Savannah Guthrie returned to the Today show Thursday morning after abruptly leaving Wednesday’s broadcast without explanation.

Guthrie left 90 minutes into the morning show’s May 6 broadcast, with her co-anchor Craig Melvin telling viewers: “Savannah had to leave a little early. She’ll be right back tomorrow, though.”

Guthrie was indeed back Thursday morning alongside Willie Geist and did not explain the reason for her sudden departure the day before.

The Independent has contacted NBC and Guthrie’s representatives for comments.

It comes as Guthrie’s 84-year-old mother has been missing for three months after a suspected abduction from her home near Tucson, Arizona.

Savannah, 54, returned to Today in April following a two-month hiatus, during which she spent time with her family and sent pleas to the public for any information regarding her mother’s disappearance.

In February, the FBI released pictures of a masked and armed person outside of Nancy’s home the night she went missing. No suspect has been identified.

Guthrie sat down for her first interview since her mother’s disappearance with Hoda Kotb in a segment that aired last month.

“I don’t know that it’s because she’s my mom and somebody thought, ‘Oh, that lady has money and we can make a quick buck.’ I mean, that would make sense,” she said in the emotional footage. “But we don’t know … which is too much to bear, to think that I brought this to her bedside.”

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Stacey Balfour was jailed for 16 years following the murder of Robert Fisher at a tower block in Paisley in July 2023.

The mum of a man who was stabbed to death in a Paisley flat has pleaded that her son’s killer is not released early before the “monster” appears in front of appeal judges today.

Cameron Woods and Stacey Balfour, then 27 and 24, were sentenced at the High Court in Glasgow on June 24 last year following the slaying of Robert Fisher. The 26-year-old was brutally killed at a block of flats in Maxwellton Street in July 2023.

The pair had denied murder at trial but were eventually convicted. Woods was jailed for a minimum 18-and-a-half years with Balfour locked up for 16 years.

However, Balfour has now launched an appeal against her sentence and is due to appear in front of appeal judges in Edinburgh today. Robert’s mum, Pamela Peacock, has publicly slammed Woods’ vile former girlfriend and pleaded with lawmakers not to “let this monster out early”.

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Posting on social media, she said: “People need to know what she is doing to us as a family. The cheek of her.

“Please believe me, she was just as much involved in Robert’s murder as Cameron Woods was.

“I sat everyday throughout the trial and this is a monster! I had to hear what happened to my son Robert and I can honestly say that he certainly did not deserve to die the way he did.

“Hopefully the judges see right through this monster, because that’s what her and her boyfriend are, monsters. The way they left my son has scarred me for the rest of my life.

“Please can everyone think about Robert on this day and please let justice be done and this monster does not walk free.”

During the trial, the court heard how it was Woods who knifed Robert with his then partner Balfour “acting in concert” knowing there would be violence. The killing took place after all three had been with others at a flat at the tower block.

A witness stated they had seen Woods wielding a large kitchen knife at one stage. Balfour was meantime seen showing someone the small lockback blade later used in the killing which had been attached to a set of keys.

It was heard that the atmosphere between those at the flat, including Robert, became volatile. This eventually led to the young dad being stabbed “in what amounted to a murderous attack”.

Robert managed to stagger out of the flat covered in blood after suffering five separate stab wounds as well as possible defensive injuries. The victim was hard groaning, “I have been stabbed”, as 999 was dialled.

He died four days later in the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow. The murder weapon, which had Robert’s blood on it, was later found with Woods when he was stopped by police at a cycle track.

Balfour had initially told officers that the last time she had seen Mr Fisher was when he left the flat with another man. Her KC Thomas Ross said she had previously suffered a “traumatic” incident in 2014 and a had been in a “toxic relationship” before the murder.

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She was seen ditching the UK with her eldest sons after being invited on a mega trip with a number of other famous faces

Stacey Solomon has told fans it ‘doesn’t feel real’ as she was seen ditching the UK with her eldest sons after being invited on a mega trip with a number of other famous faces.

As those who have followed the Loose Women star’s life and career, she shares three children with her husband Joe Swash – Rex, Rose and Belle – as well as being a proud mum to teenagers Zachary and Leighton from previous relationships.

Earlier this week, Stacey was seen sharing more family updates as she marked her second-oldest child’s 14th birthday. Alongside a picture of the birthday boy posing alongside a cake and his birthday gifts, she wrote on her Instagram Story: “He doesn’t like a big fuss, and he hates pictures, so this is a rare one he likes and it’s Arsenal and a takeaway for our 14-year-old incredible little man.

“We love you to the moon and back Leighton! You are literally sunshine. We are never not laughing when you’re around. Happy Birthday Leight [heart emoji].” She then shared a video of the celebrations taking place and said: “BEST BIRTHDAY EVER. Leighton is so happy and so is the whole family tbh [crying face emoji]. Well done Arsenal [heart emoji].”

It was then on Wednesday (May 6) that the Sort Your Life Out host confirmed that she, Zachary and Leighton were headed for Miami after she was invited to join a huge brand trip put together by Space NK and also being attended by the likes of Rochelle and Marvin Humes, Olivia Attwood and influencer Perrie Sian.

Alongside a picture of herself and her sons at the airport, Stacey told her millions of followers: “The next few days are going to be magic. I was invited on the most incredible trip thanks to Jinny & the @spacenk team. I’m so lucky to have been asked & im so grateful.

“It genuinely doesn’t feel real! Ill never take this for granted it’s just not real! I decided to book Zach & Leighton to come out with me because, with the little pickles, we don’t get to hang out just us a lot, & I miss them. So I’m so excited to spend some special time with my big boys & some amazing people in MIAMI! I mean WHAT IN THE WORLD.”

She added: “Here we go boys [crying face emoji]. I’ll bring you all with me. Thank you all for supporting me which is the only reason I even get asked on these type of incredible things. I’m so grateful for you guys [face holding back tears and heart emojis].”

Karolina Kubrak: “The food is delicious, and the place has a unique atmosphere. This is Polish cuisine at its finest, accompanied by the renowned Polish hospitality that characterises this place. I highly recommend it to everyone.”

Malgorzata Malaga: “If you’re looking for truly exceptional Polish food, this is the place. My boyfriend still can’t get over the fact that the best pierogi with karkówka he’s ever had were not in Poland, but right here in London, at Ognisko.”

Mat Remx: “Like being at home.”

A British hantavirus patient who is isolating in hospital after being dramatically rescued from the cruise ship at the centre of the outbreak has said he is “doing okay”, but still needs more tests.

Martin Anstee, 56, was an expedition guide on board the MV Hondius, the vessel that has been hit by the pathogen that is carried by rodents.

The former police officer is currently at a hospital in the Netherlands and told Sky News he has “no idea how long I’ll be in hospital for.”

“I’m in isolation at the moment,” he added.

However, he did not say what symptoms he was experiencing and hopes to “have a clearer picture” later this week.

The virus is typically spread by rodents through their droppings, saliva and urine, but in rare cases this particular strain, the Andean strain, can spread between humans.

Professor Robin May, chief scientific officer at the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), said it was a “good sign” the British man being treated in the Netherlands was able to communicate with family.

He told BBC Breakfast: “He is going to be under investigation for some time, obviously, but I’m very pleased that he’s now in hospital and receiving the treatment he needs.”

Three people have so far died and the number of confirmed hantavirus cases has now risen to five, the World Health Organization (WHO) has said.

The UKHSA said people may need to isolate for up to eight weeks, but reassured the risk to the public “remains very low”.

Two people who were on board the ship and returned to the UK are self isolating, but are not showing any symptoms, according to UKHSA. Another Briton is in hospital in South Africa.

“There are two UK nationals who left the cruise earlier, as often happens on cruises of course, people join for parts of it. Before this outbreak was detected, they returned back to the UK,” Prof May added.

“But obviously there’s a chance they may have been exposed to the virus. So we have been in contact with them. They have agreed very kindly to self-isolate for the next period of time.

“We’re working very closely with them to monitor them, obviously, and to support them and their families until we know they have the all clear. And actually, that’s the process we’ll be using when the other British nationals on board return home, hopefully in a couple of days’ time too.”

A couple’s bird watching trip while in Argentina may explain how the virus got onto the ship, officials investigating the outbreak said. The pair may have been exposed to infected rodents while birdwatching at a landfill site in Ushuaia.

Ulysses, a mild but disillusioned police officer, arrives in icy Minnesota to start an eight-week stint as substitute sheriff in the surprisingly prosperous small town of Normal. The previous sheriff has died in mysterious circumstances.

As he recovers from a traumatic episode in his own career, his aim is to serve out his time as quietly and uneventfully as possible and then leave the town pretty much as he found it. Unsurprisingly, events swiftly take a very different, not to mention ultra-violent, turn.

The snowbound setting, quirky but amiable inhabitants and swift intimations of a darker criminal hinterland all give off unmistakable Fargo vibes. Not least because the sheriff is played by Bob Odenkirk, an alumnus of Noah Hawley’s TV spin-off of the Coen Brothers’ classic 1996 picture. (In an obvious nod, Ulysses’ deceased predecessor, Gunderson, shares his surname with Frances McDormand’s cop in the film.)

The silent apparitions of the town’s near-legendary moose and much discussion of coffee also lend these sequences a certain Twin Peaks (1990-1991) flavour. Later on a severed ear is an obvious shout-out to another David Lynch project, Blue Velvet (1986).

Midway through director Ben Wheatley’s new thriller, however, the stylistic reference points shift from the Coens and Lynch to Quentin Tarantino and John Carpenter. A farcically botched Bonnie and Clyde-style bank heist hurls the film into a spiral of chaotic and very bloody violence which barely lets up for the remainder of the film.

The townsfolk, it transpires, have saved Normal from the blighted fate of other midwestern towns by striking an improbable Faustian bargain to warehouse piles of loot for the Japanese mob – the Yakuza.

Big body count

Once Ulysses stumbles across this dirty little secret, he finds himself pitted against virtually every single inhabitant of Normal as they battle to keep it quiet. An arsenal of guns, explosives, light artillery and a variety of improvised weapons overnight reduce the town’s main street into a blood-soaked, body-strewn wreckage.

Ulysses, along with the hapless pair of amateur bank robbers caught up in the crossfire, fights off hordes of opponents in the fashion of Tarantino’s From Dusk To Dawn (1996). And once the black-suited Yakuza reinforcements arrive, it resembles Kill Bill (2004). The gory violence, mostly played for blackly comic effect, has a comparably weightless feel.

The army of townsfolk stalking the beleaguered, outgunned trio recalls the zombie-like gang in John Carpenter’s B-movie classic Assault on Precinct 13 (1976). Or perhaps even more the demented small-town denizens of George A. Romero’s The Crazies (1973).

As this string of allusions might suggest, Normal makes no great claims on originality. Written by Derek Kolstad, creator of the John Wick franchise – and also 2021’s Nobody, the vehicle for Odenkirk’s late-career swerve into action hero – the film delivers on its simple premise without any great care for complex plotting or plausibility. It serves up modestly inventive pyrotechnics in a businesslike, and at just 90 minutes, very concise fashion.

Fans of Wheatley’s previous efforts in this vein will enjoy his trademark, though not especially unique, combination of humour and extreme violence. Others may feel he does himself few favours with the constant overt nods to far superior filmmakers and risks making his film feel even more derivative and predictable than it confesses itself to be.

There’s certainly little here in the rendering of upstate Minnesota to compare with Roger Deakins’ crystalline cinematography in Fargo. Nor can Wheatley’s energetic but prosaic action choreography ever approach the stylisation of Kill Bill.

Violence aside, then, the film rests heavily on some apt casting and happily the performers are reliably engaging. Odenkirk’s trademark battered decency largely carries the film. But there are also deft supporting turns, notably from Henry Winkler as Normal’s oleaginous mayor and Lena Headey as a tough-dame barkeep. Reena Jolly and Peter Shinkoda are also endearing as the dishevelled slacker bandits (and solicitous dog parents). They vaguely recall the shambolic outlaws of One Battle After Another (2025).

Many of Normal’s influences have serious things to say about modern American life. Normal too gestures in passing to larger issues. The mayor presents the community’s turn to crime as a morally if not legally legitimate reaction to the desperate plight of “flyover states” devastated by industrial decline and corporate predation.

But really this is just window dressing. There isn’t a great deal more to the film than meets the eye, and there probably doesn’t need to be. In its rapid pacing, terse characterisation, brief run time and propulsive, hard-boiled action, Normal positions itself as a latter-day B-movie and mostly delivers on the unpretentious pleasures of that time-honoured form.

A 45-year-old man was pronounced dead at the scene

A man has died in a crash involving a car and a lorry in Peterborough yesterday (Wednesday, May 6). Cambridgeshire Police were called to the eastbound carriageway of the A1139 Fletton Parkway at around 11.50am.

The collision involved an HGV and a white Xpeng G6 and happened near the exit from the A1(M). Police, paramedics and fire crews attended the scene and the road was closed for around five hours.

The driver of the car, a 45-year-old man from Peterborough, died at the scene. Officers are now appealing for anyone with information about the crash to come forward.

Anyone who saw the crash or has dashcam footage of the collision or the vehicles leading up to the incident should contact the police. You can report any information through the Cambridgeshire Police website quoting Operation Braddock. You can also call 101 if you do not have access to the internet.

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Arsenal, if you listen to some at the club, may now have their chance at “revenge”. They felt they were actually better than Paris Saint-Germain in last season’s semi-final, which may still baffle many people who’ve watched the Qatari project since.

The rest of Europe might just want a better crescendo than the semi-final ultimately offered, and perhaps that the Champions League final has been due for some time. There hasn’t been a great final in years, arguably since 2005, despite claims from 2008, 2012 and 2017.

That has meant the semi-finals have often represented the absolute peak of club football, even if this year’s didn’t reach the heights that had been anticipated.

It’s not an exaggeration to say that the expectation after the Bayern Munich-PSG first leg was that we would all be sitting here on Thursday morning trying to make sense of another sensation.

That didn’t really happen. PSG were just too good. This time, Bayern just couldn’t get close enough when it mattered.

That poses another question, relevant to Arsenal’s lingering frustration from last season, relevant to where European football goes next.

If PSG put in a very modern display of excellence in the first leg, the second leg was a more classically continental display.

They shut Bayern out, where they had previously opened them. There were no concerns about defending here.

It further fosters the sense of a truly complete team, arguably the best that Europe has seen since Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona when performing at their top level.

There are of course caveats. PSG benefit from all of the advantages of being a Qatari sportswashing project, at the same time that power has trampled Ligue 1.

The new darlings of the competition do bring darker discussions.

PSG would not just become the first side since Real Madrid in 2018 to retain the trophy, and just the second in the Champions League era.

They would ensure a state-owned club has won the competition for the third time in four years, a development that would be all the more conspicuous when the conflict in Iran has raised questions about future strategies from such Gulf autocracies. There’s an extra layer to this, given that Viktor Orban – characterised as “a competitive authoritarian” – is no longer the premier of Hungary, having been voted out weeks before this prestige fixture in Budapest he had long desired.

Such concerns, as has been said before, reflect a lot about football in 2026.

Arsenal, themselves owned by a classic US billionaire capitalist, find both of these state-owned clubs – PSG and Manchester City – standing in their way in the season’s two major trophies.

If Mikel Arteta’s side were to win the league, it would make this final the first meeting between domestic champions since 2020.

That prospect does speak to something else about this final. It might end up a rare final that is definitively between the best teams in Europe. That arguably hasn’t been seen since 2020 either, and before that you probably have to go back to 2014 or 2009.

There’s even the symmetry of how Arsenal were undeniably the best team of the first half of the season, given how they finished top of the group stage, and PSG again the best team of the second half and the knock-outs.

The most pertinent question, however, is whether Arsenal can really be as good as PSG for the final – or whether they even need to be.

The football both sides play also plays into many other contrasts.

While PSG are self-assuredly looking to perpetuate their dominance and win a second Champions League, Arsenal are striving to finally claim their first, and properly begin their own era.

Duly, Luis Enrique’s side constantly look like they are expanding the pitch, while Arsenal play within the margins.

That contrast from the two semi-finals is set to become even more acute.

Stellar attack against collective structure; imagination against order.

The reality of it is unlikely to be quite so simple, as Enrique would himself warn.

After the entire European season seemed to be going the same way as a coruscating Kvicha Kvaratshkelia run – surely a contender for Ballon d’Or – how susceptible are PSG to one Gabriel Magalhaes set-piece header settling it?

Or, after a season when Arteta’s side constantly played on the line, will PSG blow them off it?

Or is this already a new Arsenal, elevated to the Champions League final and consequently having had a weight lifted?

The temptation will be to cast this as some kind of battle for the soul of football given the contrasting styles, but the wider context makes it a lot more complicated than that.

In the most immediate and simple sense, it is an enticing match between arguably Europe’s two best sides.

The hope is it leads to the final the competition has long been due.

Whooping cough, medically known as pertussis, is a highly contagious bacterial infection that affects the airways. It gets its common name from the “whoop” sound that some infected children make when they take a deep, gasping breath after a severe coughing fit.

The infection is caused by the bacterium bordetella pertussis, with research suggesting that as few as 140 bacterial cells may be enough to cause infection. The bacterium spreads through infected droplets, which are released when an infected person coughs or sneezes. These droplets can then settle on the lining of another person’s nose, throat or airways.

Doctors usually describe whooping cough in three stages. The first is the catarrhal phase, when symptoms resemble a cold. In this stage, many of the symptoms are similar to other respiratory infections. A person may have a stuffy or runny nose, a low-grade fever and a mild, occasional cough that gradually becomes more severe. This phase typically lasts one to two weeks.

The second stage is the paroxysmal (sudden and intense) phase. During this stage, people experience repeated bouts of uncontrolled coughing. The classic whooping sound is common in infants, but it is often absent in adults. This may be partly because adults have more control over their cough reflex and partly because a child’s larynx, or voice box, is shaped differently from an adult’s. A child’s larynx sits higher in the neck, is funnel-shaped rather than cylindrical and narrower, and has softer cartilage.

The cough can last so long that pertussis is sometimes called the “100-day cough”. It can also cause exhaustion and vomiting, which is one of the most common symptoms reported in adults. One study found that the average duration of coughing was 54 days. The final stage is convalescence, when coughing episodes become less frequent and less severe.

Because pertussis is caused by bacteria, antibiotics can be helpful, especially in the early stages of infection. They can reduce how long a person remains infectious and may reduce the severity of illness if given early enough. The infectious period usually ends 48 hours after starting appropriate antibiotics, or 21 days after the onset of coughing if treatment is not given.

Vaccination remains important because it reduces the risk of severe disease. However, vaccination does not always prevent infection, and protection can weaken over time. This means vaccinated people can still catch pertussis, although symptoms are often milder.

Pertussis cases tend to rise and fall in three to five-year cycles, with increases reported in England and other countries. Possible factors include pandemic disruption to vaccination, mutations in bordetella pertussis, waning immunity and vaccine differences.

Many countries have moved from whole-cell pertussis vaccines to acellular vaccines. A whole-cell vaccine contains killed bacterial cells, while an acellular vaccine contains selected proteins from the bacterium rather than the whole organism. Many countries have shifted to acellular vaccines because they tend to cause fewer side effects. However, they may also provide a shorter period of effective immune protection.

For many adults, whooping cough is unpleasant but manageable. For others, it can be serious. Secondary complications occur in nearly 30% of infected adults. One of the most common is pneumonia, an infection that inflames the air sacs in the lungs.

Pneumonia can develop because bordetella pertussis can directly damage the airway lining, partly by paralysing the cilia, tiny hair-like structures that clear mucus, dust and germs. Damaged cilia make the lungs less able to clear harmful bacteria, including those that cause pneumonia.

The repeated force of coughing can also damage the body. Severe coughing may cause vomiting, exhaustion, disturbed sleep and urinary incontinence. Nearly one-third of women over the age of 50 report urinary incontinence associated with pertussis infection.

Severe coughing can also lead to rib fractures, especially in older people or those with weaker bones. Repeated strain usually affects the fifth to tenth ribs. In rare cases, lung tissue can tear, causing a pneumothorax: air escapes between the lung and chest wall, causing part or all of the lung to collapse. The larynx and vocal cords can also become damaged or dysfunctional from repeated coughing.

Very rarely, severe coughing has been linked to spinal fractures, damage to the discs between vertebrae, organ herniation between the ribs and under the skin, and arterial tears that may interrupt blood supply and lead to stroke.

Some people are at higher risk of secondary complications, including those with respiratory conditions, obesity or weakened immune systems. People who smoke or have asthma may have a longer cough, a higher risk of sinus infection and more disturbed sleep.

Delayed diagnosis can be a problem because early whooping cough overlaps with many other respiratory infections, including respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, flu and COVID. RSV is a common virus that usually causes cold-like symptoms, but it can be more serious in babies, older adults and people with underlying health conditions. One study has estimated that the misdiagnosis rate may be as high as 95% in some cases.

Although early symptoms can look similar, there are clues that may help distinguish whooping cough from other infections. Once the cough develops, whooping cough is often worse at night and can be severe enough to cause vomiting. RSV more commonly causes shortness of breath and wheezing rather than prolonged coughing bouts. Whooping cough also usually causes a low-grade fever or no fever, while RSV, particularly in high-risk adults, can cause a high fever. Timing can help too. RSV is most prevalent from late autumn to early spring, peaking in December and January.

Vaccines are available for both conditions. But antibiotics only work for whooping cough because it is bacterial rather than viral, and they are most useful when given early enough.

The main warning sign is a cough that comes in severe bouts, lasts for weeks, gets worse at night or causes vomiting. Anyone with these symptoms should seek medical advice, especially if they live with or care for babies, pregnant women, older adults or people with weakened immune systems.

The man also intimidated another resident and pulled their hair

A drunk man strangled and repeatedly punched a security guard at a Cambridgeshire hotel in a “disgusting” attack. Christopher Allgood, 53, was at the The White Lion Hotel in South Brink, Wisbech at about 2pm on April 16 when he was challenged by a security guard about his behaviour.

Allgood responded by punching the man to the chest. In a second incident, Allgood again punched the man, damaging a chest rig holding his body worn video. Later in the day, the 53-year-old attacked the man again, this time strangling and repeatedly punching him.

On the same day, Allgood also intimidated another resident and pulled his hair. Police were called and described Allgood as appearing heavily intoxicated. Cambridgeshire Police said he was unable to walk in a straight line and was talking incoherently.

When they attempted to arrest Allgood, he became abusive and punched one of them to the nose. Once arrested, he spat in the back of the van.

Allgood, of no known address, admitted intentional strangulation, two counts of criminal damage, assaulting a constable in the execution of their duty and two counts of common assault. On Tuesday, May 5 at Peterborough Magistrates’ Court he was jailed for a year.

DC Chris Herring said: “Allgood’s behaviour was disgusting as he attacked people and it was a distressing experience for the security guard and member of the public. We will also not tolerate attacks on our officers for simply doing their job and we will always seek to prosecute those responsible.”