China is not currently planning to invade Taiwan next year, according to US spy agencies.

Instead of military intervention, Beijing is looking to gain control of the key island in the Pacific without force, an intelligence assessment states.

The annual report said that although Chinese Communist Party leaders did not plan to retake Taiwan by force, the People’s Liberation Army was developing its military capabilities that could be used in any bid to seize the island.

It read: “Chinese leaders do not currently plan to execute an ​invasion of Taiwan in 2027, nor do they have a fixed timeline for achieving unification.”

The assessment comes as Beijing ramps up pressure on Taiwan through frequent military drills in one of the world’s biggest potential flashpoints.

The Pentagon said last year that the US military believed China ​was preparing to be able to take Taiwan through “brute force” by 2027 – the centenary of the ‌founding of its People’s Liberation Army (PLA).

But the latest report, released on Wednesday, said Beijing would prefer to ‘peacefully’ pursue its goal of ‘reunification’ with the democratically governed island.

“China, despite its threat to use force to compel unification if necessary and to ​counter what it sees as a US attempt to use Taiwan to undermine China’s rise, prefers to achieve unification without the use of force, if possible,” the report said.

It added that the PLA was making “steady but uneven” progress on ⁠the capabilities it could use to capture Taiwan.

China’s foreign ministry responded to the report by saying that the US should correct its understanding of China and that resolving the Taiwan question was a matter for China only.

But Japan rejected claims in the report there had been a “significant shift” in Tokyo’s stance on Taiwan, after Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said a Chinese attack on the island would launch a Japanese response.

Minoru Kihara, Japanese chief cabinet secretary, said: “The ‌government’s position of judging an existential crisis situation with all the ‌information it gathers is consistent with the past.

“The assessment ⁠that there has been a ​major shift is not accurate.”

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China responded furiously to Ms ⁠Takaichi’s remarks that Japan would take military action in the event of a Chinese attack on Taiwan, urging its people not to travel to Japan and ⁠choking off some exports.

Ms Takaichi ​has maintained that ​her position – which increases the risk of a Chinse attack on Taiwan triggering a regional conflict – was consistent with longstanding Japanese policy.

The US report said: “China is employing multi-domain coercive pressure that probably will intensify through 2026, aimed both at punishing Japan and deterring other countries from making similar statements ​about their potential involvement in a Taiwan crisis.”

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US President Donald Trump, who delayed his planned trip to China at the end of this month over the Iran war, has repeatedly touted his “great relationship” with ‌Chinese leader Xi Jinping and downplayed the threat of Chinese drills near Taiwan.

He said Mr Xi told him he will not attack Taiwan while the US president is in office, though Beijing has never confirmed this.

China views Taiwan – which was established in 1949 when the nationalist government retreated after Communist forces seized power on the mainland – as its own territory, and has never renounced the use of force to take the island.

Taiwan rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims, saying only the island’s people can decide its future.

The police are continuing to search for the body of a missing man after the car entered the River Nene near Wisbech St Mary.

Cambridgeshire Police are continuing to search for a missing man after a car entered the River Nene on North Brink near Wisbech on Tuesday, March 17, at around 8.20pm. A specialist operations unit will be carrying out the search on the river on Thursday (March 19).

The car had five people aged between 16 and 19 in it at the time of the crash. Three people, two females and one male, were able to get out of the vehicle and were taken to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King’s Lynn with non-life threatening injuries.

The police recovered the body of the missing teenage girl during the search on Wednesday (March 18). Detectives from the Serious Collision Investigation Unit are continuing to work with local enquiries.

A spokesperson for Cambridgeshire Police said: “Officers from our specialist operations unit will be on the river today and the search for the missing man will continue.

“In addition, detectives from our Serious Collision Investigation Unit will be supporting with local enquires and continued engagement with families and witnesses.”

The police are asking for anyone with information about the incident to come forward. You should contact the police quoting incident 515 of 17 March.

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Taylor Frankie Paul has found herself surrounded by controversy one again with reports suggesting filming of season five of Secret Lives of Mormon Wives has been paused

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I’ve watched all four seasons of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives and I’m a huge fan of the show.

The addictive reality series follows a group of Utah-based women who popularised the online subculture known as MomTok, which was founded to break the stigma surrounding strict gender Mormon roles and create an online outlet for young mothers.

Earlier this week, news broke that filming of the fifth season had been halted due to an alleged domestic violence involving ringleader Taylor Frankie Paul and her ex Dakota Mortensen, who is the father of her youngest child.

TMZ reported that production had “hit an unexpected pause” due to a “blowup” between Taylor and Dakota, claiming the situation was “intense enough that filming couldn’t continue as planned.”

Fans of the SLOMW have been following Taylor and Dakota’s turbulent relationship since season one aired in 2024 and will be aware this isn’t the first time filming has been halted.

In the very first episode, Taylor was arrested for allegedly hitting, choking and throwing metal chairs at Dakota and she later pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated assault.

The series premiere episode featured actual police body camera footage of the 2023 arrest, which caused a major delay between the filming of the first and second episodes leaving fans wondering whether season five could also be impacted by the latest news.

However, this time is different as MomTok members Whitney Leavitt, Macyi Neeley, Jennifer Afflect, Mikayla Matthews, Jessi Draper, Layla Taylor and Miranda McWhorter have become established stars in their own right and have stepped out of Taylor’s shadow over the past two years.

The women are now embracing their individual projects with Macyi releasing her own book and both Whitney and Jen landing spots on Dancing With The Stars in 2025 while still making their iconic TikTok dance videos which made them famous in the first place.

Stand-out star Whitney is currently playing leading role Roxy Hart in Chicago on Broadway and it was recently announced the fan-favourite made box office history for garnering sky-high ticket sales during her since-extended run.

While some viewers find Whitney polarising or “villainous,” I personally see her as a central, interesting character who has helped boost the show’s popularity and could easily step in to lead MomTok if Taylor was ever to take a break.

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They’ve all welcomed the cameras into their homes and opened up about personal issues from eating disorders and health battles to emotional affairs, and have earned their own fans across the globe individually.

Collectively the woman boost millions of followers across their own social media platforms, which proves that fans are interested in their every move and proves the show can gone on with or without Taylor.

MomTok may have skyrocketed to fame after it Taylor revealed on TikTok Live that the group was involved in a “soft-swinging” scandal but the popularity of the other cast members proves fans are invested in more than just Taylor’s drama.

In the show, the women are often left questioning if Taylor is the right leader for MomTok and if the group can survive another scandal but I think there’s definitely plenty more dirty sodas and DadTok bashing to come.

The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives is available to stream on Disney+ and Hulu

Lidl GB hopes to open the first supermarket in Cambridgeshire’s newest town. The company has submitted a planning application for a store to serve Northstowe and surrounding villages.

The planning submission to South Cambridgeshire District Council follows a public consultation. A Lidl GB spokesperson said more than 2,500 respondents backed the proposals.

CambridgeshireLive previously visited Northstowe, where residents said they could buy bubble tea but not a pint of milk. Locals said they were frustrated by the lack of shops in the town.

The proposed Lidl would be near Station Road, on the former Pentair Hypro EU site, and is expected create around 40 new local jobs. A spokesperson said: “Feedback from the consultation highlighted strong community demand for a discount foodstore in the area, with respondents welcoming the additional choice and competition a new Lidl would bring.

“A key theme emerging from the consultation was the desire for more convenient local shopping options as Northstowe continues to grow. Respondents said the store would make it easier for residents to access affordable groceries locally and help reduce the need to travel further afield for their weekly shop.”

Andrew Hodgkinson, Regional Head of Property at Lidl GB, said: “This marks a significant step forward in our plans to bring a new Lidl store to Northstowe. The proposed store would enhance shopping choice for the growing community, providing convenient access to our high quality, affordable products while also creating around 40 new jobs for local people.”

The proposals include a bakery and customer toilets. The store would have a net sales area of 1,529 sqm and provide 118 car parking spaces, including six disabled bays, six parent and child spaces, and electric vehicle charging points with capacity for additional chargers in the future.

There would be more than 40 covered cycle spaces. Pedestrian and cycle routes would pass the store.

The planning application can be viewed on South Cambridgeshire District Council’s planning portal under reference 26/00951/FUL.

Currently, young people aged 16 and 17 can marry or form a civil partnership with parental consent

Child marriages are to be banned in Northern Ireland as new legislation would raise the legal age of marriage from 16 to 18.

Finance Minister John O’Dowd has introduced the new legislation to the Assembly which will raise the minimum age of marriage and civil partnership to 18.

Currently young people here aged 16 and 17 can marry or form a civil partnership conditional on parental or equivalent consent. The Marriage and Civil Partnership Bill will raise the minimum age from 16 to 18. In addition, temporary arrangements have been in place which permit belief marriages, such as humanist ceremonies, to proceed in the same way as religious marriages. This new Bill will make belief marriage arrangements official and permanent.

For the period 2020 – 2024, there were 183 marriages where at least one partner was under 18. Provisional figures available for 2025 show there were 13 marriages where at least one partner was under 18

Speaking following the introduction of the Bill on Monday, Finance Minister John O’Dowd said: “The legislation introduced will help to better safeguard our children and young people.

“Child marriage can increase the risk of forced marriage and can deprive children of education and other essential life opportunities. Girls, who are more frequently married as children than boys, are especially at risk.

“Organisations such as the United Nations and local stakeholders recommend raising the minimum age for marriage from the present 16 to 18.

“I am therefore convinced of the need for change, particularly given that almost every respondent to the consultation supported raising the minimum age.”

The Minister continued: “For several years, belief marriages have been permitted through temporary arrangements. This Bill will now put belief marriages on a permanent legal footing, giving them the same statutory recognition as religious marriages.”

For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here and sign up to our daily newsletter here.

Megan Walsh may be a vile character, but Coronation Street fans are full of praise for actress Beth Nixon who has brought her to life.

The character first hit our screens in November 2025 as Will Driscoll’s (Lucas Hodgson-Wale) athletics coach, though it soon became clear that there was something much more sinister going on.

It transpired that Megan had been grooming Will, which was why he had been so reluctant to leave Hull for Weatherfield – especially when Megan made it clear that she wasn’t prepared to embark on a long-distance relationship.

However, seeing how much the move was upsetting Will, Eva Price (Catherine Tyldesley) and Maggie Driscoll (Pauline McLynn) decided to pay Megan to make the journey to Manchester regularly to continue Will’s athletics training.

It wasn’t long before Megan secured a job at Will’s school and moved to Coronation Street permanently.

She soon embarked on a relationship with fellow teacher Daniel Osbourne (Rob Mallard), which did not go down well with Will. However, Megan justified her actions as being a ploy to keep their relationship hidden.

This only kept Will’s jealousy in check for so long, and on Christmas Day, he finally snapped and attacked Daniel in the ginnel.

Obviously, Daniel caught on to Will’s dislike of him, but Megan explained his attitude away by insisting he had a teenage crush on her.

Unfortunately, Megan’s lies were believed, and things escalated on Will’s 16th birthday when she slept with him.

In recent weeks, she has been fighting to keep her secret under wraps after Sam Blakeman (Jude Riordan) worked out what was going on – and that Will wasn’t Megan’s first victim.

Megan has gone out of her way to scare Sam into keeping quiet, from stealing his essays to threatening to expose him as a ‘creep’.

With his grades affected by her tampering, Sam took to abusing ADHD medication, hoping it would help him study.

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After collapsing and ending up in hospital because of it, Sam finally confessed Megan’s crimes to Eva and Leanne Battersby (Jane Danson), and Megan was arrested after Eva and Ben Driscoll (Aaron McCusker) went to the police.

It can’t be easy to play such a disturbed villain, but fans have praised actress Beth Nixon for her performance in the role.

Taking to social media site Twitter/X, they called for her to be recognised with awards for her portrayal of the ‘deplorable’ character, as they praised her ‘believable’ performance.

Megan marks the first TV role Beth has played, having graduated drama school in 2021.

She previously revealed that she had auditioned for the role of Lauren Bolton, which was ultimately won by actress Cait Fitton, as well as another character involved in that storyline.

‘This is my first TV job, but not the first time I have auditioned for Corrie,’ she explained. ‘I auditioned for the part of Lauren Bolton and then for a girl who was giving Lauren a hard time at the mother and baby unit.’

Beth clearly hasn’t taken the responsibility of playing a role like Megan lightly, and revealed that she had done a lot of research for the storyline.

‘The writing is brilliant and the research team have been working with Barnados, so much of the work has been done for me but I have read newspaper reports about court cases involving female teachers that are very similar to what Megan is doing.

‘There have been a few high profile cases, every situation is different but it brings it home that this is something that is happening in the real world. Hopefully someone who doesn’t realise what is happening to them, that they are being groomed, might see this storyline and realise that what that person is doing is wrong and illegal.’

MORE: Coronation Street abuser Megan arrested in early ITVX release as she is caught out at last

MORE: Eva’s blistering revenge in Coronation Street as desperate Megan plots escape

MORE: Sam rushed to hospital in Coronation Street as evil Megan gets more twisted

Hunt’s stunning run for world silver came six years after she alerted the world to her potential as a record-breaking junior.

But, between those headline moments, injuries disrupted the start of her senior career, including a ruptured quadriceps in 2022 – while attempting to manage an often frictional relationship between her sporting ambition and studies.

Hunt would not improve on the 22.42-second run – which smashed the under-18 200m world record in 2019 – until last summer, before going faster still by running 22.08 in Japan at the end of a season where she also recorded 60m and 100m personal bests.

Continuing her development under coach Marco Airale in the northern Italian city of Padova, Hunt’s immediate target is improving on her fifth-place finish at last year’s world indoors.

The 60m is her least-favourite event – her 5ft 10in (1.78m) frame makes getting out of the blocks quickly challenging – but a necessary focus to benefit her performances over the longer distances.

Longer term, she hopes to become a contender over 400m as part of a bid to win as many as four Olympic medals in 2028, an achievement which, she says, would see her become “an icon”.

But, away from the track, Hunt is also keen to ensure she plays her part in encouraging more athletes to pursue a degree by setting up a scholarship, similar to the initiative by British rapper Stormzy to support black students studying at Cambridge.

“I didn’t want to take the easy way. That’s not me and that doesn’t inform anything I do. I have to always try and be the best every single day,” says Hunt.

“Talking about it opens it up a lot more and enables more women and girls from an athletic background to be able to get there.

“It’s about having a conversation and helping them be more confident.”

Karen O’Brien, Regional Chief Pharmacist for NHS England in the North West, recommends that any repeat prescriptions needed in the days over the four-day Easter weekend are requested by Wednesday, 25 March.

This is to give plenty of time for medications to be prescribed by your GP practice and dispensed by your community pharmacy.

GP practices and community pharmacies will have limited opening hours over the Easter period, and many will be closed across the weekend from Friday 3 April to Monday 6 April.

This will make it more challenging for patients to access medicines at short notice.

Running out of necessary medicines and using emergency or urgent services over the Easter break can add pressure to already busy services. In some medical conditions it can be dangerous for patients to be without necessary repeat medications.

Over the Easter bank holiday, the NHS 111 phone service for the North West typically receives hundreds of additional calls from patients who have forgotten to order their medicine.

There will be community pharmacies open throughout the Easter period, who are available to support people with medicines matters, minor illnesses and health queries.

Karen said: “Knowing how much of your medications you’ll need across the Easter weekend and planning ahead for your repeat prescriptions means people can enjoy their weekend without worrying about their medication.

“Running out of your usual medication can have serious consequences, especially if you use them to manage a heart condition and breathing problems or a health condition such as diabetes and epilepsy and is the last thing you want to do while your friends and family are together. Keeping your medicine cabinets stocked for simple ailments will also help and your community pharmacy can advise with this.”

Dr Paula Cowan, GP and Regional Medical Director for Primary Care for NHS England in the North West, advised: “If you take regular medications for a long term health condition and if you need a repeat prescription in the week leading up to Easter or over the Easter period, please remember to always request your repeat via your practice or the NHS app at least six working days in advance.

“This is particularly important ahead of bank holiday weekends and allows your practice and pharmacy to have your repeat ready in time for you. Please help us to help you and avoid any gaps in your medication.”

She added: “The easiest way to order repeat prescriptions is by using GP online services, via the NHS App or through your GP practice website. If you do not have access to GP online services, you can phone your GP practice to order prescriptions.”