Middlesbrough MP Andy McDonald and Stockton MP Matt Vickers told of their concerns as they reacted to the news that as many as 600 NHS workers could lose their jobs. Meanwhile, Hartlepool MP Jonathan Brash spoke of “ambitious, forward-looking plans taking shape” for the University Hospital of Hartlepool.

A spokesperson for the University Hospitals Tees group, which covers North and South Tees NHS Foundation Trusts, said they aimed to reduce their headcount by about 600 staff members.

This came after research from public service union Unison estimated at least 21,000 roles would be cut across hospitals and other health facilities nationally by 2028 as employers struggle to balance their books and meet government demands for trust budgets to break even.

Asked what plans there were to cut roles locally, a spokesperson for University Hospitals Tees said: “We are working with NHSE (NHS England) and ICB (Integrated Care Board) colleagues to ensure that our commitment to delivering safe, quality services for our patients and communities continues.

“Ensuring our workforce models are optimised to reflect the health and care needs across the Tees and North Yorkshire remains our priority.

“In line with wider NHS ambitions, this will involve a reduction in whole-time equivalent posts,” said the spokesperson, referring to whole-time equivalent (WTEs), a calculation relating to full-time hours, whether or not they are worked by part-time or full-time employees.

Asked how many people would lose jobs as a result, the spokesperson told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “Since 2020 University Hospitals Tees’ whole-time equivalent growth in staff has been over 2,800. We will be aiming to reduce our headcount by around 3.75 per cent, circa 600 members of staff.”

Andy McDonald, Labour MP for Middlesbrough and Thornaby East, said: “I am concerned about the impact of any staff reductions in our local NHS facilities and the potential for knock-on impact on services, both in terms of staff workload and patient experience.

Andy McDonald MP Teesside Live pic free for LDR use

“I’m in discussions with the chief exec of the University Hospitals Tees group about the timescale and the likely impact of any workforce reductions and I am seeking meetings with local trade union representatives to hear more from them about their concerns.

“I will then be reflecting their concerns to the Health Secretary to ensure local services are not harmed.”

Matt Vickers, Conservative MP for Stockton West, said: “This is deeply worrying. Hundreds of jobs are to be lost in the NHS that serves our community.

Andy McDonald MP Teesside Live pic free for LDR use

“Members of staff across the NHS have a crucial role to play in delivering healthcare. This is what happens when you hand the BMA [British Medical Association, the trade union and professional body for doctors and medical students] an inflation-busting pay rise with no strings, no reform, no conditions.

“Wes Streeting chose the unions over the patient and is now handing hundreds of local people a redundancy notice. We deserve better than this.”

Jonathan Brash, Labour MP for Hartlepool said: “I’m working hand in hand with our NHS partners to drive an exciting transformation of services at Hartlepool Hospital. There are ambitious, forward-looking plans taking shape, and I’m confident they will deliver real benefits for our community when they’re unveiled.

“My absolute priority is ensuring frontline services go from strength to strength and that waiting times keep coming down. That’s the commitment I’ve made and it’s exactly what we will continue to deliver for Hartlepool.”

Unison Northern regional secretary Clare Williams said: “Plans that could see a reduction of hundreds of posts across Teesside are deeply worrying and risk pushing an already overstretched workforce beyond breaking point.

“The public are all too aware how understaffing is a major problem, so they’ll be rightly alarmed when the situation’s getting worse.

“Years of underfunding have left many trusts out of pocket and ministers’ financial reset is creating deep uncertainty about services and staff. Morale is through the floor as workers worry whether their jobs are at risk, amid soaring levels of stress and violence.

“The NHS is being asked to transform how care is delivered, with more community services and technology. But none of this is possible without the staff to make it happen.

“Unison will be working closely with the NHS trusts and with staff to understand the full impact of these proposals, to support affected workers and to do everything possible to protect jobs and patient care.”

NEW YORK (AP) — Former NBA player and assistant coach Damon Jones is expected to become the first person to plead guilty in a gambling sweep that led to the arrests of more than 30 people, including reputed mobsters and other basketball figures.

A change-of-plea hearing for Jones is scheduled for May 6 in Brooklyn federal court, according to a court filing Thursday.

Jones, 49, had previously pleaded not guilty to separate indictments charging him with profiting from rigged poker games and providing sports bettors with non-public information about injuries to stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

Jones is charged in both cases with wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy.

A message seeking comment was left for his lawyer, Kenneth Montgomery. He told a judge at Jones’ arraignments in November that they “may be engaging in plea negotiations.”

Jones, a onetime teammate of James, was arrested last October along with Portland Trail Blazers head coach and Basketball Hall of Famer Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier, and others, including a sports bettor accused of cashing in on injury information.

Jones was one of three people charged in both the poker and sports betting schemes. He remains free on bail.

A native of Galveston, Texas, Jones earned more than $20 million playing for 10 teams in 11 seasons from 1999 to 2009. He and James played together in Cleveland from 2005 to 2008 and Jones served as an unofficial assistant coach for James’ Los Angeles Lakers during the 2022-2023 season.

According to prosecutors, Jones sold or attempted to sell non-public information to bettors that James was injured and wouldn’t be playing in a Feb. 9, 2023, game against the Milwaukee Bucks, texting an unnamed co-conspirator: “Get a big bet on Milwaukee tonight before the information is out.”

James wasn’t listed on the Lakers’ injury report at the time of the text message, but the NBA’s all-time scoring leader was later ruled out of the game because of a lower body injury, according to prosecutors, and the Lakers lost the game 115-106.

On Jan. 15, 2024, prosecutors said, sports bettor Marves Fairley paid Jones approximately $2,500 for a tip that Davis, the Lakers’ forward and center at the time, would see limited playing time against the Oklahoma City Thunder because of an injury.

Fairley then placed a $100,000 bet on the Thunder to win, prosecutors said, but the tip was wrong. Davis played his usual minutes, scored 27 points and collected 15 rebounds in a 112-105 Lakers win, prompting Fairley to demand a refund of his $2,500 fee, prosecutors said.

In the poker scheme, according to prosecutors, Jones was among former NBA players used to lure unwitting players into poker games that were rigged using altered shuffling machines, hidden cameras, special sunglasses and even X-ray equipment built into the table.

According to the indictment, Jones was paid $2,500 for a game in the Hamptons where he was instructed to cheat by paying close attention to others involved in the scheme. His instructor likened those people to James and NBA All-Star Steph Curry, prosecutors said. When in doubt, Jones was told to fold his hand, prosecutors said.

In response, according to prosecutors, Jones texted: “y’all know I know what I’m doing!!”

The poker scheme often made use of illegal poker games run by New York crime families that required them to share a portion of their proceeds with the Gambino, Genovese and Bonnano crime families, according to prosecutors.

Members of those families, in turn, also helped commit violent acts, including assault, extortion and robbery, to ensure repayment of debts and the continued success of the operation, officials said in court documents.

A hot hand from outside the three-point arc, Jones once proclaimed himself in an interview with insidehoops.com as “the best shooter in the world.” He played in every regular season game for three consecutive seasons from 2003 to 2006.

After his playing days, he worked as a “shooting consultant” for the Cavaliers and was an assistant coach when the team, led by James, won the NBA championship in 2016.

“We do need to delink gas and electricity prices,” Reeves said. “Because at the moment, on many occasions, electricity prices are based off the gas price, even though the costs of producing electricity, by and large, have not changed as a result of this conflict in the Middle East.”

Roker and Seaburn’s beach in Sunderland was recently listed as one of the top ten cleanest beaches in the UK in a study by Vape Superstore, which analysed Tripadvisor reviews, bathing water quality, smoking rules, and Blue Flag status.

The ranking praised the coastline for its cleanliness, with only 0.43 per cent of public reviews mentioning litter or rubbish.

However, some residents have expressed concern about water quality, raising questions about sewage discharges from the Whitburn outfall.

One local mentioned: “The water quality at Seaburn is anything but good courtesy of the discharge pipe at Whitburn.”

They also raised questions over sewerage figures relating to the area that were reported in previous years.

In 2024, it was reported that in response to a Freedom of Information request, Northumbrian Water estimated that around one million tonnes of sewage were discharged from a Whitburn site, but have since disputed that figure as “not necessarily accurate”, as volumes of storm overflows are not measured.

Northumbrian Water has told the Northern Echo that it is working to reduce sewage overflows across the region: “We share our customers and communities’ passion for having clean waterways and we understand that reducing the use of storm overflows is one of the most important things we can do.”

The company said it plans to invest £1.7 billion in environmental improvements between 2025 and 2030.

Northumbrian Water said: “Data for 2025 shows that spills from our storm overflows have decreased by 32 per cent over the past year, and this is partly due to investment in infrastructure, and trials of our world-leading Smart Sewers project, which uses AI to predict rainfall and reduce the reliance on storm overflows.”

Despite recent and planned improvements, some residents remain sceptical over the cleanliness of the surrounding coastline.

One commenter wrote: “The bar is set very low these days to be the cleanest in the UK.”

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Others noted that Seaburn ‘lost’ its Blue Flag status in 2025.

One local said: “The loss of this award raises legitimate questions about whether current standards are as high as suggested.”

The loss of this award raises legitimate questions about whether current standards are as high as suggested

Whilst Seaburn was not named on Keep Britain Tidy’s 2025 Blue Flag winner’s list, it was given the Seaside Award, along with Roker Beach which did retain its Blue Flag status.

A spokesman for Keep Britain Tidy said: “Not only does a Blue Flag show locals and visitors that they have arrived at a clean, safe and beautiful beach, it is also a mark of quality that sets the beach out as an asset to its community and local businesses that will drive and increase tourism.”

Despite concerns, Roker and Seaburn beaches were ranked 9th in the Cleanest Beaches list, with a score of 7.33 out of ten.

The Mandy Dingle actress shared her link to the singer in an old series

Emmerdale star Lisa Riley took to her social media as she shared an old TV link to a member of One Direction.

Actress Lisa Riley made her Emmerdale debut as the iconic and charismatic Mandy Dingle back in 1995, and although she made a brief departure she returned full-time in 2019.

However, Lisa hasn’t only starred in Emmerdale, as she played the role of Rebecca Patterson in hit ITV series Fat Friends from 2002. Written by Kay Mellor, the series followed the lives and weight-loss struggles of a group of people at a “Super Slimmers” club in Leeds.

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Lisa worked alongside James Cordon who played Jamie Rymer on the series, as well as the rest of the star-studded cast which included Sheridan Smith, Ruth Jones and Gaynor Faye.

However, taking to her Instagram, Lisa revealed that there was another unexpected star who appeared on the TV show alongside her – One Direction member Louis Tomlinson.

Next to a picture of her during an episode, she wrote: “‘WAY BACK WHEN WEDNESDAY’ last night someone sent me this absolute BELTER!!!

“This is a scene from @itv ‘Fat Friends’ where Me @lisajaneriley and James @j_corden our characters, best mates, Rebecca and Jamie are in hospital-as my character Rebecca is about to go into labour -look closely to see who the young lad in the waiting room is???? It’s gorgeousness himself @louist91 soooo cute!!! Good memories before he became part of the global sensation @onedirection”.

Fans in the comments couldn’t believe it was him, as @jessluciile replied: “MINI LOUIS OMG” and @harrietplusbabies added: “Omg I’ve watched these so many times and I’ve never noticed @louist91 Love Fat Friends!”

Louis Tomlinson shot to fame after his audition on the X Factor back in 2010. He auditioned singing “Hey There Delilah” by the Plain White T’s and receiving three “yeses” from the judges.

However, he failed to progress as a solo artist but was later brought back to form One Direction along with Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Zayn Malik and Liam Payne.

Fat Friends wasn’t his only acting move, as he also had roles in the BBC drama Waterloo Road and the ITV drama If I Had You, as well as starring as himself in iCarly and Family Guy.

ITV have revealed that the last series of 7 Up will air this year

ITV have confirmed that their long-running series, 7 Up will end with its final chapter, 70 Up after 62 years of them following the lives of 14 people.

It’s often been described as the “greatest documentary series of all time”, as they’ve followed 14 people since the age of seven years old through being teenagers, and making their mark as adults.

In 1964, World in Action screened the very first film – 7 Up. Every seven years since, cameras have returned to capture a journey from childhood to teenagers, to adulthood, through careers, marriage, divorce, parenting, bereavement and more.

Now, the participants are pensioners and retirees looking back on their lives in a way that not many other people will have the chance to do the same.

70 Up will be the end of this remarkable television journey. Viewers will join them for the last time as they reflect on their triumphs, their trials and tribulations, and what happened to their hopes and dreams.

Viewers can tune in to see the “emotionally-charged” finale, with Tony the “cheeky chap” who wanted to be a jockey before becoming a London cabbie. He appears alongside Neil, who dreamed of being an astronaut and experienced homelessness. Plus Bruce, the public schoolboy who wanted to be a missionary, Symon who has fostered more than 120 children and has 12 (and counting) grandchildren, shy Paul who is now a grandparent and Jackie who left Scotland with a new partner.

Sue will talk about marrying Glenn and decades working at Queen Mary University of London, while Peter has more music news. KC John who wanted a powerful career and lawyer Andrew, the prep school boy who famously read the FT, return. Alongside them is Suzy, the young ballerina who hated her private school.

The series will remember fondly the late Lynn, part of the trio of friends. Meanwhile, we hear from Charles who left the programme at 21. And the series will also include a poignant and moving interview with the late Nick, the farmer’s son who fulfilled his dream to become a nuclear physicist.

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The series is due to air later in 2026, and Asif Kapadia, Director, 70 Up said: “In 2014 I named the Up Series as my favourite documentary of all time. Who knew that two decades later I would have the incredible honour and privilege to be asked to direct 70 Up, the legendary documentary series. I love the show!

“I have watched it all my life, first as a child with my parents and siblings, growing up in East London and then as an adult. I was lucky to meet Michael Apted a few times. I first came in contact with Apted when he interviewed me after he saw SENNA and he liked the fact I directed drama and documentaries, like him.

“Directing 70 Up has been a dream project for me, the ultimate portrait of human life, working with my amazing editors Andrew Hulme and Patrick Saxer, we had the challenge of cutting hours of archive material shot over decades, while also looking at the nature of documentary filmmaking itself. I hope the audience feel my team and I have done the epic series justice with the closing chapter.”

Producer Claire Lewis added: “After over 40 years of working with the participants of 7 Up it seems extraordinary that we have come to the end of this unique series. It’s been an incredible lifetime’s work and has given me a second family. I’m sad and content at the same time that it’s ending.

“Working with Asif, as well as Michael, has been an honour. But the highest accolade goes to the fortitude of our trusted contributors. We miss Michael, Nick and Lynn terribly; the jigsaw is not complete without them.

“Thank you to them and thank you to the team. Each episode captures an era for our society and one for each individual. It’s pure magic. Thank you to the pioneers of ITV who made it happen. It’s film history.”

The temporary truce will begin at 5pm EST (10pm BST), Donald Trump said, adding that he had excellent conversations with the leaders of both countries

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Donald Trump has announced that Lebanon and Israel have agreed to a 10-day ceasefire, claiming the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah will be the tenth war he has helped bring to a resolution.

The temporary truce is set to commence at 5pm EST (10pm BST), the US president stated in a Truth Social post, adding that he had “excellent conversations” with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu. He claimed both nations agreed to the truce following a meeting in Washington, D.C. — their first such encounter in 34 years — alongside US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Trump stated that he has directed Rubio, Vice-President JD Vance and Joint Chiefs Chairman Dan Caine to collaborate with Israel and Lebanon to “achieve a Lasting PEACE”. He asserted that he has previously resolved “nine wars across the world”, with this representing his tenth peace deal.

Trump and his administration have claimed to have helped resolve or de-escalate the following conflicts:

It remains unclear which ninth war Trump is referring to. He may be alluding to the US-Israel conflict with Iran, which he initiated with strikes on 28 February, reports the Mirror.

However, the reality appears to contradict the Trump administration’s assertions regarding the other eight conflicts. Violence persists in nations such as the Democratic Republic of Congo. India has flatly denied that Trump played any part in brokering a ceasefire with Pakistan, while Serbia has stated it had no intentions of pursuing a war with Kosovo.

In a subsequent post, Trump said he would invite Aoun and Netanyahu to the White House for the “first meaningful talks” between Israel and Lebanon since 1983.

The first story trailer and gameplay footage from the sequel to Metro Exodus reveals a game literally forged in war, by Ukrainian developer 4A Games.

The tragedy of the Russian invasion of Ukraine is so serious that we always feel nervous about discussing it in the context of video games. But the fact is that Ukraine has a very active development community – one of the most significant in Eastern Europe – and since the invasion began we’ve spoken to both indie developers and S.T.A.L.K.E.R. creator GSC Game World, who have all carried on working during the war.

As such, it’s sadly obvious why there’s been a seven year gap since Metro Exodus. But developer 4A Games is back and have unveiled Metro 2039 today, via an Xbox event that we were allowed to see in advance.

Based on a series of novels by Russian author Dmitry Glukhovsky, who assists with the games but has been exiled from Russia for speaking out against the war, they’re set in a post-apocalyptic Moscow and portray the world in a way that, to paraphrase co-creative director Pavel Ulmer, makes Fallout seem like a ‘theme park ride.’

We strongly encourage you to watch the video below, which is 15 minutes long and split between the pre-rendered reveal trailer (which is also the video above), commentary from the developers, and a minute or so of in-game footage.

Introducing itself as ‘proudly made in Ukraine’ the reveal trailer portrays a series of nightmare visions of what is presumably the main character – known only as The Stranger but fully voiced in the game.

He seems to be searching for his daughter, with post-apocalyptic scenes reminiscent of the bomb dropping in Terminator 2 and then images of him being literally held back by chains as a Nazi-like figure, who has apparently united all the different human factions, indoctrinating children and issuing propaganda.

It’s all very disturbing and while it’s not exactly subtle in its message, the world as a whole seems to have moved past subtlety a long time ago.

According to creative director Andriy ‘mLs’ Shevchenko, the Metro series has always been anti-war but, as he says, ‘Now war is our reality and our message has shifted to be about the consequences.’

He ruminates on ‘The cost of silence, the horrors of tyranny, and the price of freedom,’ in what is clearly going to be a very heavy game. In fact, it’s specifically said that it will be much darker in tone than the previous games, which weren’t exactly Barbie Horse Adventures themselves.

As the impossibly gravelly-voiced Pavel Ulmer (co-creative director and lead audio designer) says, they’re not ‘romanticising the post-apocalypse’ and are instead taking a more tragic view of humanity than most similar games.

4A Games admits that their plans for the new Metro completely changed after the Russia invasion, so this game is heavily influenced by the ramifications of that, as you can already tell from the trailer and the promise of a ‘uniquely Ukrainian perspective.’

In terms of the gameplay, only a little was shown but the graphics looked fantastic (enabled by 4A Games’ own propriety game engine) and showed off a typically terrifying fight with a mutated monster.

The Metro games are part first person shooter and part survival horror, but the series’ storytelling is also very important to the experience, with engaging characters and a lack of moralising.

Metro 2039 will be out ‘this winter’ on Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and PC. Interestingly, the PlayStation 5 version was mentioned, despite this technically being a Microsoft showcase.

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The Apprentice series finale airs tonight with Karishma Vijay and Pascha Myhill competing in an all-female final for the £250,000 investment

Lord Alan Sugar hadn’t envisaged a future for The Apprentice, he’s confessed.

The BBC contest launched back in 2005, and this year features an all-female finale, with Karishma Vijay competing against Pascha Myhill.

Prior to the final being broadcast, Lord Sugar spoke with presenter Angela Scanlon to look back on the programme’s achievements.

When questioned whether he anticipated reaching this milestone on the series, marking twenty years on television, Lord Sugar responded: “Honestly speaking, no. Was it 2005 or something like that? 2004, when we recorded the first one, and I thought, ‘it’s been great, exciting, interesting’, but never, ever thought it would run on for this long.”

READ MORE: Apprentice star Karishma defiantly vows ‘I’m making money without Lord Sugar’READ MORE: ‘I’m making history on The Apprentice final and I can do it by myself’

Reflecting on a photograph of himself from that inaugural series, the business tycoon joked that he was “a handsome fella” and revealed the secret behind his appearance at 79, reports the Mirror.

“I do a lot of exercise, I suppose, and running the businesses,” he stated.

Initially, Lord Sugar had been seeking to offer winners opportunities to work for him, whereas he now provides investment in their own ventures.

“The original format was that people would come to work for me, and I would give them a six-figure job, and back in 2005, a six-figure job was quite a lot of money, so you can imagine the resentment and possible disruption it caused within my company,” he outlined.

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“So I changed it after about series six to this 50/50 business deal, which is great, that’s what’s really kept me at it.

“The calibre of the winners are different because they’re entrepreneurs, they’re my partners, and as I say to them, ‘You’re the expert, you’re the one that knows what you’re supposed to be doing in this business, I’m just there to tell you what not to do’.”

He went on to say: “I’m looking for someone whose got that entrepreneurial spirit, some spark of brilliance.”

This follows Lord Sugar addressing the future of The Apprentice, disclosing that the programme will continue for at least several more years.

Speaking to Amol Rajan last year, Lord Sugar stated he was “absolutely” proud of the show’s legacy, and that, at the time, he had committed to three further series.

He said: “Listen, when I took the job on of The Apprentice, I was already a multi-millionaire. I didn’t do it for the money.”

Earlier this year, he quipped that he received an “electronic Zimmer frame” from the BBC upon agreeing to carry the series into his 80s.

He told The Mirror: “Part of the contract is the BBC has got to provide me with an electronic Zimmer frame! I mean, three years takes me to about 82 I suppose, the time I’m finished, but I’ll carry on as long as the BBC want me to and I will know personally when it’s time for me to kind of hang up my finger, if you know what I mean.

“As the footballers say, they hang up their boots, hang up my finger or something. I’m happy about it. I’m a very fit person.”

The finale of The Apprentice airs tonight at 21:00 on BBC One and iPlayer with The Apprentice: Unfinished Business airing straight after on BBC Two and iPlayer.

Police issued a statement on Thursday confirming a man has been charged with assault causing actual bodily harm

A man has been charged with assault following an incident which occurred during a Welsh football match earlier this year.

The incident happened during a match between Trearddur Bay FC and CPD Porthmadog in January and was captured on video with a clip of an alleged assault widely shared on social media at the time.

On Thursday police confirmed that Thomas Taylor, 36, from Llanddona has now been charged with assault causing actual bodily harm.

He will appear in court in Caernarfon on May 11.

In a statement pn Thursday North Wales Police said: “Following submission of a case file to the Crown Prosecution Service, officers received authorisation to charge a man in relation to an incident that occurred during a football match between Porthmadog FC and Trearddur Bay on Saturday, January 17.

“Thirty-six-year-old Thomas Taylor of Llanddona was yesterday charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm and will appear before Court in Caernarfon on Monday, May 11.”