Man United travel to Hull City this afternoon for their first Premier League fixture of the season.
Manchester United embark on their first Premier League fixture of the season this afternoon as they travel to newly-promoted Hull City.
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The Reds enter the game as heavy favourites but Michael Carrick insisted he was not underestimating the Tigers when asked about the challenge they will pose at his pre-match press conference. United have been boosted by the return of Benjamin Sesko to full training. The Slovenian forward missed all of United’s pre-season fixtures as he recovered from injury.
Karl Darlow is also back training but is United’s second-choice goalkeeper this season. Matthijs de Ligt has been ruled out, despite training this week, and Mason Mount is a doubt after he picked up a knock against Paris Saint-Germain earlier this month.
MEN Sport’s United writers have named the side they would start against Hull.
Steven Railston
United have a golden opportunity to get off to the perfect start and should have enough quality to secure an opening day win.
Noussair Mazraoui started at right-back against Milan last weekend, but I’d bring Diogo Dalot back into the team. I would start Leny Yoro alongside Harry Maguire in central defence, although Carrick seems likely to pick Ayden Heaven to partner the 33-year-old. This season is Yoro’s third at Old Trafford, and he should be starting games regularly if he is to become the defender United believe he can.
The midfield picks itself, given Mount is an injury doubt and Kobbie Mainoo only played 30 minutes in pre-season, and I’d go with an attack of Amad, Bryan Mbeumo and Patrick Dorgu, who should all cause Hull problems with their pace.
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Jack Flintham
Carrick’s first major selection decision is at right-back with Mazraoui and Dalot battling it out for a start. I would lean towards Mazraoui, with Luke Shaw on the opposite flank and Heaven partneringMaguire at centre-back.
In midfield, Mount will have been desperate to solidify his spot in the centre but, once again, an injury has scuppered his plans. With that in mind,Andrey Santos should be partnered by Youri Tielemans. The former Aston Villa man has more match fitness than Mainoo but next week the battle to start in midfield will be fiercer.
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In attack, Sesko’s return is a boost but it would be risky throwing him into the starting line-up. Mbeumo has impressed leading the line and should keep his spot. I would also prefer to see Matheus Cunha on the left over Dorgu, but that battle is a close-run thing.
Clancy lacked control and was likely unable to tell the difference between right and wrong on that January 2023 day, he told the jury on Friday.
“In her mind, she believed that she would be doing her children a favour by having them go to heaven with her rather than remain on earth without her doing the mothering,” Resnick testified.
The case is expected to go to the jury early next week following nearly a month of witness testimony.
“She was begging for help,” Clancy’s former mother-in-law, Susan Clancy, said of a woman she described as a “very nurturing, very loving” mother.
Clancy has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder.
Prosecutors have said that in January 2023, Clancy intentionally strangled the three children with fitness bands in their Massachusetts home before jumping out of a second-floor window. Clancy, now 36, was paralysed by the jump and has attended the trial in a wheelchair.
The defence have said Clancy experienced hallucinations and delusions after giving birth to Callan and she was undergoing medical treatment for psychiatric problems. She checked herself into a psychiatric hospital for a few days just before the deaths.
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The UK’s National Health Service (NHS) defines postpartum psychosis as a rare serious mental health illness that can affect someone soon after having a baby.
“Postpartum psychosis is very different from the ‘baby blues’,” the NHS adds. “It’s a serious mental illness and should be treated as a medical emergency.”
If you are suffering distress or despair and need support, you could speak to a health professional, or an organisation that offers support. Details of help available in many countries can be found at Befrienders Worldwide. www.befrienders.org.
In the UK a list of organisations that can help is available at bbc.co.uk/actionline.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Even for well-traveled IndyCar drivers, a track with the U.S. Capitol in the background is a little awe inspiring.
“We get to race at a lot of cool cities, but this one is by far the best that we’ve ever had, and I can say that very truthfully,” Kyle Kirkwood said Friday. “Going by the Capitol building, the views here, all the architecture of all the buildings around here, all the museums, it’s stuff that you dream of.
“It’s a serious honor and privilege.”
This weekend’s Freedom 250 Grand Prix is the second big sporting event staged by President Donald Trump in Washington as part of the nation’s 250th birthday celebration. The first was a UFC fight card on the White House’s South Lawn in June.
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IndyCar racing — an open-wheel counterpart to NASCAR — doesn’t have quite the same association with the right-wing “manosphere” or the MAGA movement, but series owner Roger Penske received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Trump in 2019 and led the effort to put together this race in the District of Columbia.
For the drivers, it’s a welcome moment in the spotlight.
“What’s been the coolest part of this week? Honestly, the media covering us,” Kirkwood said. “It’s cool to see IndyCar in this light. We don’t get these opportunities very often outside of the Indy 500, and to have an event that is sought after as much as the 500 is something that’s special.”
Washington has little history with high-level motorsports. In 2002, the parking lot at RFK Stadium on the city’s east side was transformed into a course for an American Le Mans Series event.
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The Freedom 250 is downtown in one of D.C.’s prime tourist areas. If you’re not in a race car, it’s not the greatest weekend to be driving around the area given all the road closures, but if the weather holds up, the setting has the potential to be spectacular.
“As a boy from the Netherlands that just got his green card, it is really cool,” said Rinus VeeKay, who has six top-10 finishes this season. “We didn’t get too much U.S. history in school … but learning so much about it here, seeing all the monuments and museums and just how every building kind of has a special purpose here around the city, is very cool. Getting to see the White House, this is stuff you see in movies.”
The White House is not part of the D.C. course, although after Turn 1, the track does include a lengthy straightaway along Pennsylvania Avenue, heading northwest away from the Capitol. Then there’s a sharp left turn between the National Archives and the main Justice Department building, followed by a couple quick 90-degree turns as the track navigates the city’s grid system.
After a straightaway takes drivers across the National Mall, they turn left onto Independence Avenue, passing the Smithsonian’s National Air & Space Museum. and the Eisenhower Memorial before heading north on 3rd Street to the finish line, which is just west of the Capitol.
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“I think it’s more exciting when you actually get on the grounds and see what you’re about to do. I mean, when is this ever going to happen again?” said Josef Newgarden, a driver for Team Penske. “I hope it’s great visibility. That’s probably the biggest thing that it could bring to us — is visibility to people that aren’t maybe as familiar with IndyCar racing.”
IndyCar practice and qualifying are scheduled for Saturday, along with an IROC race. The IndyCar race is Sunday and set for 250 miles (147 laps) — the second-longest street circuit race in IndyCar history.
The 1.7-mile track includes seven turns in all. The Air & Space Museum and National Gallery of Art are both inside the course’s perimeter, with a fan zone between them. The track is shorter and has fewer turns than several others on the IndyCar schedule, but it’s not much different from the 1.6-mile, nine-turn circuit used in downtown Detroit.
“It’s short and snappy, but you know what? We don’t know. We haven’t driven on it yet,” driver Marcus Armstrong said. “We’ll find out tomorrow. It might even be wet tomorrow. There’s a lot of crosswalks, a lot of paint on the track, so that could be super slippery.”
England are rebuilding their bowling attack for two reasons.
First, the retirement of Ben Stokes has robbed them not only of inspiration, but of balance.
Secondly, Stokes has followed Stuart Broad, James Anderson, Chris Woakes and, most likely, Mark Wood out of the door. That is 1,871 Test wickets lost in less than three years.
The first stab at a post-Stokes team included four frontline seamers – Jofra Archer, Ollie Robinson, Josh Tongue and Gus Atkinson – supported by the part-time off-breaks of Dan Lawrence.
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In helpful conditions, it could not have gone better for England. Robinson and Tongue took eight wickets apiece, while Archer and Atkinson improved after a rusty first innings when they struggled to adapt following a month playing in The Hundred. Lawrence bowled only one over in the match.
Clearly, there will be times when England need a frontline spinner, but there is no consistently Test-class spinner in the country right now.
There is an argument to be made that England should continue to stack their attack with seamers because they are the best bowlers – Root said they “don’t know how good they could be”.
The likes of Sam Cook and Brydon Carse wait in the wings to step in or provide different skills if necessary, meaning England have a large squad of pacemen to choose from.
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A trip to Bangladesh in February will mean England have to find some spin. For now, they should stay in the fast lane.
Fake job ads, scant vetting, urgent demands for large sums of cash: recruiting, once a crucial candidate-finder, has become a rush to funnel workers into a job at any cost — and employers are paying the price. “I always refer to it as a cowboy industry,” one former recruiter says. “I don’t necessarily think there was anything we did that would be illegal, but there was a lot that to many would be immoral. We did everything we could to bend the rules.”
Between a challenging jobs market and the advent of AI hiring tools, agents appear to be resorting to more aggressive means than ever. From business owners to job candidates themselves, many feel that this current landscape is licensing bad behaviour as recruiters battle to justify their existence.
Recruiters typically charge 15-25 per cent of a candidate’s first-year annual salary, along with VAT — a fee that easily runs into the tens of thousands for many middle-ranking white collar jobs. Those within the industry tell me that they have seen bad actors post fake job ads to make themselves seem in demand; inflate salaries during the hiring process to accrue more candidates — only to slash them at the 11th hour — and encourage people to “take a step back in their career to step forward”, aka take a pay cut in order to ensure the recruiter’s pockets remain lined.
At one agency, a candidate was put forward for a role that required a driving licence — even though theirs had expired
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At one agency, a candidate was put forward for a role that required a driving licence — even though theirs had expired; this same agency undertook multiple aggressive chases for fees, despite the workers they offered up having “failed to meet numerous requirements, lacked the necessary documentation, and was not even subjected to the most basic checks by the recruiter”.
This same cycle — put someone unsuitable forward while assuring the client verbally they are an excellent fit; demand payment despite concerns having been immediately raised about their suitability, then deny any responsibility on the basis that “informal discussions” do not overwrite contractual agreements — happened repeatedly. On at least one occasion, the individual sent to replace the first unqualified hire was yet worse than the one before.
Inadequate vetting by recruiters
The Standard has learned that multiple agencies provide no supporting documents for a candidate when they are put forward and use the fact they have sent on a CV as “proof” that they have done their jobs and thus must be paid — despite knowing those they are suggesting do not meet the necessary requirements.
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According to one former user of an agency with a markedly poor Glassdoor rating, “their main interest is their fee and covering their backside”. As a result, reference-checking is “hopelessly inaccurate” — in one case, meaning that debt collection letters for one hire amassed at their employer’s door. Another disclosed that legal action was a necessary recourse in order to recoup the substantial agency costs they had paid out.
Stressful people waiting for job interview.
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Recruiters brag that what sets them apart from both human and AI-powered services is their vast network of top-notch candidates. But Marina*, who recently used a nanny agency in London, found the reality altogether different. The “elite” agency charged her 22 per cent plus VAT — after which she saw that they had been “posting on nanny Facebook groups and charging families a f***-load of money for someone they’ve just sourced for free”.
Typically, contracts stipulate that if a candidate doesn’t work out, they will be replaced for free within a defined period (usually six months); the terms she was given offered this for four weeks only. “They do none of the contracts between employer and employee; they don’t help at all, none of the payroll. They don’t even send an offer letter. They literally do precisely f***-all,” the 38-year-old says. “It’s all a bit of a scam.”
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“They were just there because the recruiter sort of pushed them into it”
Andrew Hulbert, non-executive director
Given the hefty fees and ultra-short payment terms (some agencies now expect payment within seven days, unlike at the once-ubiquitous end of the six-month probation period), employers have high expectations of the CVs being put on their desks.
Still, Andrew Hulbert, a non-executive director in London, says he has repeatedly been in interviews where he has asked why a candidate applied to his firm, only to be told: “‘the recruiter just sent my CV forward — I don’t really know what I’m doing here.’ That happened a lot more than it should have done,” he says. “They were just there because the recruiter sort of pushed them into it.”
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This is the inevitable result of what the recruitment industry calls “the race to place”: getting a candidate in post as soon as possible — no matter how unsuitable they might be — in order to beat off the competition and secure their fee. With Office for National Statistics figures from May showing that job vacancies were down seven per cent on the same time last year, agencies are having to compete against one another to get more people into fewer spots. In the process, recruiting has become nothing more than “a volume game”, says Hulbert, 39. “They really need to find as many CVs as they can” in the hope that one might eventually land. Of the many hundreds he received, he estimates that only one in 10 were even suitable for interview.
Finlay Wellington has found much the same. When he used a recruitment platform for Wellington Web Co, his web design business, he was promised that candidates had been vetted. But “it seems a lot of their ‘vetting’ was more just identification vetting, [like] making sure that their phone number matched”. When it came down to ensuring that individuals’ credentials were what they seemed, there were no official checks — “which leaves it very open to lying… we end up getting really harmed by essentially hiring people that were just willing to say anything to get the money and get the job that they’re looking for.”
Wellington, 20, says he has had repeated incidents with remote staff where there would be daily communication — “and then they’d just disappear”. The first handful of times, he assumed that it was the result of a personal emergency. Yet “the more the same issue started to occur, the more I was starting to think that it was actually a more prominent problem than [the platform] was letting on to be”. On the last three occasions, he has terminated the person in question’s contract, then emailed the service with the complaint that “I am paying for these services and what you’re supplying as a result is essentially false advertising.” From his six attempts at communication, he has heard nothing back. “This lack of replies has led to me handling these issues myself which most of the time resulted in a lack of repercussions” — for the worker, and the platform.
Hulbert says when he challenged agencies about hires not working out, he felt somewhat held “to ransom… often they’ll try and get them to stay for six months” so they get their fee. “Then often they’ll just go back and find them a different job” — a tactic recruiters use to double their earnings with a second placement fee in the space of a year.
One of the most “frustrating aspects” of using recruiters, agrees Oliver Moheda, who runs Total Artist Management, “is the lack of accountability” when things go wrong. Once payment has been made, “many agencies disappear when problems emerge… The recruitment industry markets itself as reducing risk for employers, but in our experience it can sometimes introduce even greater risk.”
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They run up debts, they go bust, they write it off and they just start another one the next day
Hulbert adds that there seems to be no recourse for the worst offenders, who can simply start a new firm on a whim. “The barriers to entry are almost nothing — you just literally need a phone number or an email address,” he says. “They run up debts, they go bust, they write it off and they just start another one the next day.”
Many firms are worried that upcoming legislative changes will make this current maelstrom worse. Currently, staff cannot claim unfair dismissal before they have been in a role for two years. But come January 1 next year, that period will be reduced to six months — meaning that many who have been lumped with poor hires could face handing over a wad of cash to recruiters, and then find themselves challenged to an employment tribunal at the exact same time.
It is no wonder, then, that employers are becoming wary. Data from HR platform Deel published earlier this year showed that more than 40 per cent of companies had extended new employees’ probation periods due to growing challenges in assessing candidates’ skills during the application process.
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The AI boom has created difficulties on both sides of the jobseeking divide. There are record numbers of job scams designed to extract money from wannabe workers; and blunt tools being used to screen applicants at pace, leading to great candidates being jettisoned by dodgy algorithms.
Recruiters are now fighting to cut above this noise, and the encroachment of social media. While platforms like LinkedIn have already dented some of their power (who needs to pay 25 per cent of a hire’s salary to an agency when posting online is free?), the company is now one of many using AI to purportedly ease the hiring process.
“AI is not merely assisting recruiters — it is replacing them”
Forbes
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LinkedIn Hiring Assistant claims to save users more than four hours of time spent screening each role, and reduce the number of profiles to review by 62 per cent. While the rise of technology like this has been touted as a timesaver across the board (including for applicants, who can use chatbots to whip up a covering letter in seconds), the knock-on effects could be seismic for the industry. “AI is not merely assisting recruiters — it is replacing them,” according to Forbes. “A world where talent is sourced, evaluated and onboarded without human involvement is not science fiction.”
Given Britain’s current jobs crisis, pushing good recruiters out of the market would help no one. London has the UK’s highest unemployment rate among 16-24-year-olds: agents with the right intentions, who take the time to understand candidates’ skills and place them in roles that would really get their careers started, have never been more necessary.
Lyndsey Fitheridge, who runs Foxgroves Recruitment, says that despite the many assertions people make about the likes of AI, “the rise of technology has always seemed to make recruitment harder. It eases off parts of it, but it just causes its own issues as it develops. So I think there will always be a place, I’m hoping, for recruiters to give that human connection.”
Fitheridge, 43, describes herself as “a bit of a life coach as well as a recruitment consultant; you’re really coaxing and helping those people through a really big part of their life change. I don’t know how AI can do that.” She is well aware that recruitment has a reputation problem, and that “you can’t hide away from what people feel”. But what many don’t realise is that recruitment is “bloody difficult”, she says. Payment issues can cut both ways: one London solicitor says he has recovered £13.3 million for recruiters in just five years who were wrongly left short by clients; while today’s jobseekers come with an unprecedented set of demands about what they will and won’t accept in a role, Fitheridge says, causing untold headaches for agents.
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Sympathy will be hard-won among those who have been burned by recruiters before, however. Wellington has started hiring through his own extended networks; Hulbert created a staff recruiting role, reasoning that the £60,000 salary would cost him less than the amount he was wasting on agencies. He accepts, however, that a recruiter-less future is unlikely anytime soon. “They’re a bit of a necessary evil, I think.”
The actress, best known for her role as Maxine Peacock on the ITV soap, posted on Instagram on August 20, revealing that she had just undergone her fifth round of chemotherapy.
The 53-year-old told fans she was ‘over the moon’ to find out her heart was ‘fine’ and her organs were ‘okay’ but she was struggling with her fifth bout of shingles.
Tracy said no medication was helping to fully clear up the shingles and from the chemotherapy treatment her immune system was ‘lower than low’.
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Other side effects the singer said she was struggling with was her hands swelling, her nails falling off and splitting and the skin under her feet was ‘shedding’ and ‘peeling’.
She says these were all side effects of her cancer treatment and she is taking it ‘one day at a time’ to work through these struggles.
Tracy Shaw gives health update amid cancer diagnosis
Best known for starring as Maxine Peacock in the ITV soap, Tracy said the side effects mean her treatment team will have to discuss the next steps in her chemo plan.
In their next meeting, the oncologist team will decide whether she will undergo the ‘full whack’ of her sixth round of chemotherapy or not.
They will also discuss whether her surgery to have her tumours removed will need to be postponed or not.
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Tracy claims her immune system will drop again due to the chemotherapy treatment she is receiving and admits she is finding it harder to share updates online.
But despite what she’s going through with her cancer battle, she says she is determined to ‘remain positive’ with a smile on her face.
In the post, Tracy said: “So, I met my oncologist yesterday and I had chemo five today and I just want to share how wonderful it is going for the chemo and meeting other people on this journey, men and women fighting different cancers and sharing that common bond of what we are going through.
“So, the news about my personal journey with where we are at is that it is taking its toll on my body.
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“My heart is fine which I’m over the moon about, thank you God.
“The organs are okay but my body because I am about to come into the fifth bout of shingles with no break, and no matter what medication I take, even though it assists in drying the ones that are present up, more come out.
“So, it’s been consistent wearing on my nerve endings basically.
“My nails are coming off and splitting, my hands swell, and my skin on the underneath of my feet is all shredding and peeling on the heels.
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“It’s just one of the side effects really that are concerning the oncologist before surgery.
“The team will be discussing again to contemplate whether they give me the full whack of chemo six.
“It may postpone my surgery which none of us want, because the body is not going to be well enough to fight it and shingles is a nerve ending and a warning sign for my body.”
Tracy was diagnosed with the disease in April this year and has continued to keep fans updated on social media as she goes through her cancer journey.
Following her recent chemotherapy, she says she is trying to ‘work with her body’ and is sleeping a lot more.
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Tracy says she will be able to give listeners another update in three weeks’ time when she meets with her team again to discuss her upcoming surgery.
Tracy said: “The immune system, which is what the chemo has been doing, is lower than low and it’s about to go even lower.
“I am finding it a little bit harder to share as much about it because I am determined to remain positive with a smile but from about day seven onwards, it is quite difficult and my body is wanting to sleep a lot.
“I am eating and resting and sleeping and trying to work with my body while I go through this next phase.
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“So, for now I am just going to be taking one day at a time, one symptom, one side effect at a time.
“I don’t particularly enjoy this period, but I am going with it and I am flowing, waiting to hear about my appointment for the surgery which you know I am really looking forward to having the tumours removed and then heading back to the chemo room.
“I have still got to have a chemo injection into my leg which hurts so that will continue whether or not I have the other two chemos as well and the sixth, we will wait and see.
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“But I will keep you posted in three weeks’ time when I meet the team again.”
Do you watch Coronation Street? Let us know in the comments.
WARNING: DISTRESSING CONTENT Raymond Williams, 61, slashed the throat of Tania Williams outside her home after seeing her with another man during a night out in Norwich
A jealous killer who followed his estranged wife on a night out before laying in wait and fatally attacking her has been found guilty of murder.
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Raymond Williams, 61, slashed the throat of Tania Williams outside her home after seeing her with another man during a night out in Norwich. The 49-year-old mother-of-four was found with severe injuries and significant blood loss close to her home in Thorpe St Andrew, Norfolk.
Despite the best efforts of neighbours and paramedics to save her life, she sadly died.
Williams, who previously served as a Norfolk police community support officer, was found guilty of her murder following a trial at Norwich Crown Court, which heard he had been “consumed with jealousy”.
Footage shown to the jury included the last moments of Tania’s life and captured her former husband “going from bar to bar” to track her down.
CCTV shows him leaving his flat in shared accommodation in Dereham Road before heading into the city centre. The trial heard Williams approached a man she was with, telling him they were still married and pointing to his wedding ring.
Williams is then seen on CCTV searching for Tania before eventually locating her in Revolucion de Cuba, on Queen Street. Both Williams and Tania can then be seen walking out of the venue and down the street, with Tania appearing to distance herself from him.
As Tania heads in one direction to catch a bus home, Williams is seen jogging down Wensum Street towards where his white Vauxhall Corsa was parked on Fishergate.
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Security footage then shows this car parked on Yarmouth Road as he “laid in wait” for Tania, who is then seen on CCTV getting off her bus and walking towards her home in Catherine Gardens.
At 11.30pm, neighbours heard petrified screams, including a female voice saying: “What are you going to do? Kill me?”, before Tania was discovered lying on the ground in a “pool of blood”.
Two hours later, armed police arrested Williams at his accommodation. By now, he was dressed completely differently after disposing of everything he was wearing earlier in the evening in a bid to avoid forensic detection.
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CCTV had captured him acting suspiciously around bins in nearby alleyways. Footage showed him taking off his watch, which had been given to him by Tania, and dropping it down a drain.
Senior Investigating Officer Detective Inspector Sam Pontin said: “This was a thorough and complex investigation involving officers and staff from across the force.
“Thanks to the strength of the evidence presented, the jury was able to reach its verdict and hold Williams accountable for his actions. While no verdict can undo the pain caused by Tania’s death, I hope today’s outcome provides her family with some measure of justice.”
Eugene Diamond has been the first stop for the latest news and sweet treats for decades
06:00, 22 Aug 2026
Ballymena Newsagent Eugene Diamond Bows Out After 47 Years
Back in August 1979 when Eugene Diamond first started out in business, Margaret Thatcher had been Prime Minister for only a few months and Northern Ireland was a very different place.
Now at the age of 69, the owner of Diamonds Newsagents is emotional as he prepares to bow out after 47 years.
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His independent newsagents on Broughshane Street has been keeping the people of Ballymena and beyond up to date with the latest news for decades.
In that time, Eugene has ensured locals are chomping on the latest chocolate, sweets and of course, news.
A well-known face around the Co Antrim town and beyond thanks to social media, his departure marks the end of an era for one of the last of the old school sweet shop owners left in Northern Ireland.
He’s famous for posting images of the front and back pages of newspapers on Facebook and X every day of the week and opens the doors of his shop at 5.30am daily.
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In addition to posting the daily newspaper headlines, he was also known for his lively over the counter banter and sharing early morning pictures of Broughshane Street alongside a weather update.
Before finding himself behind the counter of a paper shop, Eugene started off delivering papers as a wee boy. In those 47 years, he witnessed the high points of the newspaper market when major titles sold in record numbers.
But the much loved local retailer has confirmed that Sunday, August 30 will be the final day of opening for his popular Ballymena shop, marking the end of almost 50 years in business.
Taking to social media to announce his decision, Mr Diamond said: “On Sunday 30th August 2026 this window light that’s shone from early morning on Broughshane Street as last 47 years will go out for good.
“I will retire that evening and Diamonds newsagents will close for good. I’ve loved this job and wouldn’t change a thing,” adding: “It’s been a blast.”
Speaking to Belfast Live ahead of shutting up shop for the final time, Eugene said: “It was a completely different world here in Ballymena back in August 1979. People walked to work; there weren’t as many cars on the road.
“Your average daily newspaper was between 5-7p and the average daily newspaper now is between £1-£2.40 or £3.20 if you want to go as far as The Times. You got two chews for one penny, a Penny Bubbly for a penny. I think milk around that time for a pint was somewhere around 10-12p is now a pound so things in price have moved on big time.”
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Inside Diamonds, you’ve also found a staggering variety of sweets and chocolate bars – Eugene has long prided himself on being the first person in Ireland to stock Creme Eggs each year.
“We always did all the staples, the Mars, Rowntrees and a lot of Cadbury’s. We had direct accounts with them and in those days we were the outlet for chocolates when they were targeting a new market. They used newsagents. Everything was launched through newsagents,” Eugene said.
“Wispa and Twirl came along in my time in here and we had to keep them embargoed until the launch date, those things just went through the roof. With potato crisps when I first came in, you would have had cheese and onions, smoky bacon, ready salted and salt and vinegar.
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“Then there was this great thing that came along: the Tudor Crisps, which people loved. Tudor spring onion just sold en masse and you would not believe how many boxes we went through every day.”
Eugene added: “I became famous for Creme Eggs too and I’ve always went out of my way to have them early. They were available every year from early to mid November. Most people don’t want to see them until after the Christmas stuff’s gone so I thought it was a great idea and it worked very well for me.
“People actually went out of their way to come here for the Creme Eggs. There was one woman now deceased and her husband who had to come here because, basically, he thought we sold the freshest.
“When Orange Twirl was just launched and it was very hard to get, Eamonn Holmes asked me to keep a box for him because it was a limited edition and then in the end they brought it out all the time.”
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Sadly Eugene says ill-health prompted his decision to put his shop on the market last year: “I had taken ill and honestly didn’t know what it was but I was unable to work. Luckily we got a diagnosis of cervical myelopathy, which was impacting on my spine, the bones in the back of my neck.
“I had a bit of surgery to relieve that and I have some pins where the bones were. I’m doing well but to be truthful, the energy levels aren’t there. I’m coming into my 69th year so basically maybe I’m retirement age.”
Since announcing news of the shop’s closure later this month, Eugene has been flooded with messages: “Honestly, people have been more than good. I’ve been inundated by people sending me good wishes, praying for me in every church and chapel in this town and maybe further afield. I’ve been very, very lucky. Customers have just been outstanding.
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“Sunday, August 30th will be the final day and we’ll shut up shop that evening. There might be the odd weather picture and newspaper headline on social media but it’ll not be in the montage form anymore because I won’t have the availability of the papers.
“We were in the level of the old fashioned newsagents. People came in, they had a yarn and communicated with us. We always had great craic and never anything too heavy. There was some laughter here over the years. I really appreciated them all, every last one. Great people.”
And when asked what he plans to do first in his retirement, Eugene replies with a smile: “A holiday.”
A fresh wave of US tariffs on a wide array of Canadian goods has come into effect as of midnight on Saturday after a last minute break down in trade talks.
Announcing the suspension of negotiations shortly before the Friday night deadline, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said he would impose reciprocal tariffs on US goods “dollar for dollar”.
Carney said “last-minute changes in the US proposed terms were unfair, uneconomic, and called into question the reliability of any deal”.
Trade negotiators had been engaged in intense talks since July, after President Donald Trump threatened to impose a 50% levy on nearly $20bn (C$28bn) of Canadian imports by 19 August.
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Trump had temporarily paused those tariffs earlier in the week, saying the two sides were close to signing a trade deal that was “very good” for both countries.
But minutes before a deadline for a deal, Carney said that while “important progress” had been made in the talks it was “not enough to meet our objectives for Canadians”.
“As a result, this evening, I have decided to suspend trade negotiations with the U.S. and have directed negotiators to return to Ottawa,” he said.
“Last-minute changes in the US proposed terms were unfair, uneconomic, and called into question the reliability of any deal.”
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After Carney’s announcement US trade representative Jamieson Greer said in a statement: “Tonight, Canada declined to finalize the trade deal under the terms agreed earlier this week.
“Despite the US offer to Canada to receive the best treatment of any major exporter to our market, new demands and walk backs of other commitments by Canada have upended the careful balance reached in the past days,” the statement on X said.
The breakdown in talks marks a significant shift in tone from earlier in the week, when both US and Canadian officials sounded optimistic that a trade deal beneficial for both countries was within reach.
Negotiators were reportedly discussing a deal that would reduce US tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminium from 50% to 25%, and on Canadian autos from 25% to 15%.
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In exchange, Carney had asked Canadian provinces to restore US alcohol to store shelves.
Tensions between the two major trading partners have been simmering since Trump returned to office in January last year and unleashed a wide-ranging global programme of tariffs, upending decades of free trade between Canada and the US.
Now that talks have broken down, Canada will be hit with new 50% US tariffs imposed by Trump using a Depression-era law called the Tariff Act of 1930.
They will be applied on a range of goods, including wine, dairy, cement, clothing and hockey equipment.
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They are in addition to existing tariffs the US had already imposed on Canadian steel and aluminium, autos and lumber.
Doug Ford, the traditionally outspoken premier of Canada’s largest province Ontario, said “the prime minister has my full support for a strong response—tariff for tariff, dollar for dollar,” following Carney’s announcement.
Canada has been engaged in on-again, off-again trade negotiations with the US for over a year in pursuit of a deal that would see the US drop or reduce tariffs on these key sectors.
The US, meanwhile, has been asking for a number of concessions from Canada, including removing its remaining retaliatory tariffs on American autos and adjusting its dairy quotas to allow greater access for US cheese producers.
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It has also asked for the ban on US alcohol sales, imposed last year by most Canadian provinces in retaliation to Trump’s tariffs, be removed.
Businesses and stakeholders on both sides of the border had pushed for a deal to be reached, arguing that the new US tariffs on Canada will be harmful to both countries.
The US Chamber of Commerce said earlier in the week in a statement that “higher tariffs would damage both economies, drive up costs for US families, further disrupt critical supply chains, and risk the 13 million American jobs that depend on trade under the US-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement”.
A recent poll by Canadian firm Abacus Data suggested that around 36% of Canadian would support retaliating to US tariffs, while another 30% would want the Carney government to continue negotiating.
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Retaliation risks upsetting the Trump administration, with trade representative Jamieson Greer saying the US is “not going to tolerate” counter-tariffs.
Rachel Rebecca Photography officially opened its doors in Northallerton, offering newborn, family and studio photography, as well as wedding services on location.
Rachel, who grew up in Ingleby Barwick, Stockton, first discovered her love of photography while at school before moving on to study at York St John University.
After specialising in wedding photography and building up her portfolio, Rachel has taken the next step by launching her own dedicated studio at Register House.
Inside the new studio. (Image: Rachel Rebecca Photography)
The new space will focus on newborn photography, family portraits and other studio sessions, while Rachel continues to take bookings for weddings across the region.
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Rachel said opening her own studio was a major milestone after years spent developing her photography career.
She said: “Photography has been part of my life since I was at school, and it’s still just as exciting to me now as it was back then.
“Getting to open my own studio and build something that’s truly mine feels like such a huge step, and I can’t wait to welcome families and couples through the door.”
Rachel said her biggest hope is to create a welcoming and comforting environment for her clients, where they can feel completely at ease throughout the process.
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She added: “I wanted to create a space where people feel completely at ease as soon as they walk in, especially with newborn sessions where every little detail matters.
“Whether it’s a new baby, a family portrait or a couple getting ready for their big day, I want every client to leave with photos they’ll treasure forever.”
The studio’s first customers are already sharing feedback about their first photoshoots with Rachel.
Rebecca Gooding said: “She put us at ease and the photos are amazing. I can’t stop looking at them.”
The business celebrated its opening with a launch event earlier this month and is now taking bookings for studio sessions as well as wedding photography across the region.
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Rachel hopes the new studio will help her continue growing the business while capturing precious moments and milestones for families to look back on for years to come.
The charges follow 12 simultaneous warrants executed on Wednesday, August 19.
Six people have been charged with conspiracy to supply Class A drugs, namely cocaine and heroin.
They are Nicolette Brown, 55, of Raikes Way; Connor Hilton, 28, of Canada Street; Arif Mohmed, 48, of Drysdale View; George Smalley, 32, of Raikes Way; William Harris, 31, of Ashdene Crescent; and Muhammed Hasham, 20, of Hurst Street.
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All six have been remanded in custody ahead of a scheduled appearance at Manchester Magistrates’ Court today (August 21).
Mohammed Blial-Hussein, 20, of Rishton Lane, has been charged with possession with intent to supply Class A drugs.
Salman Tailor, 28, of Middlebrook Drive, has been charged with conspiracy to money launder and participate in the activities of an organised crime group.
Both have also been remanded in custody ahead of a scheduled appearance at Manchester Magistrates’ Court today.
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The charges follow the warrants carried out as part of the serious organised crime investigation.
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