WASHINGTON (AP) — After Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth cut nine Navy officers, including all the women, from a promotion list, several female officers say they see the unusual intervention as a sign that their careers now have a ceiling and worry for the future generation of female military leaders.

The Navy had selected 31 sailors to promote from the rank of captain to one-star admiral, but Hegseth recently intervened to strike nine people from the list, including three women and two Black men, according to a defense official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss information not permitted to be released publicly.

As a result, the Navy is not promoting a single woman to the one-star admiral rank this year even though women make up about one-quarter of all Navy officers and nearly one-third of the sea service’s midgrade ranks, according to military data from 2024.

The Associated Press spoke with eight female Navy officers of varying ranks and time in service after Hegseth’s cuts, which were reported earlier by The New York Times, became public. They spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear of retribution from their superiors.

The more junior officers said they saw the development as a sign that their careers would become politicized if they rose too far in the ranks, and some said they felt they now had a limit on how far they could be promoted. Some said it made them feel less valued within the military and wondered whether that wasn’t part of the intent.

The Pentagon has not offered any rationale on why the women, or any of the other six people, were removed from the promotion list.

The order from Phelan, who later abruptly departed his post in April, said the board should consider an officer’s performance, competence and character, among other traits, as part of those qualifications.

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It also said that given China’s prominence in the Trump administration’s National Defense Strategy, “special consideration shall be given to officers who have excelled in their knowledge of the political military affairs and U.S. strategic interests in the Indo-Pacific region, and operational contingency planning for Indo-Pacific war plans.”

Hegseth has long argued, without offering evidence, that women in the military benefit from preferential treatment and are not suited for combat roles.

“For too long, we’ve promoted too many uniformed leaders for the wrong reasons based on their race, based on gender quotas, based on historic so-called firsts,” Hegseth told hundreds of military leaders in September.

The approach, he asserted, made the Pentagon “less capable and less lethal.”

In addition to pulling the recent promotions of three women to admiral, Hegseth shortly after he took office fired Adm. Lisa Franchetti, the service’s top officer and the first woman to hold the job. He never explained his rationale.

Since then, he also has fired two other female three-star admirals without explanation.

Some of the officers who spoke to the AP said that while they were encouraging female sailors to stick with the Navy, they acknowledged that message is coming at a difficult time.

Kuzminski said the rhetoric and actions surrounding women in the military “affects individual service member decision-making and it also affects family unit decision-making,” including whether people make a career of the military.

Kuzminski said that following the monthslong hold on military promotions by Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., during the Biden administration, surveys showed that partisan politics spilling into the day-to-day lives of troops affected their decision-making.

One officer said this impact was not confined to women.

In conversations with other sailors in her unit, she said that male sailors were hesitant to deal with what appears to be a growing politicization of simply following the orders of previous administrations.

Emergency services were called to Manchester Road, near the Bolton retail estate heading towards the town centre, at around 7.10pm on June 5.

Greater Manchester Police, North West Ambulance Service and Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS) attended after the HGV rolled onto its side while turning onto Trinity Street.

Fire crews in attendance at the scene yesterday (Image: PHIL TAYLOR)

The incident led to the closure of Manchester Road inbound towards the town centre, with motorists urged to avoid the area and find alternative routes while emergency crews worked at the scene.

Firefighters used specialist equipment and oil absorbent pads to deal with a diesel spillage caused by the crash.

A spokesperson for GMFRS said: “At around 7.10pm this evening (Friday 5 June), two fire engines from Bolton Central station, the enhanced rescue unit from Leigh station and the environmental protection unit from Bury station attended an incident involving a lorry falling on its side while turning a corner on Manchester Road, Bolton.

“Crews arrived quickly and used oil absorbent pads and other specialist equipment to help clear the diesel spillage.

“Firefighters departed after roughly an hour in attendance.”

(Image: PHIL TAYLOR)

Witnesses at the scene reported a strong smell of diesel in the air as emergency services secured the area.

The lorry, which was carrying plasterboard, remained on its side for several hours while specialist recovery teams were brought in.

Witnesses said multiple heavy recovery vehicles were required due to the complexity of the operation.

The road was closed for several hours. (Image: PHIL TAYLOR)

One witness said: “One truck that can lift 75 tonnes is here. Another two trucks are on their way as it will be a complicated lift.”

Recovery work continued throughout the evening, with airbags placed beneath the trailer to assist in lifting the vehicle safely.

A lengthy recovery by Mansfield Group using heavy recovery vehicles. (Image: PHIL TAYLOR)

There has been no confirmation of any injuries and the cause of the collision has not been disclosed.

Manchester Road remained closed late into the evening while recovery teams worked to remove the overturned lorry.

The road is now open after recovery operations had been completed.

Here are all the real-life filming locations of the new Netflix film you could actually visit.

The Ted Lasso star’s latest Netflix romantic comedy makes use of numerous genuine locations that audiences could genuinely explore.

Office Romance arrived on the streaming service yesterday (June 5) and has already gained traction amongst viewers. It was co-written by and features comedian and actor Brett Goldstein, best recognised for his portrayal of Roy Kent in the Apple TV sitcom.

He now appears alongside pop icon Jennifer Lopez as the duo headline what has been billed as a risqué romantic comedy. The narrative centres on two career-obsessed individuals who encounter difficulties when emotions become involved.

Lopez portrays Jackie, a President and CEO of an airline who maintains strict control over her business, including an inflexible anti-fraternisation rule for all staff members. When an attractive new solicitor played by Goldstein joins her company, that rule faces serious challenges.

The production features sequences in upmarket corporate headquarters and an opulent holiday retreat amongst other settings. Filming utilised various authentic locations which enthusiasts might potentially explore should they choose, reports the Mirror.

So where was Office Romance filmed? Here’s what you need to know.

Where was Office Romance filmed?

According to Time Out, considerable filming occurred in and around New Jersey. Numerous outdoor sequences including the pair’s hot chocolate rendezvous and Jackie consulting with legal counsel at a food van were shot around Hoboken.

Production teams were observed along the downtown waterfront during filming in April 2025. The location sits on the Hudson River, directly across from Manhattan in New York City. Daniel’s flat was shot at the Cliffs Lofts building. The Air Cruz offices, meanwhile, were filmed in Kenilworth, New Jersey.

The structure supposedly housing the company is actually the Northeast Science and Technology Center, which in reality accommodates world-class laboratories. Jackie’s residence can also be found in New Jersey, particularly in Montclair.

The work retreat sequences took production crews to the Dominican Republic. The adjoining villas occupied by the pair are located at the Cayo Levantado Resort on Samana’s coastline. According to Trivago, rates begin at approximately £650 per night.

Visitors to the location will discover villas and suites offering personal butler services, all-inclusive meals, private beaches and activities including whale watching and wellness retreats.

Several sequences feature Daniel visiting his sister in custody. A genuine prison facility was utilised for these scenes, with the exterior of East Jersey State Prison serving as the backdrop. This prison previously featured as a filming location for the blockbuster heist thriller Ocean’s Eleven.

Office Romance is streaming on Netflix.

This could be the ex-pat World Cup.

There’s so many US-based England fans planning to come to games.

Around 1,500 England fans bought tickets through official channels but the FA are expecting only 1,350 of them to turn up. I didn’t see many outside when I arrived but they are filling up in numbers now.

That is incredible support. Thomas Tuchel said yesterday that he wanted to offer a “big thank you” to the fans who were coming. What an incredible effort.

The incentive is that the loyal “top cappers” get caps for this and the next friendly (Costa Rica in Orlando next Wednesday).

That entitles them to privileges like World Cup tickets (which don’t count as caps).

England fans are sensational. The best I see while covering international football. But I’m unashamedly biased.

Jeremy Bamber was convicted of the 1985 White House Farm murders and has always protested his innocence – now new evidence including a 999 call and letters could change everything.

Explosive new evidence on the grisly White House Farm murders, including a 999 call and incriminating letters, could prove convicted killer Jeremy Bamber is innocent, 40 years after he was jailed for life.

On 7 August 1985 one of Britain’s most horrific crimes shocked the nation when five members of the Bamber family, including 6-year-old twin boys, were brutally shot dead.

The massacre in the village Tolleshunt D’Arcy, near Maldon, Essex, became known as the infamous White House Farm murders and Jeremy Bamber was convicted for the killings of his parents Nevill and June Bamber, his sister Sheila Caffell and her sons Daniel and Nicholas.

Nevill and June were shot multiple times and the children were shot several times in the head in their beds – one still with his thumb in his mouth, reports the Mirror.

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Sheila was found lying on her back with the rifle pointing to her neck, having been shot twice, with a bloodstained Bible next to her. Police at first believed Sheila had killed everyone and then committed suicide, but a silencer with blood traces found in a downstairs cupboard pointed to a third party putting it away after the shootings and Jeremy Bamber was convicted.

Bamber, now 65 and serving a whole life sentence at HMP Wakefield, has always protested his innocence, but Philip Walker, director of the Jeremy Bamber Innocence Campaign, says: “Jeremy knows he’s innocent – it’s the driving force that’s kept him going through 41 difficult years. He’s hopeful this new evidence will be enough to bring this back to court.”

The unearthed evidence, including a 999 phone call, shocking letters apparently written by his mentally ill sister, catastrophic police failures and fresh ballistics reports, could demonstrate that Bamber is innocent in one of the UK’s worst ever miscarriages of justice.

A revelatory documentary, Jeremy Bamber: Proof of Innocence, airing on Channel 5 tomorrow, will run through the claims. It shows how a potential 999 call made at 6.09am from inside the farmhouse, after the police arrived and while Jeremy was outside, could give him the perfect alibi.

In a 2025 New Yorker podcast, PC Nick Millbank revealed: “I was call taking. It came through on the 999 system. Then there was movement or voices in the background.”

Philip says: “If that call took place, then clearly Jeremy is exonerated because he was standing outside surrounded by literally dozens of police while there were signs of life inside.”

A series of disturbing letters apparently written by Sheila, found in a drawer in the farmhouse, have only recently been investigated – at the time they were deemed too illegible.

Former police detective and investigative journalist Mark Williams-Thomas says: “She was very troubled. Five months prior to the murders she was admitted into hospital with psychosis.”

Dr Sohom Das, forensic psychiatrist, confirms in the documentary that Sheila was on medication for schizophrenia and schizo affective disorder and the erratic nature of the letters, which read like a suicide note, are consistent with that diagnosis.

He says: “She had started hearing voices that told her she was somebody else and she had this sense of paranoia. She believed she could somehow project evil on to others, specifically on to her twin sons. And she believed that they wanted to have sex with her and also commit violence.”

In the letters Sheila writes: “It’s a very messy, dirty business. As soon as this is dug up and the public knows, then my darling mummy, with my babies and me, go to our rest.” Expert analysis highlighted in recent reports also concluded that no silencer was on the gun that killed Sheila.

Philip says: “The central plank of the case was built around the moderator, and we now know with absolute certainty from four very distinguished pathologists, and a very well-known firearms expert that there was no moderator on the gun.”

Ballistics expert Philip Boyce examined the gunshot wounds on Sheila’s neck and found no evidence of scorch marks that a silencer would leave at close range.

It has also been discovered that the family owned many silencers, and Jeremy’s uncle Robert Boutflour also had the same blood group as Sheila – the jury were never made aware of this.

Mark says: “If you look at it with a proper analytical approach, the evidence tells you that none of it stacks up.” There is also crucial evidence from firearms officers that not only was the silencer left in a drawer for days by police, but there was astonishing crime scene interference from the senior detective at Essex Police.

PC Neil Davidson alleges: “Chaos reigned wherever DI Ron Cook trod. We used to call him Bumbling Ron for a reason. He was a clumsy sod. He was a nightmare.” He claims that Cook picked up the Bible and put it back in the wrong place.

Philip says: “In 2002, the Court of Appeal drew huge inferences of the Bible placed next to Sheila’s shoulder in an unnatural position, implying it had been placed there. Now we know it wasn’t there, it was actually about 18 inches from her waist on the right hand side.” There are also claims that the second gunshot to Sheila was caused by an accidental discharge of the rifle, cementing a suicide theory.

Bamber’s legal team plans to submit a report demanding that the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) review their original objection and refer the case.

Philip says: “The documentary highlighting the evidence will help. There is no doubt that public pressure is one of the main reasons that miscarriages of justice get overturned.

“This is the longest running miscarriage of justice in English legal history.”

Responding to the allegations, Essex Police refer to the fact that several appeals and reviews have concluded that Bamber is guilty, while the CCRC says they are working to consider additional matters raised in his application.

Jeremy says: “Even today we believe that we’re going to win and I hope we do, and I believe that we will, but it just seems that there are ever more hurdles to overcome.”

*Jeremy Bamber: Proof of Innocence – The Missing Phone Call airs on June 8th at 9pm. Watch/stream on 5.

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The Healaugh Park branch will be closed from Saturday, June 6, until 8am on Thursday, August 13, as the development progresses, Aldi has confirmed.

Shoppers will instead need to travel to Aldi stores in Thornaby, Coulby Newham or Stockton during the 68-day closure from early June.

Sainsbury’s will be the only supermarket in Yarm while the store is shut.

The near ten-week closure comes as contractors push ahead with expanding the shop into the former Whitworth Chemist unit next door.

Aldi, which had been looking at extending the site for some time, first revealed its plans last year, with councillors giving the green light in December.

A spokesperson said: “Work is progressing well on extending our store at Healaugh Park, Yarm, and we’re pleased that the store has remained open during these preliminary extension works.

“However, we’d like to inform customers that the store will be temporarily closed from 6pm on Saturday, June 6.

“The newly extended and refurbished store will reopen at 8am on Thursday, August 13. We apologise for any inconvenience this will cause.

“Whilst works are being carried out, customers will be able to visit our other nearby stores at Thornaby, Coulby Newham and Stockton.

“The extended store will provide an improved shopping experience for our customers and will create up to 10 new jobs for local people.

“We look forward to welcoming our customers back.”

Signs have gone up confirming the closure. (Image: THE NORTHERN ECHO)

The store’s car park was fenced off in March as construction teams moved in. Since then, the former chemist has been stripped out, with walls taken back to brick.

Steelwork has also been installed at the front of the unit as part of the extension.

Once complete, the store will gain an additional 353 square metres of floor space, along with a new entrance lobby, staff room and customer toilet.

Plans also include a new paved area to the side of the store, similar to that outside Whitworths, as well as an expanded trolley bay.

Parking provision will increase to 89 spaces in total, including 85 for customers and four for staff.

The project will also involve re-roofing the building and widening the service yard.

A naked tourist who attempted to shadowbox police in Ibiza was beaten up by officers

The English-speaking tourist was detained by police in Ibiza after a chaotic confrontation on a beach promenade in front of stunned holidaymakers on Thursday in San Antonio, one of Ibiza’s popular tourist resorts.

The man, who was reportedly exercising without clothes on the seafront, attracted the attention of members of the public who alerted authorities. When officers arrived, the situation quickly escalated.

Video footage from the scene appears to show police striking the man with batons after he allegedly shouted insults in English and challenged officers to a fight while naked.

During the incident, he can be seen moving across the sand on his hands and knees as he attempts to evade officers.

One British tourist was heard saying ‘oh my God’ while watching officers overpower the man. Another bystander could be heard shouting: ‘Hit him, hit that d***head hard’, The Sun reported.

Whereas another onlooker is reported to have said: ‘Hit him, hit that d***head hard.’

the man repeatedly shouted at officers when they arrived and swore at them as they approached him.

Authorities came to the scene after receiving numerous complaints from concerned members of the public over a short period of time.

It was reported that onlookers thought the man was drunk ‘disturbed and quite agitated, possibly due to the consumption of drugs’.

The man was taken to Can Misses Hospital, the main public hospital in Ibiza Town.

Police have not yet confirmed if he will face charges or what his nationality is.

The incident comes only days after another disturbance in San Antonio involving two tourists who were filmed fighting late at night.

Footage showed the pair rolling around on the ground and exchanging blows, leaving blood stains on a large public art mural beneath them.

An attempt by a bystander to break up the fight failed when another individual unexpectedly joined the fray and punched the peacemaker, allowing the confrontation to continue.

The footage surfaced as local officials announced plans to increase police numbers across San Antonio during the busy summer season.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.

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Temperatures of 32C are expected come kick-off at the Raymond James Stadium, but Tuchel will have plenty to sweat over beyond the weather. The stadium’s playing surface is not quite up to Premier League scratch, and he will hope at the very least to keep his players fit, with a first group stage match against Croatia now just 11 days away. The All Whites of New Zealand, meanwhile, are gearing up for just their third World Cup appearance, with Nottingham Forest’s Chris Wood leading the line.

The flight from Fuerteventura was diverted to the capital.

Passengers were forced to land at Edinburgh Airport on Saturday afternoon after the pilot made a swift decision. Malta Air flight FR1667 from Fuerteventura was set to land at Bristol around 3.25pm on June 6.

Instead, passengers were diverted to the Scottish capital and the aircraft landed around 3..50pm, according to Flight Radar. The reason for the diversion has not been confirmed.

The flight left Fuerteventura shortly before 11am. It’s understood the pilot did not declare an emergency onboard.

Malta Air is owned and operated by Ryanair. The airline have been approached for comment by our sister title Edinburgh Live.

This comes following a separate incident on May 28, where officers boarded a Ryanair flight after it touched down in Edinburgh.

An incident took place on the flight from Riga to Scotland’s capital with a passenger saying half a dozen officers boarded upon landing. After departing from Latvia at 10.45am local time, the plane touched down in Scotland at 11.35am.

A video from within the plane appears to show an officer walking down the aisle of the packed flight while passengers look on in shock. Other footage appears to depict authorities surrounding the plane on the tarmac.

A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “Around 11.40am on Thursday, 28 May, 2026, officers received a report of a disruptive passenger on a flight arriving at Edinburgh Airport. Officers attended and no criminality was established. Advice was provided.”

A spokesperson from Ryanair said: “Crew on this flight from Riga to Edinburgh (May 28) called ahead for police assistance after a passenger became disruptive onboard. The aircraft was met by police and the passenger was removed.

“Ryanair has a strict zero tolerance policy towards passenger misconduct and will continue to take decisive action to combat unruly passenger behaviour, ensuring that all passengers and crew travel in a respectful and stress-free environment, without unnecessary disruption.”

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A spokesman for Greater Manchester Police confirmed officers were called to a ‘suspicious item in a front garden’ on Abram Close shortly after 6.05pm.

Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal Team is making an assessment of the item, said the spokesman.

Meanwhile 20 surrounding properties are being advised to evacuate