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Coronation Street star signs new ITV contract ahead of Emmerdale crossover

Coronation Street star signs new ITV contract ahead of Emmerdale crossover

Yahoo2 days ago

A Coronation Street star has reportedly signed a new contract ahead of a planned crossover event.
Claire Sweeney, known for her roles as Cassie Plummer on the ITV soap, has secured her future on the Cobbles.
Sweeney has been part of the Coronation Street cast since 2023.
It is rumoured she is looking to be part of the planned ITV soap crossover between Corrie and Emmerdale next year.
A source told The Sun: 'Claire loves being on Corrie - it's a dream job, so she was delighted to sign a new deal.
'With the big Emmerdale crossover coming in 2026, there's also a hope that she'll be in that too.
'It's a great opportunity to be part of soap history, so who wouldn't want to be involved?'
In her time on the show so far, Claire's villainous character has poisoned Ken Barlow (William Roache) and slept with Steve McDonald (Simon Gregson).
Emmerdale and Coronation Street revealed the hour-long crossover episode earlier this month.
The special episode will see characters from the Yorkshire town and Weatherfield come together for the first time ever.
Discussing the Emmerdale and Coronation Street episode, ITV said: "The distinctive worlds of Emmerdale and Coronation Street will merge for one night only in a 'mash-up' of our two favourite communities.
"The producers, scriptwriters and production teams have conceived an ingenious way of linking the two universes, but with characters then returning to the soaps they are renowned for inhabiting in Manchester and Yorkshire.
"The episode will be self-contained, but the consequences of the high-stakes drama will have repercussions for both communities and see them linked forever as familiar faces depart and exciting new characters arrive into both soaps."
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The Coronation Street and Emmerdale crossover is set to arrive in January 2026.
After this instalment, the shows will return to their new normal format (30-minute episodes).
Emmerdale and Coronation Street air weekly on ITV1, STV, ITVX and STV Player.

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The woman famed for transforming failing prisons
The woman famed for transforming failing prisons

Yahoo

time41 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

The woman famed for transforming failing prisons

One of the first female governors of a men's prison in the UK, Veronica Bird, has spoken about her experiences as part of a year-long celebration of "remarkable" women. During her 35-year career in the prison service, Ms Bird was governor of Armley Prison in Leeds as well as New Hall in Wakefield. Now, she is speaking as part of Women Winning, a project that celebrates women in Harrogate. Born in Barnsley, Ms Bird joined the prison service in 1968 at Holloway Prison in London where she met violent prisoners such as Myra Hindley. She has now retired for a quieter life in Harrogate. "Armley Prison was a huge shock to the system," she says. "Being one of the first females in the prison, the transition, not just with staff, but with the prisoners as well. "When women started to work in male prisons, it made a huge difference. The men were respectful. They stopped using bad language when the female prison officers were present. It calmed them down. "It reduced the assaults and fights but, slowly over the past 25 years, it's just gone down and down and they don't care about who's in charge, who's looking after them and that's sad." Ms Bird says the worsening conditions in prisons are largely due to the influx of drugs. "People often say why can't you stop drugs coming into the prison? Well, they swallow them wrapped in cling film, wrapped in condoms. They secrete them internally," she says. "We used to have books coming into the prison and the men would put the powder between the pages and lick them. They would throw oranges over the prison fence. "We had to stop selling Polo mints in prison and we had to stop selling bananas because they would dry the skin and mix it with the cannabis to make it go further. "It's sad to see parents bringing drugs in for their children in prison. So it is a huge, huge battle." Ms Bird says she was disappointed to see a number of recent cases of prison officers having relationships with inmates and taking drugs into institutions. "Sadly, the conduct of some staff taking contraband into prisons has grown. The relationships with prisoners. That's taken off enormously. "Myra Hindley had an affair with officer Patricia Cairns and plotted her escape. So it's not something new but it is increasing all the time. "When I was at Styal Prison, a female prisoner sentenced to life made a complaint that she was being abused by a prison officer in the cleaning cupboard. "I was given the job of investigating and there were sacks full of beautiful underwear, nighties and goodness knows what that this male officer had taken in for her and other prisoners. "But fortunately, the investigation came to a very quick end because he did the right thing and resigned there and then. "The prisoner didn't complain to the police because she had no trust in the police. And she told the area manager the only person that she would trust to do a fair investigation was me." During her time running prisons, Ms Bird became recognised for transforming failing institutions. She was asked to work on what was known as Grisley Risley in Warrington and Brockhill Prison in the Midlands, which she said was the UK's worst prison at the time. "I was given the most difficult prison, the worst prison in the country," she says. "I had no more money than the previous governor, no more staff. But I got the staff together and they changed that prison within one year. It was amazing. "The conditions in 1995 in that women's prison were worse than when I joined in 1968. "The poor staff were having to have their lunch in a prison cell. If you don't treat staff with respect, how are you going to get them to treat prisoners with respect? "Nobody wants to work in a terrible prison. It's not good for them. So everybody rallied round," she says. Ms Bird has high praise for the work of Lord Timpson, Minister of State for Prisons, Probation and Reducing Reoffending, who employs ex-prisoners to work in Timpson shops. "He's on the right track. Give people a second chance," she says. "How lucky I was to be given a chance in the prison service. Two years I thought I'd be there. But, 35 years later, I was still there and continued in retirement working in jobs to do with prison." During her time in the service, Ms Bird watched over members of the IRA such as Old Bailey bombers the Price Sisters, Rose Dugdale, and the Birmingham Six – who were later exonerated. She "gave her life" to prisons, she says, never having had a family or partner of her own. "Leaving Brockhill, the staff said to me: 'Governor, please can we give some advice - don't give your life to the next prison, like you have given to this prison.' And yes, I suppose I gave my life to prisons and prisoners," she says. "But I couldn't have coped with marriage, family, so I have given my whole life." Ms Bird was awarded an OBE in 2000 and turned her life story into a book, co-written with Richard Newman, called Veronica's Bird, which was published in 2018. Today she tours the UK, giving talks to prison and police officers as well as members of the public. Lynne Mee, co-founder of Women Winning, said it had been a delight to meet Ms Bird through the Harrogate project. She said: "There's lots of amazing and inspirational women living in Harrogate. Veronica did a talk last evening to 70 people and you could have heard a pin drop. We laughed, cried and everything in between." Listen to highlights from North Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North. Mobile 'prison' used to teach children about crime Prison officers deal drugs and ask inmates for sex, BBC told Prison violence harming rehabilitation - families

What Matheus Cunha brings to Manchester United: Confidence, direct dribbling and a striker's instinct
What Matheus Cunha brings to Manchester United: Confidence, direct dribbling and a striker's instinct

New York Times

time41 minutes ago

  • New York Times

What Matheus Cunha brings to Manchester United: Confidence, direct dribbling and a striker's instinct

It's fair to say that things haven't quite gone to plan at Manchester United of late. A drab Europa League final defeat to Tottenham Hotspur, coupled with a 16th-place finish in the Premier League, means that there will be no European football for Ruben Amorim's side next season, sparking fears that a summer overhaul could be compromised without the allure of Champions League nights at Old Trafford. Advertisement In that regard, United's move for Matheus Cunha — after meeting the release clause of £62.5million ($84.4m) in his Wolves contract — is an encouraging flicker of life. The 26-year-old was one of the division's standout performers last campaign, with his 15 goals and six assists accounting for well over a third of his team's goal returns. His quality is evident, but here The Athletic drills into the numbers to see how he could fit into Amorim's plans. First and foremost, with Alejandro Garnacho likely to leave the club this summer, United are suddenly light on impactful options to fill one of the attacking roles behind the striker in the manager's preferred 3-4-2-1 system. Mason Mount and Amad have shown promising signs of stepping up, but both have had their injury troubles, and Bruno Fernandes — should he not to leave the club during the transfer window — needs more reliable support as he has shouldered the creative burden. Cunha fits the bill with his consistent output, versatility and availability. As we can see from the graphic below, he would be comfortable operating from the left-sided No 10 role at United, but is also happy to pick up spaces on the opposite side and play up front as an out-and-out centre-forward. He's also played around 70 per cent of all available Premier League minutes since he joined Wolves two and a half years ago, with only a handful of minor impact injuries and disciplinary issues — which we'll get to later — keeping him out of the squad. Whichever role he plays, Cunha is always keen to get forward — he is one of the most direct attacking players in the top flight. It's a profile that United sorely lack, being over-reliant on the positivity and quality of Fernandes to kick-start moves with more adventurous passing from deep. The scatterplot below outlines the Premier League players who are progressive — or put simply, who move the ball towards the opposition goal — with the highest proportion of their passes and carries. Advertisement Only four midfielders and forwards look forward with their passes more often than Fernandes but most of his team-mates are notably hesitant to move things on with the ball at their feet. Cunha, on the other hand, stands out as a double threat, both a confident dribbler and daring passer whenever the opportunity arrives. A fine example of Cunha's confidence came against struggling Leicester in April as the Brazilian helped himself to a goal and two assists. From a Wolves goal kick, Cunha drops into midfield from his No 10 role and senses the opportunity to run at a stretched defence. His first touch wrong-foots Wilfred Ndidi, before he bursts through the midfield line and bears down on goal, shooting wide from the edge of the box. Though he arguably makes the wrong final decision, that ability to create something from nothing with ambitious dribbling is something that can help United to be more dangerous from fast breaks, as well as to break down man-to-man pressing structures — more prevalent than ever in the Premier League — more effectively. That same game highlighted the positional freedom given to Cunha by Wolves, with him being allowed to drift across the attacking third to affect the game. Later in that first half, he ambles over to the right flank from his starting position on the opposite side, pushing wing-back Nelson Semedo inside. Again, he is quick to look towards goal, taking two touches before swinging a low cross for striker Jorgen Strand Larsen, who diverts the ball just wide. Ten minutes after the break, Cunha is wide on the left receiving the ball after good hold-up play from Strand Larsen. Once more, a couple of touches are all he needs to get the ball out of his feet as he glides towards goal and slides a pass through to the Norwegian to score. Such fluidity and variety of movement was encouraged under Vitor Pereira at Wolves, where Cunha was often the offensive inspiration with his technical quality and off-the-cuff style. But that may need to be curbed slightly at United, where he will likely need to share the limelight with the similarly free-spirited Fernandes. Advertisement Analysis from Mark Carey for The Athletic in March showed both players to be in the top three for overall 'usage rate', a metric that outlines how often a player completes the last action in a sequence for their team. That could be a shot, cross, take-on, pass — successful or otherwise — to highlight how much responsibility each player takes in trying to make things happen. That influence shines through further when we look at the percentage of team actions carried out by players. As we can see below, Cunha was responsible for almost 30 per cent of Wolves' shots on goal last season, and he was similarly talismanic when it comes to receiving the ball in dangerous areas, passing the ball into the box and carrying the ball forward. There's only one ball on the pitch, and United will soon have two players who like to use it as much as they can in the final third. Of course, Cunha could ease the weight on Fernandes' back — and maybe one day step into his role — but the pair will need to be conscious of their positional discipline and selflessness in attacking situations if they are to dovetail as seamlessly as their technical quality suggests they should. One of the other great benefits of signing Cunha is that he has experience of playing in a similar 3-4-2-1 shape under Pereira and Gary O'Neil. But Cunha brings more to his new club than they currently have in that No 10 role, namely two-footed unpredictability, varied running and a goalscorer's instinct around the box. We've already seen how he likes to drop deep to get on the ball, but Cunha is also quick to spot an opportunity to run in behind, as we saw during his match-winning display at Fulham. Wolves settle into their build-up shape, dropping midfielders Andre and Joao Gomes into the back three to tempt the press. Strand Larsen is occupying two centre-backs, which opens up the space for Cunha to exploit. What follows is an example of Cunha's technical ability and composure around the penalty area, as well as his potential to hurt teams with runs from deep. He takes down Mario Lemina's lofted pass perfectly with his right, before lifting a finish over Bernd Leno for the equaliser. Similarly against Ipswich, Cunha is first to react as Strand Larsen falls to the ground after an aerial duel, showcasing those striker instincts that could come in at United. While full-back Harry Clarke appeals for a foul, Cunha manages to steal a march in frame two, before offering himself for the through ball. Advertisement He collects on his left, steadies himself, and powers a shot in at the near post with his weaker foot. Cunha can play up top — he mostly did at Wolves before the arrival of Strand Larsen — but he can also offer support with direct running into the box if the likes of Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee aren't finding those spaces. Cunha isn't prolific on his weaker side, having only attempted 26 of his 209 Premier League shots with his left, but the above finish, along with a sensational curling effort from the edge of the box at Anfield this season, underlines that the threat is there. He has drastically overperformed in front of goal this season, with only Chris Wood and Bryan Mbeumo finishing more clinically in relation to their expected goals, helped by a league-leading five goals from outside of the box. But even if Cunha's goal tally drops at United, his positivity and a desire to drag the team up the pitch can only help to inject some conviction into an unconvincing front line. Cunha's up for the @PremierLeague goal of the month! ✨ — Wolves (@Wolves) May 2, 2024 Disciplinary problems are a concern, as Cunha saw the red mist and was sent off against Bournemouth in the FA Cup. He was also suspended after an altercation with a member of staff after a game against Ipswich. Whether United can control those outbursts and integrate him into a harmonised dressing room, will be crucial considerations away from the cameras. On the pitch, however, this is a move that makes sense. There is flair to Cunha's game. He is forward-thinking, flashy and happy to say: 'fine, I'll do it myself'. He also trusts himself from distance, when outnumbered, and on his weaker foot. United need a player high on confidence who is willing to step up alongside Fernandes to stamp some authority on a stuttering attack, and there aren't many others in the Premier League as self-assured as him.

Dior picks Jonathan Anderson as creative director, FT reports
Dior picks Jonathan Anderson as creative director, FT reports

Yahoo

time44 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

Dior picks Jonathan Anderson as creative director, FT reports

(Reuters) - Northern Irish designer Jonathan Anderson has been named creative director of women's, men's and haute couture collections of Dior, replacing Maria Grazia Chiuri who held the role for almost a decade, the Financial Times reported on Monday. Reuters could not immediately confirm the report. Chiuri left her job as creative director of Dior women's collections, the luxury fashion brand owned by LVMH said on May, with Dior menswear designer Anderson widely tipped to take a bigger role.

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