Sir Keir has repeated his long-standing condemnation of Iran and, in particular, its retaliatory actions this weekend against Israel and several Gulf nations which host US military bases. He was careful to emphasise that the British warplanes airborne in the region are there in a defensive capacity, within international law – in other words offering protection for allies who are facing attacks from Iran.
Emergency crews raced to an area in Cheadle Hulme after reports of ‘suspicious items’ being found. It’s thought the discovery was made at a flat at the Fabrick Apartments on Warren Road.
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Police had been called to the scene on Friday (April 10) and a number of emergency services vehicles were in attendance. One witness claimed hazardous materials teams were also at the scene.
It was later found that items uncovered were consistent with suspected drug production. The M.E.N understands the items posed no threat or risk to nearby residents and that it was for the production of steroids.
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No arrests have been made in connection with the discovery. Investigations remain ongoing, GMP confirmed.
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A force spokesperson said: “Officers were called to a property on Warren Road, hulme>Cheadle Hulme following a report of suspicious items found.
“Emergency services attended and found items consist with suspected drug production. No arrests have made and enquiries are ongoing.”
Bath came from 21 points down to beat Prem leaders Northampton and reach the semi-finals of the Champions Cup in a breathtaking clash at the Rec.
Northampton were in sensational attacking form from the off, scoring five tries in the opening half hour as the top two sides in England delivered an amazing first 40 minutes.
But Bath were not knocked out and scored four of their own before half-time as the sides shared 61 points before the break.
The hosts’ strength in depth from the bench proved the difference in the second period as Northampton could only manage two penalties.
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And a late yellow card under heavy pressure for Saints talisman Henry Pollock proved decisive as replacement Ted Hill drove over to give Bath their first lead with five minutes left.
They held on to seal a famous win and set up a huge match against either Bordeaux Begles or Toulouse in the last four.
Exhilarating, high octane, entertaining – this was the modern brand of rugby which made the Six Nations so captivating in an 80-minute nutshell.
Whether Bath can beat the French giants playing such rugby remains to be seen but the English duo served up a first 40 minutes in particular which will live long in the memory.
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Pollock was involved – as he so often is – right from the start, driving over to give Saints the lead after a very early yellow card for Bath number eight Miles Reid.
Fraser Dingwall capitalised on a superb Saints attack to score the second try within six minutes before Tom Dunn barrelled over to reduce the deficit just moments later.
Northampton looked like scoring in every attack and Tom Lockett and Josh Kemeny stunned the home crowd with quick tries to put last year’s beaten finalists 28-7 up.
Finn Russell kicked through and dived on the ball to score for Bath, but when wing Ollie Sleightholme marked his 100th Northampton appearance with a fifth try in the 29th minute it looked like Saints would be reaching a third straight semi-final.
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The pace of Henry Arundell and the power of Francois van Wyk brought two quick Bath tries before the half-time whistle though and the momentum had swung the way of the hosts.
Kepu Tuipulotu mauled over to make it a five-point game and while Fin Smith’s boot kept the visitors just about ahead, a wave of pressure made a Bath score feel inevitable.
Pollock ignored the cries of referee Andrew Brace to release a tackle and paid the price with another yellow card, and moments later Hill drove over to level the scores.
Russell had the final word with his boot as the home crowd celebrated a sumptuous comeback and a first appearance in the last four in 20 long years.
The astronauts are set to splash down off the coast of San Diego, California
Moon joy! Nasa releases best moments from Artemis II’s history-making trip
7:33 pm EDT/12:33 am BST: Orion’s crew module will separate from the service module, exposing its heat shield for the spacecraft’s return through Earth’s atmosphere, where it will encounter temperatures of about 3,000 degrees.
7:37 pm EDT/12:37 am BST: Following separation, Orion will perform an 18-second crew module raise burn beginning to set the proper entry angle and align the heat shield for atmospheric interface.
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7:53 pm EDT/12:53 am BST: Orion will be 400,000 feet above Earth’s surface while traveling nearly 35 times the speed of sound, and the crew is expected to experience up to 3.9 Gs in the planned entry profile. This moment marks the spacecraft’s first contact with the upper atmosphere and the start of a planned six-minute communications blackout as plasma builds around the capsule.
8:03 pm EDT/1:03 am BST: Around 22,000 feet in altitude, the drogue parachutes will deploy, slowing and stabilizing the capsule as Orion nears splashdown.
8:04 pm EDT/1:04 am BST: At around 6,000 feet, the drogues will release, and the three main parachutes will deploy, reducing Orion’s speed to less than 136 mph.
8:07 pm EDT/1:07 am BST: Slowing to 20 mph, Orion will splash down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego, completing the Artemis II crew’s return to Earth and a 694,481-mile journey.
The president singled out two former popular Fox News evening-programme hosts, Tucker Carlson and Megyn Kelly, and right-wing conspiracy theorists Alex Jones and Candace Owens, for criticism. He ticked through each, using derisive language to highlight what he viewed as their past failings and deficiencies.
The forecaster added that strong gale can also be expected in coastal areas on Sunday.
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This is the Met Office’s weather outlook for the weekend across Northern Ireland:
Saturday:
A dry morning with sunny spells. Becoming cloudier in the afternoon with outbreaks of rain which may be heavy at times. Winds strong at times, especially near the coast. Maximum temperature 10 °C.
Outlook for Sunday to Tuesday:
Heavy outbreaks of rain on Sunday. Sunny spells on Monday with scattered showers. Dry with sunny spells Tuesday. Winds will be strong with risk of gales Sunday, then becoming light.
The collision happened shortly after 9pm on Wednesday, March 8 and involved a blue Yamaha off-road motorbike that collided with a car park barrier.
The rider was pronounced dead at the scene.
A woman in her 30s, who was a passenger on the bike, sustained minor injuries and was taken to hospital but has since been discharged.
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Sergeant Andrew Swindlehurst, from the Lancashire Roads Policing Unit, said: “A man has very sadly died following this collision, and our thoughts remain with him and his loved ones at this difficult time.
“We are in the early stages of our investigation, and I am appealing directly to you, the public, for your assistance.
“If you witnessed this collision, have any CCTV, dashcam or doorbell footage, or have any information that could assist us, please do get in touch with us.”
Police are also seeking footage from nearby residential areas that may show the motorbike being ridden prior to the collision.
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Anyone with information is asked to call 101 quoting log 1561 of April 8 or email the Serious Collision Investigation Unit at SCIU@lancashire.police.uk.
Specially trained officers are supporting the man’s family.
His attorney, Terrel Butler, described him as “completely heartbroken and deeply distressed” in a statement shared Friday with The Independent.
“His primary concern and source of intense frustration is his inability to continue the search for his wife of 25 years. The trauma of her disappearance, coupled with his current detention as a suspect, has left him in an extremely fragile state,” he said.
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Hooker, who has not been charged, “unequivocally denies any wrongdoing,” according to Butler.
Brian Hooker told police his wife, Lynette Hooker, ’fell overboard’ (Facebook/Lynette Hooker)
Hooker is also suffering from a knee injury, which he sustained after falling overboard while police were searching his boat on the night of his arrest, according to his attorney.
“Under conditions of heavy rain and strong-force winds, he was taken by boat to his boat, the Soulmate for a police search. Despite the choppy and dangerous sea conditions, he was kept in handcuffs,” Butler said.
“While attempting to move sideways across the wet, unstable flooring of the boat to maintain his balance—with a bundle of clothes in his restricted hands—he lost his footing and fell overboard. He was submerged in the cold water and took in a significant amount of seawater before his life jacket brought him to the surface. He had to be rescued from the water by the police,” he added.
Hooker is expected to receive treatment at Rand Memorial Hospital.
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The Independent has contacted the Royal Bahamas Police Force for comment.
Hooker initially told investigators his wife was carried away by “strong currents” after she “fell overboard” while they were on a boat together, the Royal Bahamas Police Force said Sunday.
“According to preliminary information, a male complainant reported that he and his wife, both U.S. nationals, departed Hope Town around 7:30 p.m. aboard an 8-foot hard-bottom dinghy enroute to Elbow Cay,” the agency said in a statement.
Lynette Hooker (Facebook/Lynette Hooker)
“During the journey, his wife reportedly fell overboard with the boat keys, causing the vessel’s engine to shut off. Strong currents subsequently carried her away, and he lost sight of her. He then paddled the vessel to shore,” the statement continued.
The agency announced Hooker’s arrest late Wednesday. Advardo Dames, the assistant commissioner of the Royal Bahamas Police, said he was “taken into custody as a suspect,” according to Reuters. The U.S. Coast Guard has also opened a criminal investigation into the incident.
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Origin Deleveaux, a Royal Bahamas Defense Force commander, told NBC News crews are still searching for Lynette Hooker as of Friday.
Lynette Hooker’s daughter, Karli Aylesworth, has spoken out about the case in interviews with several media outlets. Aylesworth told NBC News she was unlikely to “just fall” off the boat, and explained the couple has a “history of not getting along, especially when they drink.”
During a Fox News interview, she also described her mother as a “very fit person” who was unlikely to lose her balance.
“I do believe something might have happened to her,” Aylesworth told the network. “There’s history of them choking her out and threatening to throw her overboard. So the fact that this is actually happening makes me believe there’s more to the story.”
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Butler said his client denies Aylesworth’s claims.
“Mr. Hooker categorically and unequivocally denies any wrongdoing and in particular the allegations recently made by Karli Aylesworth. He has been cooperating with the relevant authorities as part of an ongoing investigation,” he said Thursday.
Sinitta has hit back at ITV viewers after facing backlash over her comments to Gemma Collins about her Chicago casting, saying parts of their conversation were edited out
Karen Price Assistant Editor of Screen Time and Yasmin Vince
21:29, 10 Apr 2026Updated 21:29, 10 Apr 2026
Sinitta has hit back at I’m A Celebrity viewers following their response to her on-screen clash with Gemma Collins. Thursday’s episode saw friction emerge between the pair, after Sinitta revealed to the TOWIE star that she had considered the announcement of Gemma succeeding her as Mama Morton in Chicago to be a ‘joke’.
Gemma had been set to portray the prison warden in 2022 but withdrew due to a “terrible injury”. During I’m A Celeb, Sinitta said: “We were like ‘is this like a joke announcement?’” before adding: “I thought you were like Zsa Zsa Gabor… You don’t do anything, but you make a great entrance! You make everybody laugh, but I didn’t know you could actually sing and dance.”
Gemma appeared visibly taken aback by the remark, responding: “I don’t think you’d get casted as Mama Morton in Chicago if you didn’t pass the audition.” She subsequently told producers: “I am not a joke. I was taken aback. It was just a bit weird.”
In a social media post, she said: “Goodness! I know none of you have ever heard of me before because you are young, if you did you would know I’m a very kind person who would never be horrible to Gemma Collins or anyone else.
“We actually bonded over discussing Chicago, I didn’t call her a joke, I said I thought the announcement was a joke at the time as I had not been aware that she sang and danced etc.
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“There was lots of gossip about it in Theatreland when she didn’t do the show. Me and Brenda Edwards had to step in and play the role again,” reports the Mirror.
She went on to claim that ITV producers had “edited out” portions of their exchange. “I had nothing else in common with Gemma apart from Chicago so it was a natural thing to talk to her about and they edited out us speaking amicably about the director and her calling us ‘2 Mama Morton’s’.
“You are all being genuinely nasty here, because you love her, I get it. But I gave her a chance to tell her side from the horses mouth! Think about it…. That is not rude, it’s called conversations. Why do people fear open conversations?
“Maybe I’m too old school, but then I AM OLD and been working since the 80’s, I had a successful TV, theatre and film career before I even met Simon Cowell.”
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Sinitta also took to her Instagram account to offer Gemma a public apology. Beneath a photograph of Kermit the Frog sipping Lipton tea, she wrote: “I am truly sorry that I hurt your feelings when I said I initially thought your Chicago announcement was a joke.
“I also apologised at the time of admitting it to you. People thought it was a joke when I was first announced too due to my tiny size and usually Pop vocals. I’m sad you were upset , prove everyone wrong, it feels good! Btw I love Zsa Zsa Gabor, that was a compliment.”
Greater Manchester Police descended on the sleepy Dicconson Lane in the early hours of Friday (April 10) morning, in an incident Assistant Chief Constable Steph Parker described as ‘challenging’.
Residents were not allowed to leave their homes as around 17 police vehicles – including armed police – took over the street.
The terraced houses at the Wigan-end of Dicconson Lane (Image: Dan Dougherty)
Assistant Chief Constable Steph Parker said: “Following this challenging incident, I can confirm the individual has been detained by our officers, and those involved have been safely secured and protected.
“I want to commend the bravery and professionalism of our officers and thank the public for their patience and cooperation while we worked to bring this situation to a safe conclusion.”
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Dicconson Lane connects Westhoughton and Blackrod to Aspull and Wigan.
The terraced houses at Dicconson Lane (Image: Dan Dougherty)
The incident occurred at a row of terraced houses near the Wigan end of Dicconson Lane, near Aspull.
The incident started around 2am after police were called by concerned residents who had heard a disturbance.
Police arrived and engaged in ‘prolonged negotiations’ with the subject before making an arrest.
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Dicconson Lane with the police car noticeable to the right (Image: Dan Dougherty)
Residents were not allowed to leave their houses during the incident, which lasted around 5 hours between 2am and 7am.
One resident – who did not want to be named – said: “We heard all the noise from about 3.30am onwards.
“There were 17 police vehicles on the road and men with guns.
Dicconson Lane (Image: Dan Dougherty)
“It was over in one of the terraced houses.
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“A man got taken out and arrested, then what looked like a mother and children came out afterwards and talked to the police. It looked like they were negotiating with them.
“I didn’t know if it was her son and daughter, but they were definitely younger.”
A police car with two officers inside remained parked outside the house in question for much of Friday.
Dicconson Lane facing back towards Bolton (Image: Dan Dougherty)
The suspect was arrested on suspicion of false imprisonment and remains in custody for questioning.
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Nobody was harmed during the incident, and neither were any of the people in the neighbouring houses.
Police have been made aware of a video depicting the incident, which has been circling on various local social media channels.
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