Anne and Andrew Leaver want to convert the field at the rear of Hillcrest in Tockholes Road into a space for dogs to run free.

The 0.45-acre site is located within the Green Belt and the West Pennine Moors and forms part of a wider landholding under their ownership.

A supporting statement submitted to Blackburn with Darwen Council with the planning application says: “Anne and Andrew Leaver are seeking permission for the change of use of part of an existing field to a dog exercise area to provide a safe and secure environment where dogs and their owners can exercise throughout the year.

“Access to outdoor space plays an important role in supporting animal welfare and enabling people to spend time with their pets in a natural setting.

“The proposed facility would allow users to enjoy the countryside in a controlled and managed way, supporting regular outdoor activity while making use of existing rural land.

“Hillcrest Cattery is located within the wider site.

“The surrounding land is predominantly agricultural, comprising open fields with established tree belts and hedgerows.

“The proposal seeks permission for: the change of use of the land into a dog exercise area; the erection of 1.8m high posts and mesh fencing; and the extension of an existing hardstanding area on the wider site to allow for the parking of one car.

“The proposed opening times are in summer weekdays 8am to 7pm, Saturdays 8am to 7pm, and Sundays 9am to 5pm, and in winter 9am to 3pm seven days a week.

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“Clients will be able to book 60-minute sessions via the online booking system.

“Clients will be required to leave the site in good time.

“This will ensure that only one client is on the site at any one time.

“Once a client selects an hourly slot, then this slot is removed from the website to ensure no further bookings can take place within the same hour.

“No commercial dog groups, or private functions, dog training days, group sessions, or competitions will be using the site at any time.

“The site will only be used by private dog owners to exercise their pet away from home.

“The proposed dog exercise area is well screened by existing mature trees and vegetation.

“The proposal would be largely hidden within the landscape and would not appear visually prominent within the wider Green Belt.

“The purpose of the Green Belt exception for outdoor recreation is to enable greater access to the countryside and to support recreational and health-related activities.”

Cardiff are lining up a move for the Wales forward

Cardiff are closing in on the signing of Wales forward Christ Tshiunza from Exeter Chiefs, WalesOnline has learnt.

The 24-year-old’s Exeter contract expires at the end of the season and there has been a lot of interest in acquiring his services from Cardiff and clubs in England.

Tshiunza, who can play lock and backrow, has seen his Wales career stall in recent times due to injury and is currently sidelined with a broken foot.

The 6ft 6in forward is a big target for Cardiff and while a deal has not yet been completed WalesOnline understands the capital city club are the favourites to land his signature.

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Tshiunza attended Whitchurch High School in Cardiff, the same establishment as Sam Warburton and Gareth Bale, before deciding to join the Exeter Chiefs academy.

A move back to Cardiff would put the athletic forward in a strong position to fight for a place in Wales’ Rugby World Cup squad.

Cardiff are currently up for sale with the WRU locked into a 60-day period of exclusivity with Ospreys owners Y11 Sports & Media who are the governing bodies preferred buyer of the famous Welsh club.

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Despite the WRU’s plan to cut down to three professional clubs there will be at least four Welsh sides competing in the United Rugby Championship next season.

All four sides know roughly what their playing budgets are for next season and are contracting players.

If Cardiff were to complete a deal to sign Tshiunza his athleticism and lineout prowess would suit the Arms Park outfit’s brand of rugby.

Cardiff have also lost the versatile Ben Donnell who has signed for Ulster so Tshiunza would fit the bill as a replacement for him.

A potential second-row partnership of Teddy Williams and Tshiunza would also be appealing, with former England international Josh McNally also in the mix.

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are flirting with a record Wednesday following an encouraging report that said the nation’s unemployment rate unexpectedly improved last month.

The S&P 500 rose 0.5% and is sitting just below its all-time high set late last month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 222 points, or 0.4%, as of 9:35 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.5% higher.

Treasury yields also climbed in the bond market immediately after the Labor Department said U.S. employers added 130,000 jobs to their payrolls last month, more than the 75,000 that economists expected. That helped calm worries that had heightened a day earlier, when a discouraging report suggested spending by U.S. households, the main engine of the economy, may be stalling.

To be sure, all is still not perfectly clear for the U.S. economy. Wednesday’s report included major revisions, which said employers added just 181,000 jobs for all of last year, less than a third of the previously reported 584,000. That’s the weakest showing for a year since 2020, when COVID-19 shut down the economy.

“We all knew there would be downward revisions, but these were better than expected,” Brian Jacobsen, chief economic strategist at Annex Wealth Management, said of the markdowns for 2025.

Stocks in the energy and industrial industries jumped to the biggest gains in the S&P 500. Their profits tend to be closely tied to the health of the economy. Caterpillar rose 3.9%, and Exxon Mobil climbed 2.4%.

That helped offset a drop for Moderna, which fell 10.5% after saying the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is refusing to consider its application for a new flu vaccine made with Nobel Prize-winning mRNA technology. It’s the latest sign of the FDA’s heightened scrutiny of vaccines under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Robinhood Markets fell 11% even though the trading and investment app reported a stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Its revenue fell short of forecasts, and analysts highlighted Robinhood’s forecast for expenses in 2026, along with concerns about how long a slowdown in crypto trading will last.

Kraft Heinz sank 4.1% despite reporting better results for the latest quater than analysts expected. CEO Steve Cahillane said he’s pausing the company’s planned split into two businesses as he tries to return it to profitable growth. He also announced a $600 million investment across marketing, sales and research and development.

In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.17% from 4.16% late Tuesday. The two-year Treasury yield, which more closely tracks expectations for moves by the Federal Reserve, jumped more. It climbed to 3.51% from 3.45%.

The stronger-than-expected jobs data pushed traders to pare back their bets on how many cuts to interest rates the Fed will make this year, though most are still betting on at least two according to data from CME Group.

The Fed has put its cuts to interest rates on hold, and a further weakening of the job market could have pushed it to resume cuts more quickly. Lower rates can give the economy a boost, though they can also worsen inflation. The next monthly update on inflation at the U.S. consumer level is arriving on Friday.

In stock markets abroad, indexes rose across much of Asia and Europe.

South Korea’s Kospi rose 1%, and the United Kingdom’s FTSE 100 gained 0.9% for two of the bigger moves.

___

AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.

The BookTok phenomenon has been adapted into a TV series by the makers of One Day and The Summer I Turned Pretty

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Fans of romantic dramas are set for a real treat as Prime Video has commissioned a fresh TV series inspired by a chart-topping New York Times bestseller.

The epic love story, Boys of Tommen, draws from the globally acclaimed book series by Irish writer Chloe Walsh and has been heralded as an “emotionally powerful story”.

The saga has taken ‘BookTok’ by storm thanks to its memorable cast of characters and deeply passionate narrative, and is now being brought to television by the creative teams behind The Summer I Turned Pretty, One Day and Twilight.

The first season will adapt the opening two instalments in the collection, Binding 13 and Keeping 13. The screen version charts the “forbidden love story of Johnny Kavanagh, the star rugby player on the verge of a pro career and Shannon Lynch, the talented but painfully shy new girl at the prestigious private school of Tommen College in Ballylaggin, Ireland”.

Whilst Johnny conceals a potentially career-ending injury, Shannon harbours her own dark truths, including a troubled and violent home environment.

The synopsis adds: “Through their secret and highly charged connection, the two teens from opposite worlds battle against the odds and find a way to save each other.”

Boys of Tommen, brought to the screen by Poppy Cogan, is set to launch exclusively on Prime Video across the globe, with writer Walsh expressing: “The response from readers around the world has been overwhelming, and knowing that everyone behind this production and book shares my passion for telling this story authentically means the world to me.”

Nicole Clemens from Prime Video revealed the platform was delighted to bring the remarkable tale to viewers.

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She continued: “This BookTok phenomenon has captured the hearts of millions of readers worldwide with its deeply emotional storytelling and unforgettable characters.

“Poppy’s scripts capture the intensity of Johnny and Shannon’s powerful romance and dive into the rich constellation of characters to explore the themes of mental health, bullying, and resilience with the same authenticity that fans love in Chloe’s books.

“We can’t wait for our exceptional creative team at Drama Republic, Temple Hill, and wiip to bring this series to life for Prime customers.”

Devotees have already flocked to X, previously known as Twitter, to voice their enthusiasm about the announcement, with Francesca posting: “We getting Boys of Tommen TV series! ! I’m screaming so much right now! ! Real life Johnny, Shannon, Joey – EVERYONE!”

Meanwhile on Reddit, Katierose295 commented: “Heated Rivalry was good, so I am optimistic that more romance books can be adapted successfully. Positive vibes!”

Boys of Tommen will air on Prime Video

**For the latest showbiz, TV, movie and streaming news, go to the new Everything Gossip website**

Belmont Road is closed between the junction with Scout Road and the San Marino restaurant near Belmont.

Belmont Road is closed following a crash (Image: PHIL TAYLOR)

Pictures from the scene show a white Mercedes-Benz van on its side close to a tree next to the carriageway.

A red Citroen vehicle can also be seen damaged in pictures sent from the area.

A red Citroen vehicle is also damaged (Image: PHIL TAYLOR)

Police and North West Ambulance Service are in attendance.

Lancashire Police said the crash was damage-only and there were no reported injuries.

Seamus Culleton exists in two places – his wife’s memory and a detention centre in Texas.

Tiffany Smyth had a handful of photographs to show me, illustrating their life together. Sunbathing on a beach, posing with their two dogs, celebrating their engagement with radiant smiles.

But the hope illustrated in those snapshots was snatched away one afternoon five months ago.

Seamus, 38, was at a building supplies store in Boston when ICE (US Immigration and Customs Enforcement) agents detained him.

Via Buffalo, New York, he eventually ended up at Camp East Montana, El Paso, Texas.

He has described it “like a modern-day concentration camp… horrible and filthy.”

Housed with 70 other detainees in one tent, he said he feared for his own life. It was striking to hear his Irish accent on the phoneline from there.

“If it can happen to me… it can kind of happen to anyone,” he told me.

Living in the US for nearly 18 years, he had, in his words, “lived a normal life”.

“Just working hard, staying out of trouble, I wasn’t a big party guy, just spending time with my wife and my dogs,” he said.

Tiffany recalled the moment her husband phoned her to say he had been detained.

“He says ICE picked him up, and I had a million questions… where are they taking you?

“And he said, no, they’re not telling me anything. I’ll call you when I can, and then the phone hung up. I didn’t hear from him for four or five days,” she said.

Fighting through the tears, she described his situation as “hard to believe”.

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Minneapolis shootings: What is ICE?

A native of Kilkenny, he arrived in the US in 2009 and overstayed the 90 days of his visa waiver.

But he later married an American, giving him the right to seek a change of status. He had obtained a work permit and was one appointment away from securing a green card.

The Department of Homeland Security describes Seamus Culleton as “an illegal alien from Ireland”.

In a statement, it said a green card application and work permit did not grant someone legal status to be in the United States and rejected claims he was being held in high-risk conditions.

‘Deplorable’ conditions

But his lawyer, Ogor Winnie Okoye, said: “Conditions are deplorable, unimaginable, inhumane, not conducive for even the most atrocious of criminals.”

ICE is currently holding around 70,000 people and 74% of them have no criminal conviction, according to recent data.

Donald Trump pledged the greatest mass deportation in US history, to remove seasoned criminals, “the worst of the worst” in his words.

Read more from Sky News:
What is ICE and what powers do its agents have?
Why is Trump threatening Canada over a bridge?

“Seamus is not the worst of the worst,” said his lawyer. “He’s the best of what this country’s all about, immigrants coming in and making a difference.”

And despite the current nightmare he is living, he refuses to give up on his American dream.

“The picture in my mind, if I got released, would be just my wife waiting for me with her arms open… and giving her a kiss.

“It’s been so long since I’ve seen her,” he told me.

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. employers added a surprisingly strong 130,000 jobs last month, but government revisions cut 2024-2025 U.S. payrolls by hundreds of thousands.

The unemployment rate fell to 4.3%, the Labor Department said Wednesday.

The report included major revisions that reduced the number of jobs created last year to just 181,000, weakest since the pandemic year of 2020, and less than half the previously reported 584,000.

The job market has been sluggish for months even though the economy is registering solid growth.

But the January numbers came in stronger than the 75,000 economists had expected. Healthcare accounted for nearly 82,000, or more than 60%, of last month’s new jobs. Factories added 5,000, snapping a streak of 13 straight months of job losses. The federal government shed 34,000 jobs.

Average hourly wages rose a solid 0.4% from December to January.

The unemployment rate fell from 4.4% in December as the number of employed Americans rose and the number of unemployed fell.

Weak hiring over the past year reflects the lingering impact of high interest rates, billionaire Elon Musk’s purge last year of the federal workforce and uncertainty arising from President Donald Trump’s erratic trade policies, which have left businesses unsure about hiring.

Dreary numbers have been coming in ahead of Wednesday’s report. Employers posted just 6.5 million job openings in December, fewest in more than five years.

Payroll processor ADP reported last week that private employers added 22,000 jobs in January, far fewer than economists had forecast. And the outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas reported that companies slashed more than 108,000 jobs last month, the most since October and the worst January for job cuts since 2009.

Several well-known companies announced layoffs last month. UPS is cutting 30,000 jobs. Chemicals giant Dow, shifting to more automation and artificial intelligence, is cutting 4,500 jobs. And Amazon is slashing 16,000 corporate jobs, its second round of mass layoffs in three months.

The sluggish job market doesn’t match the economy’s performance.

From July to September, America’s gross domestic product – its output of goods and services – galloped ahead at a 4.4% annual pace, fastest in two years. Consumer spending was strong, and growth got a boost from rising exports and tumbling imports. And that came on top of solid 3.8% growth from April through June.

Economists are puzzling out whether job creation will eventually accelerate to catch up to strong growth, perhaps as President Donald Trump’s tax cuts translate into big tax refunds that consumers start spending this year. But there are other possibilities. GDP growth could slow and fall into line with a weak labor market or advances in AI and automation could mean that the economy can roar ahead without creating many jobs.

Wednesday’s report included the government’s annual benchmark revisions, meant to take into account the more-accurate jobs numbers that employers report to state unemployment agencies. They cut 898,000 jobs from payrolls in the year ending March 2025.

Despite recent high-profile layoffs, the unemployment rate has looked better than the hiring numbers.

That is partly because President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown has reduced the number of foreign-born people competing for work.

As a result, the number of new jobs that the economy needs to create to keep the unemployment rate from rising – the “break-even’’ point — has tumbled. In 2023, when immigrants were pouring into the United States, it reached a high of 250,000, according to economist Anton Cheremukhin of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. By mid-2025, Cheremukhin found, it was down to 30,000. Researchers at the Brookings Institution believe it could now be as low as 20,000 and headed lower.

The combination of weak hiring but low unemployment means that most American workers are enjoying job security. But those who are looking for jobs – especially young people who can be competing at the entry level with AI and automation – often struggle to land one.

The scheme is funded by central government and will be no extra cost to residents

A new food waste recycling service is set to launch in part of Cambridgeshire next month. Huntingdonshire District Council (HDC) will begin the new, weekly waste service which is a free scheme funded by central government, so there are no extra costs to residents.

All food waste, including fruit and vegetable peelings, leftover food, tea bags and coffee grounds, bread, rice, pasta, meat and fish and pet food, should no longer go in your general waste bin and should be put in your food waste caddy to be recycled.

Some households have already received a seven-litre kitchen caddy to use indoors and a 23-litre food waste bin for outdoors but all residents are set to receive them by March 28.

Residents in communal properties (flats or shared housing) will be receiving an indoor caddy and a larger communal bin for food waste.

Executive Councillor for Parks and Countryside, Waste and Street Scene, Cllr Julie Kerr said: “This new weekly food waste recycling service is a simple but powerful way for all of us to protect our environment.”

Instead of being disposed of in landfills, the collected food waste will now go through a process called anaerobic digestion, where it will be turned into renewable energy and nutrient-rich fertiliser.

The aim is to make food waste recycling easier for residents and a simple way to contribute to reducing carbon emissions and provide a greener future for Huntingdonshire.

Cllr Kerr continued: “The easy change of separating food waste from household waste is something that the whole family can get involved in and will make it clearer how much food gets thrown away. It will hopefully reduce both waste and household costs by buying less food and together we can make Huntingdonshire greener for future generations.”

There was something about the way the premier of British Columbia, David Eby, struggled to his words in front of the cameras that said a lot about how Canadians view the school shooting in a small town called Tumbler Ridge.

“This is the kind of thing that feels like it happens in other places, and not close to home.”

He is right about that. People expect this sort of thing to take place south of the border, in the United States – but not in Canada – not in a place like Tumbler Ridge.

Read the latest: Canada school shooting

The sorrow, the grief will be felt collectively, right across this mammoth country. A massacre in a high school is not a Canadian thing – and it is not a small-town Canada thing either.

The town is certainly isolated, with Vancouver some 1,000km to the southeast but in a way, its remote location should have worked to protect it.

The community had its own detachment of the RCMP – the Royal Canadian Mounted Police – and the officers there would have known everyone in town.

What’s more, places like Tumbler Ridge are basically self-policing. I grew up in small-town Canada, and I can tell you that a trip down ‘Main Street’ involves a chat, a wave and a friendly interaction with all.

Canada school shooting: What we know

In essence, your business is the community’s business, and that makes the sort of interventions that work to prevent such tragedies more likely.

The authorities say they have identified the shooter, who was described in a police alert as “a female wearing a dress with brown hair”.

The shooter’s body is one of eight that have been recovered from the corridors and classrooms of the Tumbler Ridge High School.

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Our international correspondent John Sparks has more analysis on the shooting

The RCMP chief said he would not release any further details “for privacy reasons” – but the fact is, the residents of Tumbler Ridge will probably know who the shooter was.

Their grief in the face of this catastrophic loss, will be accompanied by the desperate need for an explanation, an answer to the question why.

Many residents may feel a sense of responsibility.

It is on these fundamental questions that the local RCMP chief produced a remarkably frank and honest assessment.

“I think we will struggle to determine the ‘why’,” said Superintendent Ken Floyd, “but we will try our best to determine what transpired.”

The Prince of Wales has visited a nature reserve on the final day of his first tour of Saudi Arabia to learn about a programme reintroducing endangered species.

The future king toured the Sharaan Nature Reserve in the east of the country to hear about ongoing conservation initiatives aimed at protecting and reintroducing native species such as gazelles and the Arabian oryx.

He was also told about a flagship programme to bring back the critically endangered Arabian leopard.

The prince planted an acacia tree at the reserve as he was given details about ongoing efforts to protect its natural wildlife and landscape.

William is also spending part of the day visiting the old town of AlUla, which features more than 900 mud‑brick houses and a historic citadel.

The town has a network of narrow alleyways that formed a thriving settlement on the ancient incense road, the trade route that carried spices, textiles and aromatics across Arabia for centuries.

The prince is also meeting local farmers during a tour of AlUla’s Oasis and EcoGardening farm.

The farmers were giving details to the prince about their belief in sustainable farming and on efforts to preserve their region’s agricultural history.

The trip has been overshadowed by the allegations surrounding Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Andrew denies any wrongdoing in relation to Epstein.

The Prince and Princess of Wales attempted to make their position clear on the scandal on Monday when they issued their first public statement about it.

A Kensington Palace spokesperson said they were “deeply concerned by the continued revelations”, and “their thoughts remain focused on the victims”.