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Ukraine has shown what it can do to survive – this is what it needs to win

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Ukraine has shown what it can do to survive - this is what it needs to win

I could hear the takeoff detonation being filmed live and broadcast around the world in my earpiece along with my TV colleague’s on the ground report of the Russian attack – on the morning Vladimir Putin ordered a full scale invasion of Ukraine.

Standing in the pre-dawn freeze on a terrace overlooking Kharkiv’s Freedom Square four years ago, it took less a minute before I was reporting on those rockets when they exploded on impact.

The skyline bulged orange, then came the concussive thump, then the cracks of the rockets exploding. They’d been fired from inside Russia into Ukraine’s second biggest city.

A wounded woman is seen as airstrike damages an apartment complex outside of Kharkiv, Ukraine on February 24, 2022

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A wounded woman is seen as airstrike damages an apartment complex outside of Kharkiv, Ukraine on February 24, 2022 (Anadolu/Getty)

The BM-30 Smerch were among the worst. They scattered cluster bombs, spattering the city with deadly golden balls. BM-212 Grads, the old-fashioned Stalin’s Organ multiple rocket launchers, were terrifying too.

They screeched from the sky in swarms like spears upon residential areas, killing and burning ahead of advancing Russian infantry.

Over the next couple of days, Russian troops stormed north from Crimea towards Kherson and soon beyond. They blasted out of Donetsk, and turned up on the streets of Kharkiv.

I could hear the sounds of firefights, machine guns screaming like chainsaws and the crash of rocket propelled grenades. The assumption was that the Russians would capture this city, and the capital, in a few days.

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That assumption got a lot of Russians killed.

We heard of a reconnaissance group that had wandered closer to Freedom Square and been ambushed by local police with RPGs and rifles. A Russian soldier fell from his vehicle on fire. A group of babushkas (grannies), almost certainly Russian speakers, rushed up to the burning man.

They beat him to death with broom sticks.

That was a metaphor for Ukraine’s defence of itself.

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Black smoke rises from a military airport in Chuguyev near Kharkiv on February 24, 2022. - Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a military operation in Ukraine today with explosions heard soon after across the country and its foreign minister warning a

Black smoke rises from a military airport in Chuguyev near Kharkiv on February 24, 2022. – Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a military operation in Ukraine today with explosions heard soon after across the country and its foreign minister warning a “full-scale invasion” was underway (AFP/Getty)

First invaded by Putin in 2014, Crimea was captured. Back then, Ukraine’s allies reneged on security guarantees to the young democracy and many, like the UK and the US, banned Kyiv from buying lethal weapons.

British and US intelligence knew that the Kremlin’s ambitions were for the conquest of all of Ukraine in 2022. They warned Volodymyr Zelensky that the Russians were coming in 2022. He didn’t seem to listen and his armed forces were very relaxed on the border just north of Kharkiv.

“I don’t see many preparations to defend against an invasion,” I said to a colonel I met two days before the Russians launched into Ukraine.

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“You’re not supposed to,” he replied. But there were no signs of defences being raised at all. Because there were none.

Ukraine was sent reeling. But its population recovered their country’s balance.

Some military units scrambled to put up fights that western advisers thought incredible – such as the punishing defence of Hostomel air base against a mass airborne attacks by paratroops and Spetznatz forces just north west of Kyiv.

View shows damaged private houses at a site of a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the town of Hostomel, Kyiv region, Ukraine March 19, 2025

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View shows damaged private houses at a site of a Russian drone strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in the town of Hostomel, Kyiv region, Ukraine March 19, 2025 (REUTERS)

Elsewhere, young veterans from the earlier years of combat reformed themselves into small teams in pick-up trucks, organised their own families inside occupied territory to spy on the invaders, and took on Russia’s mass columns of armour and infantry.

Around the world, footage of the ambushes on these columns emerged and gave small signs that tiny amounts of British and American military aid were having staggering effects. American Javelin and British NLAW anti-tank missiles slammed into armoured columns and crippled their advance.

Kharkiv, Sumy, and Kyiv were saved by swashbuckling units in Second World War SAS-style raids, which had far more strategic significance than any operations carried out by Britain’s nascent special forces in their early years.

In the south, villages organised their own counter attacks and Ukraine harnessed the horrors of Moscow’s mass starvation of their people in the early 1930s into an “over my dead body” rage that held them together.

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By the summer of 2022, the national forces had regrouped, launched a counter offensive, and recovered vast tracts of land in lightning operations.

Map of key cities in Ukraine

Map of key cities in Ukraine (Getty/iStock)

Since then Ukraine has settled into a near stalemate of grinding horror – followed by the nerve-jangling new dimensions of drone conflict in which both sides have been reinventing the modern form of war.

Throughout all this, Ukraine has been defending Europe’s eastern flank against Russia on the ground.

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In the political realm, though, Ukrainians have been dying in large numbers in a war to stop the idea that “might is right” dead in its tank tracks.

No one here had any idea that Donald Trump would so enthusiastically support the Darwinian doctrine of the Kremlin. But he has. He likes to back a winner. He appears to have chosen one.

Without question, Trump’s administration caused more deaths in Ukraine by ending American military aid for the country and set back its ability to defend itself than if he had continued to support Kyiv.

Meanwhile the rest of the west has been slow to comprehend the strategic danger Putin’s land grab poses – and the political horror that the Putin-Trump doctrine can lead the world towards.

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First, Ukraine’s allies were slow to agree to send any kind of weapons, but when the anti-tank missiles arrived they were put to good an immediate use.

A resident cleans an area at the site of the Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, near the city of Chornomorsk, Odesa region, Ukraine February 23, 2026

A resident cleans an area at the site of the Russian drone strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, near the city of Chornomorsk, Odesa region, Ukraine February 23, 2026 (Reuters)

Men like “Grumpty” a former software engineer taught himself how to drive a Russian T-82 tank from looking at Youtube videos. Along with “Achilles”, who was killed in the summer of 2022, and a small band of men, Grumpty destroyed 14 Russian armoured personnel carriers and tanks in one night not far from Sumy.

The Russians were found by the wife of one of the team, Achilles spotted the targets and called in coordinates to Grumpty who fired over and over again on the invaders.

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This kind of act captured the public imagination. But did not deliver Ukraine the weapons it needed to win – barely enough to survive.

While Russia pounded Kyiv’s forces with hundreds of artillery pieces, it took months for small donations of ancient guns to come from the democratic west.

Long range rockets were restricted in how they could be used.

In Bakhmut, Ukrainians and foreign volunteers fought waves of Russian prisoners and conscripts forced into “meat attacks”. One American volunteer, Kevin, described with disgust how, for a week, he reckoned he killed “20-40 a day”.

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But Russia hit Ukrainians with bombs from aircraft and long range missiles fired from Russian soil that were out of bounds to Ukrainians using any foreign equipment.

Forced to adapt or die, Ukraine is now the world leader in drone warfare and controls the Black Sea without having a navy made up of old-fashioned ships and sailors.

(Ukrainian servicemen from the 24th brigade operate an FPV drone flying towards Russian positions in the Donetsk region, on June 10, 2024, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine)

With losses at around 1.2 million casualties, Putin’s war has been a disaster for Moscow. And Nato is now bigger as Finland and Sweden have joined the alliance.

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Europe has covered the loss of America’s military support with €250 billion pledged compared to the US total spent of $115 billion. Much of this money goes on air defences.

Putin has switched his strategy to hitting civilians, blasting Ukraine’s energy systems and trying to break the will of its people.

Outside Ukraine he has managed to shape much of the debate over diplomacy – creating a narrative that Ukraine cannot win, should sue for peace, and give up at least 20 per cent of its territory.

Travelling from Nikopol to to Kharkiv through the fortress belt now demanded by Russia in return for thinking about a ceasefire, it is clear that most Ukrainians now want peace.

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Ukrainian soldiers fire on Russian positions along the front line in the Donetsk region of Ukraine on Monday, June 24, 2024

Ukrainian soldiers fire on Russian positions along the front line in the Donetsk region of Ukraine on Monday, June 24, 2024 (AP)

But not one of them said that Ukraine’s security is worth the trade for peace.

Zelensky, and his European allies, insist that Ukraine needs security guarantees to ensure that Russia never attacks again, never returns to Putin’s public intention to re-colonise the country.

They claim that the only way to do that is to get America to be Ukraine’s protector.

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But there’s no chance that the US could be relied on to keep watch over Ukraine, let alone send troops to fight if it got reinvaded.

That has to be the job of Ukraine’s European neighbours and wider allies in the West. Ukraine has shown what it can do with very little. Imagine what it could do with a little more help from its friends.

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PSNI issue traffic warning due to planned parade in Lisburn city centre

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Belfast Live

It is expected to finish at approximately 11pm

The PSNI has issued traffic and travel advice for those travelling through Lisburn city centre on Saturday evening.

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Road users and members of the public are advised of potential traffic disruption until 11pm on April 11 due to a planned parade.

A PSNI spokesperson said: “The outward parade is expected to leave at 6.45pm from Rathvarna Drive and will then take the following route: Ballymacash Road, Prince William Road, Ballymacash Road, Antrim Road, Antrim Street, Bow Street, Market Square (with a short stop) and Railway Street/Wallace Avenue.

READ MORE: Northern Ireland weather outlook for the weekend aheadREAD MORE: Ambulance service warns protesters not to ‘impede’ emergency vehicles during NI fuel demonstrations

“The return parade is expected to leave Wallace Avenue at 8pm and will take the following route: Railway Street, Market Square, Smithfield, Market Place, Chapel Hill, Longstone Roundabout, Chapel Hill, Bow Street, Market Square, Railway Street and Wallace Avenue.

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“It is expected to finish at approximately 11pm. Police officers will be present to manage traffic and public safety throughout the parade.

“To avoid potential delays, please seek an alternative route for your journey where possible during these times.”

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

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Sunderland shop refused alcohol license as owner absent from hearing

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Sunderland shop refused alcohol license as owner absent from hearing

Sunderland City Council’s licensing sub-committee met on Thursday to discuss the application for 2 Eden Terrace, a property previously used as food store Haat Bazar Ltd.

Applicant Lojan Ramesh wanted permission for a planned new convenience store at the site to be able to sell booze between 8am-11pm.

Information from the applicant in council reports said “alcohol is not the intended focus of the business” and that alcohol sales would have a “limited impact on the area.”

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The application went before the council’s licensing sub-committee on April 9 after dozens of public objections were submitted, raising concerns about antisocial behaviour near the site, parking, littering and fly-tipping.

Initial proposals sought permission to sell alcohol for longer hours, but this was altered to 8am-11pm, seven days a week, following talks with Northumbria Police and the council.

Thursday’s City Hall meeting to decide the application was attended by Barnes ward councillors Antony Mullen and Fiona Tobin.

As there was no representation from the applicant, the licensing sub-committee were told they had several options in the circumstances.

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These included either refusing the application, adjourning a decision, or only hearing evidence from council licensing officers and objectors before making a decision. 

A legal adviser for the committee said there were concerns about the third option in terms of conducting a “fair hearing”, and it was noted that the refusal option would allow the applicant the right of appeal, or the chance to resubmit the application.

A committee report also noted the matter had been adjourned before at a separate meeting earlier this year, with a decision “postponed” because the applicant was unable to attend due to “ill health.”

Following deliberations, the licensing sub-committee agreed to refuse the application “on the basis of the absence of the applicant”.

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Councillor Michael Hartnack, presenting the committee’s decision, said this was “a consequence of their failure to attend or give reasons for their failure to attend but also to give the opportunity to present their application at some point in the future”.

It was noted that if the applicant wanted to reapply for the alcohol licence, the licensing process would start again and public objections would need to be resubmitted.

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The best places to live in Cambridgeshire outside Cambridge as voted by you

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Cambridgeshire Live

Here are the three best places to live outside Cambridge

Cambridge was recently named as one of the best places to live in the UK by the Sunday Times. While Cambridge is a beautiful city to live in thanks to its many restaurants on offer and independent shops to explore, there are plenty of other areas in the county that could battle for the title of best place to live.

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Whether you are looking for a smaller city to call home or a village surrounded by the countryside, Cambridgeshire has options for whatever you need. Outside Cambridge, there are so many places to see with cafés to relax in, outdoor spots to enjoy, great schools for kids, and activities to get involved in.

CambridgeshireLive asked our readers to share where they think is the best place to live in the county aside from Cambridge. These three places came out on top as the best places to live outside Cambridge.

3. St Ives

Unlike its coastal counterpart, St Ives in Cambridgeshire is not next to the sea but many people still love living there. People who live in the town or are just visiting love the historic centre and the beautiful views of the River Great Ouse you can enjoy.

St Ives also has an impressive range of restaurants including the Teller’s Table and the Whisky Café with a new Sushi and Salad location coming in June. If you want to live in St Ives, the average house price in the area is £319,989, according to Rightmove.

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2. Ely

In second place is the city of Ely. The city is steeped in as much history as Cambridge, as the foundations of the area date back to 673. It was once the home of Oliver Cromwell between 1636 to 1646 after he inherited St Mary’s vicarage.

Ely has plenty of things to see and do such as taking a trip to the market, where you can find a range of fresh produce and homemade gifts, and visiting the historic Ely Cathedral. Rightmove says houses in the city cost an average of £382,047.

1. Waterbeach

In the top spot is a village not too far away from Cambridge. Waterbeach is an easy 30-minute drive or nine-minute train ride away from the city, offering people a quieter place to live while still being close to the action in Cambridge.

The village has a few different pubs including the Bridge, which is known for its riverside views and Sunday roasts, and Boswell Bakery where you can pick up a range of pastries and rolls. Properties in Waterbeach are slightly more expensive at an average cost of £451,447.

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Suspect named as man fights for his life following Range Rover crash

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Manchester Evening News

A man has appeared in court charged with causing serious injury by dangerous driving and driving whilst disqualified

A man has been charged following a Range Rover crash. The incident happened on Market Street in Stoneclough at around 4.50am on March 28.

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A Range Rover hit a man, before ploughing into a house, police said. The pedestrian, a 47-year-old man, was rushed to hospital from the scene with ‘severe injuries’. He remains in a critical condition.

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Nicholas Partington, 42, of Barrett Court, Bury, has since been charged with causing serious injury by dangerous driving; and driving whilst disqualified, a Greater Manchester Police spokesperson said in an update issued today (April 11).

He appeared at Manchester and Magistrates’ Court on April 10. He has been remanded into custody to appear in court again later this year.

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Sierra Leone women defy norms as rickshaw drivers

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Sierra Leone women defy norms as rickshaw drivers

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone (AP) — As the late afternoon sun settles over Freetown’s main transit park, Hawa Mansaray pulls up her motorized three-wheeled vehicle and steps away for a break and to pray.

Mansaray is one of a small but growing number of women entering a male-dominated commercial transport sector in Sierra Leone’s capital, Freetown. The auto-rickshaws, known locally as kekeh, are an essential means of transport and until recently were almost exclusively driven by men.

“I have done different jobs since I came to Freetown but kekeh has done more for me,” said the 27-year-old single mother of one.

The rickshaws have become increasingly popular in Sierra Leone, filling the gaps in a strained public transport system as the West African country struggles to recover from its 1991-2002 civil war.

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Freetown’s population has grown to more than 1.5 million, according to city estimates — roughly three times the size it was when much of its infrastructure was planned and built. Public transport systems have struggled to keep up, creating demand for commercial motorcycles and auto-rickshaws.

Although the rickshaws are usually rickety, run at minimal speed, and are considered less safe due to the maximum exposure that comes with how they’re built, commuters still prefer them because they’re easily accessible and offer maximum ventilation and relative comfort.

As more people turn to the rickshaws to earn a living, it’s also become a symbol of what women are capable of.

In the city, however, women are still “seen as people not adequate to do certain types of jobs,” said Marfoh Mariama Samai, a women’s rights advocate with Plan International Sierra Leone.

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“So when a young woman ventures into a certain type of job, they are stigmatized,” she says of the female drivers.

A ticket to financial independence for many

Sierra Leone has one of the lowest levels of access to and availability of financial services in Africa, making it harder for groups such as women and rural residents to recover from economic shocks.

As a result, many women are confined to petty trading that offers little stability and makes them rely heavily on their husbands, said Samai.

“When the man gives you the money, he makes all the decisions,” she said of the patriarchal norms still in place in parts of Sierra Leone. “More young women should be encouraged to get into the transport sector.”

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Mansaray knows the challenges of financial dependence firsthand. Originally from Kailahun District, where Sierra Leone’s civil war began, she was born at the height of the conflict, and had to drop out of school at the primary level.

As an adult, she turned to running small businesses to make ends meet for herself and her baby, after separating from her husband.

Learning to drive rickshaws for a living was initially not in her plans, but she took interest in it and paid to be trained after seeing women like her excelling in the business.

Mansaray now works under a company that requires her to make daily returns of 350 leones ($14), earning an average daily wage of 175 leones ($7), enough to cater to her family and considered high income for many in the country.

“I will advise my fellow women who aren’t employed to come into the game,” she adds.

Alimatu Kamara, another female rickshaw driver, can relate to Mansaray’s experience. She had been unemployed for years before deciding to venture into the business.

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It’s been a great ride ever since, Kamara said, but added that a major challenge for her remains aggressive behavior from male riders, a common complaint among female drivers alongside safety concerns at night.

“Some women can panic,” she said. “It takes mind and determination to continue.”

Despite the difficulties, she plans to expand and purchase more rickshaws.

“We can’t just sit, waiting for office jobs. With jobs like kekeh, you can even make more money,” Kamara said.

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‘Whatever men can do, women can do better’

The Sierra Leone Kekeh Riders Union has more than 1,000 registered members in western Freetown, but only about 20 are women, a number the union’s district chairman, Mustapha Thoronka, said has improved.

Thoronka said he supports efforts to train and assist female drivers, including advocating for loans for them.

“Whatever men can do, women can do better,” Thoronka said, hoping that through the business “they can support themselves and their families without relying on men.”

Thoronka is urging the government to provide more support, noting that it’s capital intensive, making it more difficult for women to get involved.

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Mariama Barrie, a commuter, said she prefers female drivers.

“They are more careful than the men,” she said. For her, the growing presence of women in the kekeh sector sends a message particularly “to women who sit and wait to be spoon fed.”

“If you know how to ride, take kekeh … rather than sitting and waiting for handouts,” she said.

——

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For more on Africa and development: https://apnews.com/hub/africa-pulse

The Associated Press receives financial support for global health and development coverage in Africa from the Gates Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

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Saturday Kitchen’s Matt Tebbutt suffers painful injury just moments before going live

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Daily Mirror

Saturday Kitchen was back on screens for another episode but, before the show went live, host Matt Tebbutt suffered an unfortunate accident.

Matt Tebbutt has revealed he suffered a painful injury just moments before he appeared on Saturday Kitchen.

The beloved BBC show returned to screens on Saturday morning (April 11) with Matt back at the helm. Joining Matt on the programme were chefs John Chantarasak, Niklas Ekstedt and Thomasina Miers.

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Chart-topping singer Jack Savoretti also made an appearance – in which viewers had to vote on whether he would have his version of food heaven or food hell. Drinks expert Helen McGinn was on hand too, to discuss some booze.

However, just minutes in and Matt revealed things took a worrying turn moments before the show went live, after he suffered a painful injury.

Talking to Helen, Matt revealed: “So I burnt my lips in rehearsal. Does it look like I’ve got fillers?” Helen replied: “It doesn’t look bad at the moment,” to which Matt shared: “I’ve got a blister there. It only hurts when I talk.”

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Helen then said: “It’s going to hurt later.” Matt quipped: “Shall I not talk?” Giggling, Helen added: “I don’t know if you can get away with that!” Trying not to move his sore lips, Matt said: “Tell us about the wine,” as Helen laughed and replied: “I’ll give you a straw later.”

Matt quipped back: “I’ll dribble it all out, like you’ve been at the dentist.” Touching his sore lip Matt continued: “That’s what I feel like.”

It comes after Matt returned to Saturday Kitchen last month after spending some time in Australia. Earlier in March, audiences saw The One Show’s Alex Jones take the presenter’s chair as she was accompanied by Mike Reid, Adejoké Bakare, Bryn Williams and special guest Phil Wang.

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While Matt appeared on the programme the previous week, the BBC star confirmed it was a pre-recorded episode as he posted updates from Australia with his Instagram followers.

Nevertheless, the 52-year-old presenter was back in charge once more in March as he paused to commend Alex for stepping in.

He remarked: “Before we go on with our usual nonsense, we should say how well Alex did last week. Well done, Alex Jones.”

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Saturday Kitchen airs every Saturday at 10am on BBC One.

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York Open Studios returns next week – what you need to know

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York Open Studios returns next week - what you need to know

Around 150 artists across York will open their doors to the public across the weekends of April 18-19 and April 25-26.

The annual not-for-profit event offers a chance to meet the artists, learn about their creative processes and purchase artwork. It involves artists living within a 10-mile radius of York.

Maps for the artists taking part in Open Studios can be found in libraries, shops and galleries across York in the weeks before the event.

Twenty-seven artists will be taking part in the event for the first time, including photographer Marcus Chapman, upcycle jewellers The Spoonery and painter Prachi Bhatnagar.

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Marcus Chapman who will take part in this year’s York Open Studios (Image: York Open Studios)

Michelle Hughes who will take part in this year’s York Open Studios (Image: Tom Jackson)

Other artists have regularly appeared at past Open Studios events, such as wire and paper sculptor Joanna Coupland, linocut printmaker Michelle Hughes and textile artist Jacqueline James.

Charmian Ottaway, York Open Studios’ committee member and a contemporary designer jeweller, said the event is a “unique chance to see the city with pops of creativity along the way”.

“As an artist myself, I just love to show visitors how I work and also hear what they might be looking for,” Charmian said.

“As artists, we are all very proud of what we produce and hearing visitors’ responses and find potential buyers can be really uplifting especially if you often work alone and don’t directly meet your buyers.”

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As The Press reported, this year’s Open Studios will not feature one of York’s best-known living artists, Mark Hearld, was said he was not selected for the 2026 event.

Mark Hearld who will not be taking part in this year’s York Open Studios (Image: Newsquest)

Mark, whose home in The Mount has been a popular venue at previous Open Studios, said he understood he was not selected because the description of his work, “Collages inspired by nature”, was too brief.

But Mark said the description perfectly described his work.

He added that in the past other leading York artists had faced an identical situation and it was time for the selection process to change.

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Mark also said artists not selected for Open Studios risked being banned from future events if they showed work in their homes during the same weekends, which he felt was too punitive.

“I am pro Open Studios; I like the spirit of it, but I am very, very frustrated,” he said.

Christine Storrs, chairperson of York Open Studios, said the organisation was open to feedback and suggestions. However, she confirmed there was a risk to non-selected artists staging their own event during the York Open Studios weekends.

She added that the event had taken the “difficult decision this year to cap the number of artists taking part to 150”, which followed “feedback in recent years from visitors and participating artists that the event was becoming too big”.

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“More than 650 artists have taken part over the years, and it would not be practical for our volunteer committee to administer an event on such a scale – nor would this be enjoyable for our visitors to navigate,” Christine said.

For more information about York Open Studios, visit yorkopenstudios.co.uk

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Three fire engines attend house fire in Leigh overnight

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Three fire engines attend house fire in Leigh overnight

Firefighters were called at around 12.15am last night by a neighbour who reported smoke and an alarm sound coming from a house on Mere Avenue, Leigh.

They arrived at the scene at 12.30am with three fire engines from Leigh, Wigan and Atherton.

Once they were inside the property, they found that the top floor was smoke-logged and that a fire had broken out in the back bedroom.

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Firefighters were on the scene for two hours.

No one was in the house at the time of the fire, the fire service has confirmed.

In light of the incident, a spokesperson for the fire service has stressed the importance of having working fire alarms in the home.

For more information on fire alarms and to check if you are eligible for a free Home Fire Safety Assessment, you can contact Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service online or on 0800 555 815. m

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Huge emergency response at Irlam Locks amid reports of ‘person in water’

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Manchester Evening News

A full search was carried out but no-one was found, police said

A huge emergency rescue response descended on Irlam Locks last night amid reports of a person in the water.

A large number of police, water rescue units and fire service vehicles were pictured on the scene off Cadishead Way just before midnight on Friday evening (April 10). A spokesperson for Greater Manchester Police confirmed the force was called over reports of a person in the water.

Crews carried out a full search of the area into the early hours of this morning. However, no-one was found and the search was stood down.

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In a statement, GMP said: “We were called to a report of a person in the water. Emergency services attended and carried out a full search, no one was found.”

A spokesperson for the Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS) said: “Just before 12am last night (Friday 10 April), two fire engines from Stretford and Irlam fire station, along with the Water Incident Unit from Eccles and Technical Response Unit from Ashton, attended an incident near Forebay Drive, Irlam.

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“Firefighters were in attendance for around an hour.”

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Man rushed to hospital with life-threatening injuries after being knocked down in Edinburgh

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Daily Record

Emergency services were called to Chesser Avenue in the capital after the alarm was raised at around 12.20am on Saturday.

A man has been rushed to hospital with life-threatening injuries after being knocked down in Edinburgh.

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Emergency services were called to Chesser Avenue in the capital after the alarm was raised at around 12.20am on Saturday, April 11. Officers from Police Scotland were responding to reports of a crash involving a blue MG HS and a 49-year-old male pedestrian.

Ambulance crews attended and he was taken to hospital having sustained life-threatening injuries. The 35-year-old female driver of the car was not injured.

A picture shared by Edinburgh Live showed the road closed off as officers launched an investigation at the scene.

A number of police cars could be seen in attendance with uniformed cops standing guard. Detectives are now appealing for information.

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Sergeant Fraser Mitchell said: “Our enquiries are ongoing to establish the full circumstances and I am appealing for anyone with information to get in touch.

“I would ask anyone who was in the area around the time of the collision to contact us, especially those who may have dash cam footage that could assist with our enquiries.

“Anyone with any information is asked to contact 101 quoting reference 0074 of April 11, 2026.”

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