Manchester United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his Old Trafford cohorts must decide whether to give Michael Carrick the manager’s job on a permanent basis or look elsewhere.

Carrick has guided United into the Champions League qualification places impressively, but suffered the first home loss of his time in charge against Leeds United on Monday.

Ratcliffe recently praised Carrick’s work since he succeeded Ruben Amorim, another victim of January’s managerial cull, but when pressed on the possibility of him taking full-time control said: “Not going there.”

The World Cup may yet play a part in some clubs’ thinking.

If the highly rated Julian Nagelsmann, currently Germany coach, comes on the market after the World Cup, would United be tempted?

It appears Thomas Tuchel, who has previously held talks with United, is out of the running after extending his contract to be England head coach – but good results at a World Cup can make things change.

Liam Rosenior was a graduate from Chelsea‘s multi-club ownership model when he left Strasbourg to replace Maresca.

The 41-year-old may well be one for the future, but he increasingly looks like someone being asked to take their driving test at the wheel of a Ferrari.

Rosenior drew widespread scorn when he said Chelsea‘s players performed a pre-match huddle before the game against Newcastle United, farcically surrounding referee Paul Tierney in the process, to “respect the ball”.

Chelsea went on to lose the game and matters have not improved since, exiting the Champions League to holders Paris St-Germain as well going down 3-0 in subsequent Premier League games to Everton and Manchester City.

The Stamford Bridge hierarchy has placed its faith in Rosenior, but with discontent among supporters increasing, along with poor results and performances, he must hope the club hold their nerve and keep faith in him.

On Tyneside, Eddie Howe has been under increasing scrutiny despite leading Newcastle United to their first domestic trophy in 70 years – and their first silverware of any kind in 56 years – last season when they beat Liverpool to win the Carabao Cup.

He also took Newcastle back into the Champions League, but this season has turned sour and Howe is another manager whose fate may hinge on what happens in the rest of the campaign.

It is clear the £125m sale of striker Alexander Isak to Liverpool had huge knock-on effects, not least because the £69m signing of Germany striker Nick Woltemade from Stuttgart and the £55m paid to Brentford for Yoane Wissa has, so far, been money badly spent.

The sign of a panic-stricken summer, overshadowed by the Isak saga, can be seen in the fact Newcastle‘s first offer for Wissa, before eventually paying £55m, was just £25m.

Howe has suffered criticism from fans who previously worshipped him as the Magpies went out 8-3 on aggregate to Barcelona in the Champions League and then lost a home league derby to Sunderland, giving the Black Cats a double over their fierce rivals.

It has meant talk about Howe’s future is a live conversation, despite his superb work.

Howe is always well attuned to the feelings of supporters, insisting he would never outstay his welcome, and Newcastle are currently 14th in the Premier League.

Chief executive David Hopkinson hardly threw a bucket of cold water on the speculation with an interview in March when he said Newcastle “were not looking to make a change at the moment”.

Howe still has the club’s support – and he will also have a key part to play when decisions are made at the end of this season.

But whatever happens in Newcastle, it looks set to be a frantic summer in the managerial market.

For many children, Paddington is now primarily the star of three movies and a hit west end musical. However, that is not where the bear in a red hat whose adventures involve high-speed chases and marmalade-based slapstick began.

In writing our book on the bear, we have found that the Paddington British writer Michael Bond created in 1958 is a rather different creature from that which we now know. Film Paddington is a slapstick innocent abroad, propelled by plot and peril. Book Paddington is slower, odder, funnier: a small figure of polite chaos who wreaks havoc not because the world is against him, but because he takes it entirely at its word. He is, in the gentlest possible way, a satirist.

Paddington is incredibly popular with children and adults alike. Paddington in Peru broke UK box office records last autumn, the West End musical at the Savoy Theatre triumphed at the Olivier awards this week and is already booking into 2027, and a fourth film is in development. So if you or your children are eager for more we would highly recommend you try Bond’s books.

The books are also ideally structured for reading aloud. Each chapter works as a self-contained episode – around ten to 25 minutes, just right for bedtime – and the comedy builds through repetition and familiarity. Children who already love Paddington from the screen will find a quieter version of him on the page. And the pleasure of reading these together is that parent and child will both be laughing, just not always at the same things.

Here are five places to start.

This is where Paddington arrives at the station with his label and his suitcase and his jar of marmalade, and the Browns (somewhat impulsively and definitely against Mr Brown’s better judgement) take him home. What follows is a series of gentle domestic catastrophes: a bath that floods the bathroom, a trip on the Underground that goes spectacularly wrong, an attempt at painting that produces an accidental masterpiece.

Start here because it establishes how Paddington works. He is never naughty. He is meticulous, earnest, and operating from a logic that is entirely reasonable if you happen to be a bear from Peru who has only recently encountered escalators. The chapter “A Visit to the Theatre”, in which Paddington cannot distinguish between drama and reality and nearly causes a riot from the stalls, is Bond at his best: a small bear taking the world seriously and the world not quite knowing what to do about it.

Paddington attempts DIY, enters a painting competition, and tries to help with the laundry. His intentions are commendable and the results are catastrophic.

What makes this book especially good for shared reading is its rhythm. Bond writes set-pieces with the timing of a comedian: slow build, moment of realisation, glorious mess. Children adore the predictability: they can see the disaster coming before Paddington can, and that anticipatory pleasure is one of the great rewards of series fiction.

Several chapters here are quietly brilliant. Paddington serves as a wedding usher and interprets the role as requiring him to keep everyone silent. He is mistaken for a waiter at a society dinner and ends up serving the guests something he believes to be baked Alaska but which turns out to be baked elastic.

For parents, the pleasure is in Bond’s comedy of social embarrassment. Paddington moves through the adult world with total sincerity, and the comedy arises from the gap between his good manners and the chaos he leaves behind.

The Browns take Paddington on holiday to France. His encounters with French food, French customs, and French plumbing are some of the funniest passages Bond ever wrote.

This is a good choice if your child is about to go on a family holiday. It captures the comedy of being somewhere unfamiliar and trying very hard to get things right, which is Paddington’s permanent condition. He is always a visitor, always slightly out of place, and always managing to belong anyway.

Paddington Abroad also addresses some of the questions parents might have begun to ask themselves about Paddington’s paperwork – the Browns’ encounter with border control is both comic and discomfiting. Bond was inspired to create the character partly by the sight of wartime evacuee children arriving at London stations with labels round their necks. That quiet thread of displacement runs through the books without ever becoming too heavy. For children who have felt like the odd one out, there is real comfort in it – adults may see more.

Published when Bond was 88, this is unlike the others. Written as letters from Paddington to Aunt Lucy in Peru, it retells many of his adventures in his own voice: warm, slightly bewildered, full of small asides. The letter format means each entry is short and self-contained, and Paddington’s voice is a pleasure to read aloud.

It is also, in the quietest way, a book about what it means to make a home somewhere new, to miss where you came from, and to feel grateful for the people who took you in. Younger children will enjoy the stories. Older children, and their parents, may catch something else underneath: a gentleness about love and distance and belonging that is never sentimental but always keenly felt.

The films have given a new generation the hat and the marmalade and the hard stare. The books will give them something more: the bear himself, in all his polite, disruptive, irreplaceable glory. Our main advice is: start anywhere. But start together.

This article features references to books that have been included for editorial reasons, and may contain links to bookshop.org. If you click on one of the links and go on to buy something from bookshop.org The Conversation UK may earn a commission.

Members of the Rooftops Not Countryside campaign group say it is “deeply concerning” that the majority of people living and working near the proposed 500MW Light Valley Solar Scheme are in the dark over the project.

Island Green Power UK Ltd has submitted a development consent order application for a network of seven solar farms on 1,020 hectares of land between the villages of Escrick, Monk Fryston, Hambleton, Chapel Haddlesey and South Milford, between York and Selby.

Louise Billingham, spokesperson for the campaign group, said the group met with community groups, residents and businesses in areas which would be directly affected by the scheme earlier this month.

She added: “What we found was deeply concerning. The overwhelming majority of people we spoke to had no knowledge whatsoever of the proposals, even where their homes or livelihoods sit on the doorstep of the planned development.

“Among those we met were a family whose home borders site four, who have received no correspondence about the plans and whose house does not appear on the Light Valley Solar documents.

“They had no knowledge of the plans until we showed them.”

Members of the group say they have taken to going door-to-door to inform residents due to the lack of awareness.

Mrs Billingham added: “Birkin Fisheries, a local business, had no idea the site extended to the boundary of their property.

“It is a well-known wildlife hotspot, and the owner was heartbroken thinking of the impact in the area.

“An allotment owner from South Milford, who had vaguely heard mention of the plans and assumed it was ‘just a field of panels’.

“When shown the plans, she thought it was a joke. The sheer size and scale left her speechless.”

Members of the group say the lack of awareness has been “sad but not surprising”.

“Actual plans of the seven sites are not readily available,” said Mrs Billingham.

“You can search through over 200 documents on the Planning Inspectorate website to find them, but you won’t see any physical plans in the community where residents can actually look at them to see the true scale and size, and the areas impacted. The plans are effectively inaccessible to residents.

“This isn’t local democracy or working with the community; it is inflicting 2,500 acres of industrial infrastructure on a community largely unaware, and certainly not included.”

Due to the size of the proposed development, the scheme has been declared a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project, meaning planning permission will be decided by the Planning Inspectorate, rather than North Yorkshire Council.

If granted approval, Light Valley would be larger than the biggest solar scheme currently operational — Cleave Hill in Kent.

The developer says the scheme would provide enough power for 115,000 homes a year.

Anyone wanting to comment on the plans has until April 30 to register with the Planning Inspectorate.

To register, visit https://national-infrastructure-consenting.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/projects/EN0110012

At around 8am this morning, Tuesday, April 14, officers from the Radcliffe Neighbourhood Policing Team attended an address on Bridgefield Street, following an investigation into drug supply within the local area.

Upon entering the property, officers found six rooms featuring cannabis plants at various stages of their growth cycle, in addition to lighting equipment, fans, pipes, and other drug-growing paraphernalia.

In total, 663 cannabis plants were seized by officers.

The electricity was discovered to have been illegally bypassed, and work is ongoing to ensure it is safely disconnected.

Four men aged between 33 and 55 have been arrested on suspicion of producing a Class B drug and abstracting electricity, and they remain in custody for questioning.

The work comes as part of Greater Manchester Police’s (GMP) wider work in tackling drug supply, which sees everything from proactive patrols to preventative action.

Chief Inspector Michael Barton, from GMP’s Bury district, said: “This was a great result for the local neighbourhood team, who secured four arrests and seized hundreds of plants.

“Drug dealing is not something that is a victimless crime. The violence between gangs and exploitation of vulnerable people is something that we unfortunately see across Greater Manchester – and is something we are constantly working to tackle.

“If you have any information about criminality within your area, please do get in touch with your local team, or contact the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously.”

The gang, originally from Albania, were linked to eight burglaires in Cheshire, two in Middlesbrough, nine in Derbyshire, two in Leicestershire, five in Nottinghamshire, seven in Staffordshire, two in Warwickshire and three in Birmingham, three in Worcestershire, two in Hereford and one in Shropshire.

“I will be sticking with Shark, fabulous vacuum, best I have used in 40 years.”

If your home cleaning setup is in need of a serious upgrade, then it can be hard to go wrong with a Shark product. While the prestigious brand has a wide variety of vacuum cleaners available, many of their top models often run a premium price tag.

Despite this, customers can currently get their hands on a Shark Detect XL Pet Pro for a significantly reduced price, going from £349.99 to £219.99. This vacuum cleaner can be especially helpful for any household with pets who will no doubt love shedding their hair all over the floor and upholstery.

This is because the Shark Detect XL Pet Pro is specially designed to not only tackle everyday mess, but also debris and hair due to its included Anti Hair Wrap Plus technology. This includes engineered bristles in a chevron pattern and anti-wrap combs to help remove hair from even stubborn areas.

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It also includes DuoClean Detect Technology that uses two brush-rolls and smart sensors that work together to automatically adjust for the best performance on all floor types. This is coupled by DirectionDetect and Reverse Clean Technology, which allows users to clean in both directions, with the vacuum sensing your movement and adapting for maximum efficiency.

Furthermore, the FloorDetect technology automatically adjusts the brush-roll speed based on the specific surface type to ensure a perfect clean on both carpets and hard floors The vacuum also promises to trap 99.9% of dust and allergens.

If you want something a little cheaper, though, you could instead opt for the Bosch Series 2 Cylinder Vacuum at a discounted price on Amazon, going from £99.99 to £74.99. This lightweight vacuum is suitable for both hard flooring and carpet and can also be easily lifted to reach higher up areas, such as upholstery.

If you want to save even more, you could instead go for the Akitas V8, which is currently on offer at Amazon for a discounted price, going from £69.99 to £49.99. This vacuum cleaner has a 3-in-1 function and can be turned into a more handheld vacuum to target upholstery and more.

Many people who purchased the Shark Detect XL Pet Pro praised it for its abilities, with one customer writing: “Absolutely lovely [vaccuum] really light and amazing after using another well known brand for year

“The customer service is amazing and honestly I [vacuumed] the room before my old one broke and I filled the new waste basket and this has been constantly the case.”

Another added: “Having been a Dyson user for many years I changed to Shark as I was latterly disappointed with Dyson suction. I am pleased to say the Shark suction excelled hugely over my Dyson. I will be sticking with Shark, fabulous vacuum, best I have used in 40 years.”

However, not all users were happy, with another writing: “The suction is amazing. Embarrassing what it picked up in the first clean of my living room. However the cable is very annoying. The hose attachment that should go in between the cable falls off constantly.

“Massive flaw in the design. After the 2nd use the light kept going red and stopping suction. Turning it on and off again is the only way to get a whole room clean. I have called customer service today and they are sending a replacement but I’ve lost faith I think!”

It was a bad 72 hours for JD Vance, 2028 presidential candidate.

More than ever before, the winds seem to be shifting against the White House in which Vance serves as No. 2 at a time when his political star should be rising. Republicans are facing down a brutal midterm season, with a handful of Senate race ratings shifting in Democrats’ favor this week and the possibility of Republicans losing both chambers growing by the day.

His boss, Donald Trump, seems more erratic than ever as he tries to find a “mission accomplished” banner to drape over his war with Iran, although the U.S. is approaching the end of the second month of war without a means to forcibly secure its objectives, nor an agreement to achieve those means diplomatically.

Vance, the presumed successor to Trump, is already being eyed for his sturdiness as a presidential candidate. It’s a tough sell for a political consultant: Vance, a political novice, has still been in government for less than the duration of one U.S. Senate term, the office he was originally selected for before being plucked into the Trump campaign by the president and his son, Donald Trump Jr. Were it not for Trump, Vance’s political stardom may have never happened. The Hillbilly Elegy author was running in the relative minor leagues of the Ohio Republican Senate primary in 2022 before winning Trump’s endorsement that year.

Now, as vice president, Vance remains in Trump’s shadow (albeit to a lesser degree than Kamala Harris during her own time as Joe Biden’s veep). He emerged this past weekend to tackle a tough challenge for the president: Trump, the dealmaker, sent Vance in his place to Islamabad, Pakistan, to meet face to face with Iranian negotiators and find an end to a two-month-long conflict that is now tearing the younger part of the MAGA coalition apart at the seams.

He failed. Vance, after a marathon negotiation session, could only point to the discussions themselves as a positive development as he slinked back to Washington without an agreement to either open the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway, or deal with Iran’s nuclear program.

“The bad news is, we have not reached an agreement,” Vance told reporters. “They have chosen not to accept our terms. The simple fact is that we need to see an affirmative commitment that they will not seek a nuclear weapon and they will not seek the tools that would enable them to quickly achieve a nuclear weapon.”

Once again, in an administration that has repeatedly touted its peacemaking efforts, the White House has come up short of the biggest prize.

That wasn’t the only body blow suffered by Vance’s presidential ambitions this weekend. On Sunday, the longtime White House ally Viktor Orban lost re-election in Hungary, dealing a casualty to the global far-right alliance envisioned by the likes of Steve Bannon and the MAGAworld culture-war obsessives who often find a champion in Vance, who is willing to genuinely espouse the Christian nationalist doctrine that Trump often finds hard to pass off as convincing rhetoric.

Orban’s defeat was particularly embarrassing for Vance, who traveled to Hungary late last week in a bid to save Orban’s campaign with some of that exact rhetoric: “Will you stand for sovereignty and democracy, for truth and for the God of our forefathers?”

His appeal to heaven unsuccessful and his bid to follow in Trump’s faux peacemaker footsteps in Iran also coming up short, the vice president returned home to D.C. on Sunday to face a different kind of holy war.

The nation’s second Catholic vice president woke up (jet-lagged, no doubt) on Monday morning to see Trump fire off a fresh round of attacks at the Pope on Monday, following rare criticism of the White House from the first American head of the Catholic Church.

In a moment that exemplified the surreal nature of this White House, Trump stood next to the “DoorDash Grandma” at the door of the Oval Office, accepting two bulging bags of McDonald’s delivery, before once again accusing the Pope of being “weak on crime” and – unrelatedly – denying that he meant to portray himself as Jesus Christ after posting an image of himself as Jesus Christ on social media.

Vance’s only contribution to this discourse so far was to seemingly dismiss a report that the administration summoned a Vatican ambassador to the Pentagon for a tense meeting after Pope Leo issued criticism of the war in Iran. The nation’s highest-ranking Catholic in the federal government seemed briefly unaware of who the Holy See’s chief diplomat to the U.S. was.

With the Trump 2.0 era less than half over and the post-midterms world presenting a whole new canvass for Trump’s vice president to shine in the spotlight, it’s hardly time to write the obituary of JD’s future political ambitions. But this weekend did not help matters at all, and Vance may have missed his best opportunity to get his boss publicly out of a jam — while simultaneously earning the praise of Americans who by and large do not support the White House resuming its war.

Newly released video shows the moment a recovery crew opens the hatch of Artemis II’s Orion capsule to a joyful reunion with the four astronauts inside.

Cheers broke out as the crew – Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen – were all found to be safe and well after splashdown on Friday 10 April.

The historic mission saw the four astronauts travel further from Earth than any human has ever gone.

The JD Gym in Bury has closed this evening following the collision earlier today

The bosses of JD Gym in Bury have issued an urgent statement after a car ploughed through the wall of the building. Police have confirmed two people were injured in the crash, including a male gym-goer in his 60s and the driver of the car involved, a woman in her 40s.

The gym has closed this evening following the collision at 4.45pm on Tuesday (April 14). JD has said the incident has caused ‘damage to part of the gym’.

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A statement by the gym posted on social media read: “Earlier today an incident occurred at JD Gyms involving a vehicle making contact with the exterior of the building, which resulted in damage to part of the gym.

“As a precaution and in the interest of everyone’s safety, the gym will remain closed until further notice.

“Our team are on it straight away and building surveyors are due to attend in the morning. We will know more following their visit and will update here.

“If you are a member, you have automatically been granted multi-site access. Your JD Gyms app will now scan you in at a neighbouring JD Gyms location of your choice. We will be back open ASAP. Thank you for your patience!!”

Police have confirmed the driver was later arrested in connection with the incident.

A GMP spokesperson said: “Officers responded to an incident at 4.45pm today (14/04/2026) at JD Gym on George Street, Bury, with the assistance of NWAS and the Greater Manchester Fire Service.

“It was reported that a car had driven through the wall of JD Gym, resulting in structural damage of the building.

“In the incident a man in his 60’s has been struck by the car whilst inside the gym and has sustained non-life changing injuries.

“Woman in her 40s has been arrested on suspicion of causing injury by dangerous driving, she remains in hospital at this time.

“If you have any information, please contact officers on 101 or LiveChat quoting log 2424 of 14/04/2026.”

Chaotic videos from inside, shared widely on social media, showed dust and bricks falling into the busy gym as customers were using the facilities. It is not clear if anyone has been injured.

Multiple emergency services vehicles remain at the scene, which has closed Rochdale Road and George Street in the town centre. Bury Council has urged people to avoid the area.

This is a breaking news story. Follow live updates here.

Rebecca’s father said her death was the “hardest thing” he had “ever had to accept”

The partner of a woman killed by a crane told a court he is “not the person he once was” since the death of his “blue eyed beauty”. Rebecca Ableman, 30, was struck in the head by a crane, while walking her daughter along a road in Willingham on September 22, 2022.

Kevin Miller, 71, of Gayton Road, King’s Lynn, was sentenced to 13 months in prison today (Tuesday, April 14), after pleading guilty to causing death by careless driving. Rebecca’s partner Chris Tuczemskyi, appearing teary during his victim impact statement, told the court that “everyday remains challenging” since Rebecca’s death.

He described Rebecca as a “strong” and “unique” woman, who loved “to travel and explore”. Recounting when he saw Rebecca in hospital after the incident, Mr Tuczemskyi said she was “unrecognisable” and that he will “never be the same” because of her death.

Speaking outside of the court, Mr Tuczemskyi he said the family wanted a prison sentence for Miller as it was “something that should have never happened”. He added: “As I mentioned during my statement, a £10 strap would have prevented this, and that’s heartbreaking and difficult to process.

“We would have liked a longer sentence but we are glad it’s not a suspended sentence.” Mr Tuczemskyi said it “sends a strong message out” that “safety should always be paramount with this kind of thing.” He added: “We are relieved it’s all finally coming to an end.”

Other victim impact statements were read out in court on behalf of Rebecca’s parents Russell and Susan Ableman, sisters Christina and Natalie, and longtime friend Amy. Russell said he feels he had “failed” as a father, as he said a father’s job is to “protect your children”. He said it was the “hardest thing” he had “ever had to accept”.

He added that her “life was cut short” due to “someone else’s carelessness”. Susan said her daughter “excelled” at being a mother to Autumn, and she “grieved for the life she could have had”.

Susan added that she now feels “vulnerable” walking along pavements when lorries are travelling nearby, following the death of her daughter. In a joint statement, sisters Christine and Natalie said there is a “permanent and profound void in our lives”.

They said Rebecca was the “light in our family and she was the friend that brought together everyone”. The sisters said losing Rebecca in “such a sudden and preventable way is a trauma” they couldn’t “fully put into words”. They also said her death was the “loss of a future”.

Longtime friend Amy said Rebecca was “so much more than a friend”, describing her as a “sister”. Amy said Rebecca “protected” her and that her life was now “lost and hollow” since her death. “Every happy moment now casts a dark shadow because she should be here,” Amy added.