enough confidence to challenge, and enough authority to intervene.

A temporary job?

Robotaxis already operate in the US, China and the Middle East, sometimes without
a supervisor. This raises an uncomfortable question about London’s safety drivers:
do they represent a new kind of skilled occupation (expertise in supervising
autonomous systems) or are they temporary workers, required until the technology is
considered reliable enough to work alone?

There may, in other words, be two kinds of displacement happening. Eventually, the
taxi driver may be displaced by the machine, but before that happens, driving itself becomes displaced by supervising. And that transformation is likely to reach far beyond transport.

The government had anticipated commercial trials beginning this year, but regulatory and technical hurdles have delayed the rollout. Transport for London has not published the guidance operators will need and no vehicles have thus far completed the approval process required for fully driverless passenger services.

The delay has been welcomed by some campaigners who have raised concerns
ranging from employment and road safety, to privacy and the environmental costs
associated with data intensive technologies. However, the postponement should not
be read as evidence that autonomous vehicles have failed or that they are inherently unsafe.

Indeed, it highlights something more fascinating – that technological capability, regulation and social preparedness do not necessarily develop at the same speed.

Before fully autonomous vehicles can become ordinary features of London’s streets,
regulators must confront questions that are partly technical but also ethical; such as, who supervises an autonomous system? Who is responsible when something goes
wrong?

And at what point are we prepared to decide that the human supervisor is no
longer needed? London’s delayed experiment is therefore testing a relationship with technology that is becoming increasingly familiar: machines performing while humans watch, judge and remain responsible.

As such, the challenge is no longer about keeping a “human in the loop”, but ensuring that when we do, humans retain the skills, judgment and agency that make their presence meaningful.

Naomi Osaka was not having the easiest time on court. Having battled through a tie-break to edge the first set, she was serving at 4-4 in the second. Then, her concentration snapped.

Up in the luxury suites, a group of influencers were posing for photographs using a bright, portable light. As they milled about the box, unaware of the tension below, their distraction was enough to prompt a warning from the chair umpire. But it took a few moments for the message to filter through. After all, their focus was on getting the perfect shot.

Welcome to the 2026 US Open. Long the envy of the Grand Slams for the late-night energy and glamour that only New York can provide, this year’s tournament has been subject to complaints about being overrun with influencers who see the final major of the year as little more than a creative backdrop on social media.

‘People are down there trying to perform, and it’s their career and their job. It seems like a bit disrespectful,’ US No 1 Jessica Pegula said when asked about the incident in Osaka’s match after her own bow on Arthur Ashe, the tournament’s biggest court. ‘I think it’s gotten a little too much, it feels, this year.’

There’s no mystery behind why the US Open has become such a popular destination to tick off for the well-travelled influencer.

‘The US Open has evolved from a tennis tournament into one of the most powerful cultural points on the New York calendar,’ notes Reece Milner, Senior Strategy Manager at The Goat Agency, a creator and influencer marketing shop. ‘It now sits at the intersection of sport, fashion, luxury, hospitality, celebrity, lifestyle and content culture.’

The ‘rituals’ that appear so frequently on social media feeds that you might be able to play US Open bingo, like enjoying a night match, a Honey Deuce cocktail or $100 COQODAQ chicken nugget-and-caviar box, Milner adds, have only served to crystallise its status.

The US Open has seen a huge rise in popularity in recent years and brands hosting influencers at the tournament in a bid to borrow its cultural clout has risen too

This is no one-way street either, with the US Open well aware of its cultural power outside of tennis as well as within. The tournament has embraced the influencer, this year going as far as to credential 100 content creators, with US Open head of communications Brendan McIntyre noting that in years to come, the number is only going to ‘go upwards’.

But those influencers aren’t necessarily the problem. Tennis media has evolved to take in TikTok, Instagram, and Substack experts, all invested in growing interest in the game itself. More worthy of skepticism are those who might be spending one night at the Open, making it a race against time to get the perfect picture, action on court be damned.

The US Open has never been Wimbledon, and that’s a good thing. The noise of an Arthur Ashe night session makes for pleasing whiplash after the prim-and-proper hush of Centre Court as the tour bounces between the two majors.

But as greater numbers of guests flood into the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center with limited interest in the tennis and more on their feed, the noise levels of ambient chatter, rather than engagement in the match, have caused problems for players.

‘On Ashe, you hear everything,’ Pegula added. ‘Even when there’s dead noise, there’s still a buzz or a chatter or people talking and eating and laughing and all these different kind of emotions. You really have to do a good job of locking yourself in a bubble when you’re out there.’

Of fans on the outdoor courts, French player Adrian Mannarino was more forthright: ‘They come in any which way, they move around, they talk. It’s the tournament that tolerates this, and I don’t know if it’s the best idea for the game in general. There’s noise coming from everywhere. It’s become a bit of a zoo.’

Watching Aryna Sabalenka and Carlos Alcaraz on Arthur Ashe on Wednesday, the noise of the crowd never dipped below ‘pub garden’. Since the tournament ushered in ‘free fan movement’ in 2024 which allows fans to come and go without waiting for changeovers or set breaks, the policy has been followed to the letter, with the lower bowl constantly in motion.

Influencers have added to the heat around the US Open and their enviable photographs will have translated, in part, to ticket sales

Inside Arthur Ashe Stadium is a constant hum of noise as fans move in their seats during points

That’s where most of the chatter comes from too, with the seats in the gods crammed with fans locked in on the action, and quieter during play.

As Alcaraz took the first game after losing his opening set to Jaime Faria, the noise rises to a roar, with the same staticky thickness of a sound machine playing a recording of the ocean at full volume. At 0-15, clearly distracted, the Portuguese player serves a double fault. The chair umpire gives a warning when a fan shouts down from the stands as he’s preparing to serve again, but does little to dim the constant conversation.

Nor have those in the suites learned their lesson. Despite the US Open displaying messages around the site telling fans to refrain from using flash or lights to take pictures, Daily Mail Sport spotted flashes going off during Sabalenka’s thrashing of Polina Iatcenko. A statement shared after the Osaka incident placed the responsibility for wrangling misbehaving influencers on the chair umpires, who ‘have the ability to address the crowd’ when ‘infrequent’ disruptions occur.

Influencers have added to the heat around the US Open and their enviable photographs will have translated, in part, to ticket sales. But if the goal is to get more fans into the sport, week-in, week-out, they need great tennis played in a great tennis atmosphere – and inside on the tournament’s biggest courts, that can no longer be guaranteed.

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — The U.S. Forest Service is closing 23 research and development stations in more than a dozen states as part of an organizational overhaul under President Donald Trump that is intended to trim costs and concentrate the agency’s resources in Western states, officials said Thursday.

The work being done at the research stations will continue at other sites, Forest Service Associate Chief Chris French said in an interview. An additional 41 research facilities that faced possible closure will remain open after local officials and members of Congress raised concerns about the reorganization, which was announced in March.

“Our primary goal was to get our facilities costs under control,” French told The Associated Press. “We’re not closing any ongoing science activities. We’re not closing any of the experimental forests that are important to our researchers.”

Research by forest service employees ranges from studies on invasive species and protecting water resources to how wildfires are changing as climate change dries out and heats up forests.

Bill Avey of the National Associated of Forest Service Retirees, an advocacy group, said the forest service has long struggled to pay for all its facilities and some opportunities for consolidation exist. But Avey, who worked at the service for four decades, said its current leaders including Chief Tom Schultz need to defend the importance of forest research more vocally.

“He should be doing a much better job of pushing back and justifying and explaining some of the research work,” Avey said. He added that the 41 facilities being retained likely would have closed as well if not for pushback from his group and others.

The 95 employees at the research stations slated for closure will be relocated to other sites, Forest Service Communications Director Chad Douglas said. The closures — along with previously announced plans to shut regional offices in Atlanta, Milwaukee and Portland — will save about $16 million, officials said.

The reorganization also includes moving the agency’s headquarters from Washington to Salt Lake City. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins has said the move, expected to be completed by next summer, will bring leaders closer to the landscapes they manage and the people who depend on them.

Conservation groups have criticized the changes, warning that they could reduce access to forests and threaten wildlife habitat and clean air and water.

Federal data shows that the Forest Service has lost about 6,000 employees, or about 15% of its workforce, during Trump’s second term as part of the Republican administration’s sweeping cuts to agencies that oversee the nation’s natural resources.

During Trump’s first term, he moved the Bureau of Land Management to Colorado, citing many of the same reasons, including a desire to put top officials closer to the public lands they oversee. Former President Joe Biden’s administration reversed course, returning the bureau’s headquarters to Washington after two years.

Plans lodged with City of York Council would see the Saville Group offices in Millfield Lane, Nether Poppleton converted to house the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) Hope Centre Church.

The application stated the church would host a congregation of about 130 worshippers at peak times on Sunday mornings.

It added measures would be taken to ensure neighbours are not disturbed by the noise from services.

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The RCCG Hope Centre Church, a Pentecostal denomination, has branches in York and Crewe.

Plans stated the church would be in an area of mainly commercial and industrial buildings.

It is opposite Manor CE Academy secondary school.

The church would be used for prayer meetings, worship, community gatherings, educational and pastoral activities and administrative functions, with office space provided for staff.

No changes are proposed to the building itself.

The church has pledged to keep the noise down during its services (Image: congerdesign from pixabay)

A total of 30 onsite parking spaces, including two disabled bays, would cater for around 25 vehicles expected to travel to and from its services.

A further 20 on-street spaces are also available nearby.

Plans stated doors and windows would remain closed during services so amplified noise could not be heard by the building’s neighbours.

The application said: “The proposed place of worship will be operated in a responsible manner so as to protect the amenity of neighbouring occupiers and avoid noise disturbance.

“No external public address system, loudspeaker, amplified music, musical performance or congregation activity is proposed.”

It was the models who nearly stole the show at the Venice Film Festival tonight, as Kendall Jenner graced the Wild Horse Nine premiere in a showstopping look.

The fashion star, 30, swapped a more modern piece for a timeless 90s gown as she made an early arrival on the red carpet.

Kendall proudly showed off her model physique in the dress from Giorgio Armani’s 1995 collection as she paused to sign autographs for her fans.

The fashion star, who is an ambassador for Armani Beauty at the festival, teamed her outfit with diamonds from Briony Raymond. 

Like many models, she made the most of her appearance at the festival, despite not having a role in the Martin McDonagh film, and was joined by fellow fashion favourite Stella Maxwell, who opted for a revealing black lace gown.

Wild Horse Nine stars Parker Posey, John Malkovich, Sam Rockwell and Steve Buscemi, and marks Martin’s return to directing for the first time since his acclaimed 2022 film The Banshees of Inisherin earned a string of Oscar nominations.

The fashion star swapped a more modern piece for a timeless 90s gown as she made an early arrival on the red carpet

The film is set in 1973, shortly before the Chilean coup, and sees CIA officers Chris and Lee dispatched from Santiago to Easter Island by their bureau chief, MJ. 

Amongst the Island’s iconic statues, and as the longtime partners wrestle with their dark pasts and present conspiracies, Chris’s newfound bond with a pair of rebellious students threatens to send everyone’s trip to this remote paradise sideways.

The film is set to compete for the coveted Golden Lion Award, and will be released theatrically on November 6. 

While Kendall is expected at a number of Armani events in the coming days, she is unlikely to be joined by her new beau Jacob Elordi.

The Wuthering Heights actor attended last year’s Venice Film Festival to promote his movie Frankenstein, but isn’t expected at this year’s event.

Jacob has been enjoying a break from the big screen after a hectic year, with the release of his Oscar-nominated role in Frankenstein and the Wuthering Heights blockbuster.

In his downtime, Jacob has been seeing Kendall in London, Hollywood and Australia.

The couple went public with their relationship in April when they were glimpsed passionately kissing at the afterparty for Bieber’s Coachella performance after being set up by Kendall’s younger sister Kylie.

Kendall proudly showed off her model physique in the dress from Giorgio Armani’s 1995 collection as she posed for photos on the red carpet

The fashion star, who is an ambassador for Armani Beauty at the festival, teamed her outfit with diamonds from Briony Raymond

Like many models, she made the most of her appearance at the festival, despite not having a role in the Martin McDonagh film

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While Kendall is expected at a number of Armani events in the coming days, she is unlikely to be joined by her new beau Jacob Elordi

Kendall paused to sign autographs for her fans as she made an early entrance at the premiere

Stella Maxwell also showed off her model prowess on the red carpet, as she arrived for the premiere in a daring sheer black gown

The fashion star posed up a storm in her backless dress, which was covered with matching sequins and boasting a flowing fishtail skirt

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Stella cut a glamorous figure in her dramatic black dress

In the intervening months, their romance saw them visiting Hawaii and Japan together, with the pair even going viral on TikTok for holding hands in Tokyo. 

The couple also traveled to London for the premiere of The Dog Stars.

Their trip included a glamorous dinner at Cipriani with Jacob’s father John, followed by the red carpet event for the movie on Thursday.

It’s been reported that Jacob booked the $82,000-a-night penthouse suite at famous London hotel Claridge’s for himself and his girlfriend in a bid to impress her.

An insider exclusively told the Daily Mail they had been dating ‘as far back as early February’ thanks to a spot of matchmaking from Kendall’s sister Kylie.

Actress Blanca Blanco was in a custom-made Christophe Guillarmé gown

The Washington state native recently completed the films The Ring Of Kibo and The Race Of Love

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Here the artist is pictured with entrepreneur John Winthrop of Los Angeles

At that stage, Kylie’s boyfriend Timothée Chalamet was running a best actor Oscar campaign for his turn as an underground ping pong champion in Marty Supreme.

Meanwhile, Jacob was also nominated for a string of awards for his role as the monster in Guillermo Del Toro’s adaptation of Frankenstein.

‘Kylie was around Jacob a lot during Timothée’s award season marathon because Jacob was nominated for Frankenstein and Timothée was nominated for Marty Supreme,’ the source explained to the Daily Mail.

‘Kylie is the alpha sister and pushed Kenny to start a romance with Jacob because she wanted to set up double dates with Timothée.’

The insider shared: ‘Kenny’s house is where all the parties happen, a lot of action there, so the four of them got close there,’ the source expanded, divulging that ‘Kenny found out she just clicked with Jacob… there was chemistry.’ 

Venice Film Festival’s red carpet events began Wednesday with the premiere of British director Danny Boyle’s Ink, a drama about the rise of media magnate Rupert Murdoch. 

It closes on September 12, with Italian costume drama Dio Ride (God Laughs), written and directed by Giovanni Veronesi.

Stars expected to attend this year include Noel and Liam Gallagher of Oasis, sisters Rooney and Kate Mara, Robert Pattinson, Penélope Cruz and her husband Javier Bardem, Pamela Anderson, Sam Rockwell, John Malkovich, French actor Louis Garrel, South Korean actress Cho Yeo-jeong and US actress Ellen Burstyn, who is accepting a lifetime achievement award.

Emergency services closed the road after being called out the three-car crash at a busy junction

A driver ran from the scene of a three-car pile-up in Bootle on Thursday afternoon as emergency services raced to the scene.

Debris was strewn across the busy junction after the smash, which saw three cars damaged. The road was closed while emergency services helped the remaining drivers and passengers.

Southport Road was closed between Burnie Avenue and Wolfenden Avenue following the crash at around 5.30pm today. Photographs taken at the scene showed one car positioned sideways across the road, badly damaged with its front bumper and bonnet smashed. A second vehicle could be seen parked at the side of the road nearby.

A Merseyside Fire and Rescue spokesman said that the occupants of two of the cars involved in the crash remained at the scene and were unhurt, but the occupants of a third vehicle had fled, Liverpool Echo reports.

He said: “Fire crews were called to a road traffic collision this evening on Southport Road, Bootle. Crews were alerted at 5.27pm and on scene at 5.34pm, with two fire engines in attendance.

“Crews arrived to find three cars involved in a collision at the junction with Kier Hardie Avenue, all vehicles were on all four wheels. “The occupants of one vehicle had left the scene before the arrival of crews, the occupants of the remaining two vehicles were out of the vehicles on arrival and uninjured.

“Crews isolated the battery to one vehicle and applied an absorbent material to the area to make the scene safe. Merseyside Police were in attendance managing traffic. Crews left the scene in the hands of police at 5.55pm.”

The road had reopened after emergency services left the scene at 6.40pm.

Corrie fans think they’ve spotted a new romance for Ryan Connor after crying out for him to get his own storyline

Coronation Street fans think they have spotted a new romance for Ryan Connor after crying out for him to get his own storyline in the long-running show.

Actor Ryan Prescott is best known for playing the character in the ITV soap, which is filmed in Salford, having started in the role back in 2018.

He was recast in the role, which had previously been played by two other actors, when his character’s job in Ibiza fell through, and he moved back in with his mum, Michelle, played by Kym Marsh.

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The rest, as they say, is history, and it was this week that Ryan’s reappearance in Corrie following a recent absence, which got viewers talking, with many making reference to soap star Ryan’s recent holiday with his cobbles castmates.

And he has since got Corrie fans talking again, this time following Thursday’s (September 3) episode of the show. Ryan was seen heading to the salon, where he overheard Bethany Platt arranging a date with Roman, after the disaster that was their first attempt at enjoying dinner together.

Ryan appeared to show his own interest in Bethany, according to viewers, suggesting the new man would ‘be an idiot’ if he decided she wasn’t for him due to what is happening in her personal life, namely her mum, Sarah Platt, being in prison for Theo Silverton’s murder.

As they briefly spoke, before Ryan requested a manicure after a guest at the hotel told him he had “terrible nails”, Corrie fans were quick to spot a spark between the pair, and as they called for a romance, some were concerned that Bethany could end up in the arms of someone else.

@DrSwarla2025 said: “Looks like Corrie are going to revisit Ryan and Bethany’s obvious attraction I’m all for it. #corrie.” @daisysmidgeley wrote: “Yeah they’re SO getting back together this was so buzzy.” @sam_Fletcher78 replied: “Sparkes were certainly flying!” @KerriVibe_ posted: “Bethany & Ryan… are we shipping them again?”

@Izzy1728047 commented; “Loving Ryan’s hair & his new style! He looks so cool, also please let him and Bethany get together again. They are good together. Plus imagine the family scenes between the Platts & The Connor-Swains it would be gold! #Swarla #Corrie.” @Emmmmmer shared: “Give me Bethany and Ryan. Give me Carla giving Ryan s**t about liking Bethany. Give me Lisa and Carla also giving Ryan s**t about it! #swarla #corrie.”

@swarlaera2 suggested: “Are they setting this up to look like they could have a relationship then bam she ends up with kit.” @SwainsCoat added: “No me getting excited over the prospect of Ryan and Bethany just for her to be dumb and choose her mother’s awful ex.”