Archive May 28, 2025

Kym Marsh is seen departing the Coronation Street studios following soap return rumours

By in Entertainment News, News

Fans have rumors that Kym Marsh might be returning to the Granada Studios in Manchester, where a former Coronation Street star has been spotted there.

Michelle Connor played a key role in Coronation Street, but Kym Marsh is best known for that role.

Kym Marsh, the former Coronation Street star, was spotted leaving the show’s Manchester studios on Wednesday, sparking rumours of a potential return. The 48 year old actress, dressed casually in a grey hoodie and black leggings, was seen exiting the building with a male friend.

Marsh, who first gained fame as a member of Hear’Say, kept warm in a black padded coat and finished her look with white trainers. She portrayed Michelle Connor on the popular soap from 2006 to 2019, earning the British Soap Award for Best Newcomer for her performance.

However, insiders close to the show have confirmed that Marsh currently has no plans to reprise her role.

Kym Marsh was spotted leaving the studios in Manchester, fueling speculation about her potential return to Coronation Street for a reprise of her role
Kym Marsh was spotted leaving the studios in Manchester, fueling speculation about her potential return to Coronation Street for a reprise of her role(Image: Splashnews.com)

Earlier this year, in an interview with The Sun, Marsh hinted at a possible return to the cobbles, stating she would never rule it out. She said: “I’d never say never to going back as I absolutely adore Coronation Street and I had some of my best years there.

On that show, I made a lot of friends and learned a lot. But I left to sort of work on other things, and I’m still working on them, maybe one day!

Her character, Michelle, left the show in 2019 after discovering her fiancé, Robert Preston, had fathered a child with Vicky Jefferies. In a twist, she partnered with Vicky to con Robert out of their co-owned Bistro, selling it to an unknown buyer.

However, she was shocked to discover the new owner was Ray Crosby, a disreputable businessman who had previously made unwanted advances towards her. In a fit of rage, Michelle trashed the Bistro before being stopped by Carla Connor.

Michelle takes a taxi to Ireland with her parents after a tearful farewell to her family, including her sons Ryan and Ali, and issuing a warning about Ray.

This follows the announcement that the boss of Coronation Street and Emmerdale is leaving after 27 years with ITV. Earlier this month, ITV announced that John Whiston, Managing Director of Continuing Drama and Head of ITV in the North, will retire at the end of the month.

With a 40-year television career and a 27-year stint with the channel, he will be felt having previously worked on programs like The Chase, Vera, and Heartbeat, and is currently in charge of soap operas.

Matt Cleary and Iain MacLeod are both expected to take on John. John said in a news release, “I’ve always said I’ve got the best job in television.” In case ITV stopped paying me, I used to say it in secret. Working on the soaps for the past ten or so has been nothing short of an honor and a blast. We’ve had seasons in the sun, we’ve had fun, and we’ve had joy. Mayhem and misery have also occurred in our area. There have been floods, auto accidents, and tram accidents. Stories have suffocated your heart until you could see tears coming out of your eyes.

Robert Preston [TRISTAN GEMMILL], Michelle Connor [KYM MARSH] and Ryan Connor [RYAN PRESCOTT].
Kym asserts that returning to the cobbles will never be her last wish.

And we’ve handled almost everything that people face in their own lives with care and humanity. The 600 or so people who have maintained the show’s airtime and quality day in and day out, including the writers, crew, cast, and editorial, are responsible for all of this. And it’s them, too, that have made my job incredibly simple. Don’t tell ITV, just keep quiet.

The future of our ITV Soaps is “set fair,” thanks to the appointment of Iain MacLeod as Creative Director and Matt Cleary as Chief Operating Officer.

Continue reading the article.

Therefore, I just want to say thank you to my colleagues, ITV, and our devoted, appreciative audience.

Iain will ascend to the position of Creative Director after serving as the Continuing Drama Executive Producer. He will be responsible for producing the two well-known soaps in all aspects of editorial terms. Matt will assume the position of COO for Continuing Drama and will be responsible for making sure everything runs smoothly while also being director of production for UK Scripted for ITV Studios.

Harvard University agrees to transfer ownership of slavery photographs

By in News, World News

The pictures feature some of the country’s oldest photographs of enslaved people.

However, a multi-year legal battle has raged over the descendants of an African man known as Renty and his daughter Delia over the value of slavery.

The institution that held the 175-year-old photographs, Harvard University, reached a settlement that would end its ownership of the images on Wednesday, drawing to a close.

The International African American Museum, a newly opened educational institution in Charleston, South Carolina, will be the recipient of the daguerreotypes, which have a special connection to the transatlantic slave trade because it was the first port of entry for enslaved people entering North America in the past.

Tamara Lanier, a woman from Connecticut who claims she is Renty’s great-great-great-granddaughter, brought the settlement as the crowning the crowning achievement of the lawsuit.

She filed a lawsuit against Harvard in 2019 for the “wrongful seizure, possession, and expropriation” of the images, which are part of a collection of 15 daguerrotypes created to support white supremacist ideas.

In the lawsuit, Lanier claimed that Harvard made money off of the photos from licensing deals and reprints of books and conferences’ covers. She had requested that Harvard pay damages for the photos, acknowledge their ties to slavery in the US, and return them to her.

In addition to the settlement on Wednesday, Harvard did not confirm Lanier’s claims regarding the photographs. However, it did agree to an undisclosed financial arrangement.

The agreement marked a turning point in the fight against slavery, according to Lanier’s legal team and others.

The International African American Museum’s CEO, Tonya M. Matthews, praised Ms. Lanier’s bravery, tenacity, and grace throughout the lengthy and difficult process of returning these significant pieces of Renty and Delia’s story to South Carolina.

The museum vowed to consult with Lanier about how Renty and Delia’s portraits should be displayed.

origins of the images

In South Carolina, people were shot in the daguerreotypes in 1850 using people from forced agricultural labor sites called plantations.

The images were taken by Joseph Zealy, a photographer hired by a Harvard biologist named Louis Agassiz, in order to support a racist theory. According to Agassiz, “polygenism” is the fabricated notion that white people were genetically superior to other races and that different races came from different ancestries.

Renty, Delia, and other forcibly enslaved people were stripped to their waists for the portrait-style daguerreotypes. Then, with some cameras facing the way, others with profiles, they were all captured.

People are forced to stand completely naked in front of the camera in several of the daguerrotypes.

The Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard eventually housed the daguerreotypes, which remained in the dust for nearly a century. The images were discovered in a museum cabinet in 1976, however, by a museum curator named Ellie Reichlin, who gained them new recognition.

Renty’s image, for instance, was used on the backs of books, at conferences, and in articles, which raised questions about whether the reprints were dehumanizing him repeatedly and who ought to own his image.

According to Harvard University, which has long claimed profit from images like Renty and Delia’s, it only charges a “nominal” fee for reprints.

Lanier said she first discovered Renty and Delia’s images while researching the history of her family. Before discovering the daguerrotypes, she claimed to have grown up with “Papa Renty” stories.

Lanier claims that she was repeatedly rejected when she attempted to tell Harvard about her family history. She eventually filed a lawsuit, contending that Harvard could not be the owner of the pictures because they were subject to restraint.

According to the lawsuit, “To Agassiz, Renty, and Delia were nothing more than research specimens.” He would not have thought it would have mattered if he had been forced to participate in a degrading exercise to demonstrate their own subhuman status.

On Lanier’s behalf, dozens of Agassiz’s heirs wrote a letter to Harvard to “acknowledge and redress the harm done by Louis Agassiz.”

Years of litigation

In the beginning, Harvard fought to dismiss Lanier’s lawsuit, and in 2021, Middlesex County Superior Court Judge Camille Sarrouf Jr. sided with the university.

Judge Sarrouf stated that the photographer had no control over the copies produced, despite acknowledging the vile conditions under which the photos were taken.

Whatever the origins of the photograph may be, the law, in its current form, does not grant the subject of a photo a property interest, according to Sarrouf.

The Massachusetts Supreme Court, however, reached a different conclusion in 2022, choosing Lanier as the case. It cleared the way for more legal hearings on the subject, allowing for further legal proceedings in 2021 to dismiss Lanier’s claim.

The state court criticized Harvard for its “complicity in the horrifying actions surrounding the creation of the daguerreotypes” and wrote, “We conclude that Harvard’s present obligations cannot be divorced from its past abuses.”

The court determined that the university should have taken “reasonable care” in responding to her concerns once Lanier had explained her understanding that the daguerreotypes accurately depicted her ancestors.

Since then, a lawsuit has been filed regarding the photos’ fate, but Harvard itself has faced additional difficulties in the wake of the state supreme court’s decision.

In response to President Donald Trump’s growing conflict with the prestigious Ivy League institution, all of its federal contracts and grants have been frozen or canceled over the past few months.

The school has denied using discriminatory practices for student admissions and hiring, as the Republican leader has claimed.

Harvard cited its obligation to protect its academic freedom as the Trump administration’s demands for more control over campus activities. Trump has also been criticized for attempting to stifle protest and dissent on US campuses.

The ongoing political standoff led to Wednesday’s settlement. The settlement was an “unprecedented” victory, Lanier’s lawyer Joshua Koskoff told The Associated Press.

“To have a case that dates back 175 years, to have control over images of enslaved people — that’s never happened before,” Koskoff said.

He did, however, express regret over Lanier’s assertions about the pictures and slavery-related claims that the school did not address them directly.

Meanwhile, Harvard said in a statement that it has “long been eager to place the Zealy Daguerreotypes with another museum or other public institution” to increase their accessibility.

Fans arrested after clashes before Conference League final

By in News, Sports News
Images courtesy of Getty

Before the Uefa Conference League final, Riot police in the Polish city of Wroclaw halted verbal altercations between Chelsea and Real Betis fans using a water cannon.

On Wednesday afternoon, hundreds of supporters clashed in Wroclaw Market Square, with Lower Silesian Police reporting that 28 supporters had been detained.

Police said that number would increase, with ongoing fan arrests being made.

At Stadion Wroclaw, at 20:00 BST, will be the third-tier European competition’s final.

More than 70, 000 fans are expected to show up in the city in south-west Poland for the final, according to local authorities, including those who are fans of fan zones and other events.

Through the city’s four main fan zones are expected to pass tens of thousands of fans.

After the conflict broke out after 3 p.m. local time, Lower Silesian Police posted on X that “the police very quickly intervened to break the two groups and stop the escalation of aggressive behavior.”

“The officers used direct coercion and technical means, such as a water cannon.” No injuries have been reported from the investigations so far.

They later stated in a statement that “We can confirm the arrest of 28 people in the incident.” No one will ever be free of legal retribution, and the police will take appropriate action.

Near Solny Square on Tuesday evening, Chelsea and Betis supporters braced several times during altercation.

Riot police dispersed the crowds with tear gas before going over. As the confrontation lasted for about five minutes, glass bottles and chairs were thrown.

Two more incidents of violence occurred in the evening, with no serious injuries being reported in the evening. Four Spanish supporters, among them, were among the seven supporters who were detained.

“On our streets, there is zero tolerance for violence”! Donald Tusk, the prime minister of Poland, posted an article on X.

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  • Chelsea
  • Premier League
  • Football
  • Real Betis

‘Maybe what we need’ – Man Utd booed off after defeat in Malaysia

By in News, Sports News
Reuters
Simon Stone
Kuala Lumpur’s chief football news reporter
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After losing to the ASEAN All-Stars, Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim thinks it will make sense for his players to leave Kuala Lumpur with the sound of boos ringing in their ears.

The Premier League team flew 6,600 miles to Malaysia only to discover there was no respite from their troubles after winning over Aston Villa on Sunday, which came to an end to a desperate campaign.

In the opening game of their post-season tour to Asia, United’s old goalscoring failings struck again less than 24 hours after Wolves’ striker Matheus Cunha was cleared to undergo a medical before completing a £62.5m move to Old Trafford.

A second-half goal from Myanmar’s Maung Maung Lwin earned the South East Asia XI victory in front of a total of 72,550 people at the Bukit Jalil Stadium, causing boos from the majority of the fans who had paid up to £260 to watch United play their first home game there since 2009 to a significant portion of the crowd.

Since the first game I was here, Amorim said, “I always feel bad for the team’s performance.”

“We need the boos, maybe because the fans were present every game we lost in the Premier League,” he said. Every time we finished, I felt like the supporters were there. Watch out for the upcoming season.

The United manager firmly stated: “You have to wait for that for the next season. ” He refused to provide any updates on the Cunha situation.

It should be discussed by you guys (the media). Nothing that I won’t confirm. There isn’t anything new.

“We will see,” according to the statement. “There will be some changes.”

United’s worst campaign since the 1973-1974 relegation season ended in 15th place overall, with 42 points.

To avoid being eliminated from the Champions League next season, they also lost to Tottenham 1-0 in the Europa League final in Bilbao.

The trip, which is scheduled for September, will likely bring in about $10 million (£7.8 million) for the club, which comes at the conclusion of a United campaign that includes all competitions.

Fernandes will travel to Hong Kong with the squad next week and United will anticipate a Delap decision.

Manchester United winger Alejandro GarnachoEPA

United’s rebuilding is moving along at a rapid pace despite Amorim’s refusal to provide any information regarding the Cunha situation.

Tom Heaton, a veteran back-up goalkeeper, is set to sign a one-year contract extension, while United are waiting to find out next week whether their efforts to sign Ipswich striker Liam Delap have succeeded.

Delap has attracted a lot of interest since Ipswich’s promotion to the top of the championship to the tune of £30 million.

Delap’s decision is believed to be between Chelsea and United, and the player wants to be resolved before the European Under-21 Championships this summer.

On June 6, England U21 coach Lee Carsley will announce his squad for the five-day tournament that will begin in Slovakia.

Bruno Fernandes, the captain, is traveling to Hong Kong with the rest of the squad for the final leg of United’s Asia trip on Friday, but it is not known whether a big-money offer from Saudi Arabia might turn him in.

Despite being told he can find a new club, winger Alejandro Garnacho will also be traveling with the airline.

Chief Executive Omar Berrada stated in an interview with United’s media before the defeat that the team had a vision for their goals.

He said, “I can’t give specifics, but I can assure you that we have been planning for every scenario for a while.”

“Now that we know what we need to do, we have a very clear idea of where to put money into the squad to grow.”

Now it’s just a matter of carrying out that plan while also pursuing ambition.

If Delap joins United, Rasmus Hojlund’s future will become a hot topic.

Hojlund made 32 Premier League starts this year, scoring four goals, leaving Amorim hoping that some sort of change will take place in the Dane’s form over the summer.

He said, “Sometimes you take a vacation and then you return [back] on the first day, start a new season, and even the environment on the training ground can help all these players have more confidence.”

We do not have any objectives, they say. We’ll make an effort to assess and prepare for that.

The 40, 000-capacity Hong Kong stadium has about 10,000 tickets still to sell for Friday’s game.

Amorim drew on his experiences as a Benfica-supporting youngster in Portugal to explain why local fans should pay to watch United after seeing what they had just witnessed.

He said, “If you can afford it, which is important, then you support your club.”

I was a member of my club when I was a young child, and I always had it.

“Before Benfica in the 1990s, they had a lot of trouble supporting them.” But I kept going.

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  • Manchester United
  • Football

JK Rowling breaks silence on Harry Potter child stars casting for HBO reboot

By in Entertainment News, News

Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, respectively, are the characters playing the title role in HBO Max’s Harry Potter reboot.

J.K. Rowling has shared her thoughts on the latest Harry Potter reboot casting news(Image: Getty Images for Warner Bros.)

Author J. K. Rowling has addressed the casting of three actors in the roles of the title character, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley in the TV reboot of Harry Potter. It comes after the news about the HBO series was shared yesterday.

It was revealed that Dominic McLaughlin will portray Harry Potter in the show, with Arabella Stanton and Alastair Stout cast as Hermione and Ron respectively. There had been an open casting call for actors aged between 9 and 11.

Author Rowling, 59, who is the upcoming series’ executive producer, discussed the casting in a post on X last night. A fan who backed the three cast members was speaking out against her.

They tagged the author, saying, “Please let us know that Dominic, Arabella, and Alistair are already adored by the fandom and we can’t wait to see the show!” We wish them the very best of luck and a magical time.

In her response to the post, Rowling called the cast members “wonderful,” calling them Dominic, Arabella, and Alastair. She responded to the fan’s message on the platform by saying, “All three are wonderful. I couldn’t be happier.

Arabella Stanton, Dominic McLaughlin and Alastair Stout in a promo photo in a field for the Harry Potter TV reboot.
J.K. Rowling has shared her thoughts on Arabella Stanton (left), Dominic McLaughlin (centre) and Alastair Stout (right) being cast as Hermione Granger, Harry Potter and Ron Weasley(Image: HBO/Warner Bros.)

Dominic, Arabella and Alastair follow in the footsteps of Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint, who previously played literary characters Harry, Hermione and Ron on-screen. The trio appeared in the Harry Potter film series, which ran for eight films from 2001 to 2011.

The praise of the new cast by Rowling comes two months after she was thought to have made a dig at Radcliffe, Watson and Grint in a post. Responding to a question that asked which actor instantly ruins a movie, Rowling – who has disagreed with some former Harry Potter stars over her views on the transgender community in recent years – said: “Three guesses. Sorry, but that was irresistible.” She then used laughing emojis.

The upcoming TV show has been referred to as a “faithful adaptation” of her book series. According to speculation, the cast of the show will “lead a new generation of fandom, full of the fantastic detail and much-loved characters Harry Potter fans have adored for over 25 years.”

Since its announcement, there has been rumors about potential cameos for actors from the movie series. However, Radcliffe previously rejected the idea in a 2023 interview with ComicBook.com.

Rupert Grint, J.K. Rowling, Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson at a film premiere in 2001.
The roles, created by Rowling (centre left), were first played on-screen by Emma Watson (right), Daniel Radcliffe (centre right) and Rupert Grint (left) in the Harry Potter film series(Image: Getty Images)

According to Radcliffe, “I’m aware that they’re trying to very much start fresh,” and whoever is creating them will want to make their own mark on it and probably won’t figure out how to make old Harry come out in this somewhere. I do wish them the best of luck, and I’m very happy that the torch has been passed, obviously.

Showrunner Francesca Gardiner and fellow executive producer Mark Mylod announced the casting of our Harry, Hermione, and Ron following the most recent casting news, according to showrunner Francesca Gardiner. We can’t wait to see these three exceptional actors work their magic onscreen, and this is a wonderful sight to see their talent.

We would like to thank all the tens of thousands of children who auditioned, they added in a statement shared alongside the casting announcement. The abundance of young talent out there has been a real treat to me.

It was previously revealed that John Lithgow, Janet McTeer, Paapa Essiedu and Nick Frost will be series regulars, with them playing Albus Dumbledore, Minerva McGonagall, Severus Snape and Rubeus Hagrid respectively. Other cast members include Luke Thallon as Quirinus Quirrell, whilst Paul Whitehouse will appear as Argus Filch in the upcoming show.

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‘I don’t think they have daughters’ – French Open night session debate reignites

By in News, Sports News
Images courtesy of Getty
Paul Battison
Journalist for BBC Sport

When Jack Draper and Gael Monfils square off at the French Open on Thursday, a shocking statistic will once more come to mind. The clay-court Grand Slam should do more to promote the women’s game, in light of this.

A women’s singles match hasn’t been on Court Philippe Chatrier’s primetime night slot since 2023, which totals 19 matches in a row.

Only four matches have been played from the women’s draw since the tournament started hosting night sessions in 2021.

The imbalance, which former world number two Ons Jabeur believes has an impact on women’s sport as a whole, is striking and regularly in the news.

It’s unfortunate for all women’s sports. Following her first-round exit on Tuesday, Jabeur, a three-time Grand Slam champion, said, “Not for tennis, but in general.”

“I hope whoever makes the decision doesn’t believe their daughters want to be treated this way.

It’s a little ironic, I say. They don’t broadcast women’s tennis, they don’t broadcast women’s tennis, and they then ask, “Ok, but most of the time, they watch men. They will naturally notice more because you show them more. Everything comes together.

Aryna Sabalenka’s fourth-round victory over Sloane Stephens two years ago was the final women’s singles game to take place at Roland Garros that evening.

The French Tennis Federation (FFT) did not respond to Jabeur’s comments with a response.

On Monday, FFT President Gilles Moretton defended the tournament’s schedule.

Moretton said, “Sometimes, we need to put the better match, we think could be for the spectators, for the night session.”

I don’t know, maybe there will be many female matches on the night sessions. We’ll see if. Depends on the schedule, which team will play which, and which match will be the best.

Holger Rune, the 12th seed of Denmark, takes on Emilio Nava, the world number 137, in the Roland Garross on Wednesday night.

What other people have said about “I like playing days”?

Only four of the 44 matches to take place under the direction of Court Philippe Chatrier have been women’s singles encounters since 2021:

  • 2021: Serena Williams defeated Irina-Camelia Begu in the first round, and Marta Kostyuk defeated Marta Kostyuk in the fourth round.
  • Second-round victory over Jelena Ostapenko in 2022 by Alize Cornet
  • Sabalenka’s victory in the fourth round against Stephens in 2023

The WTA advised all combined tournaments to offer a balanced match schedule that showcases the best of both men’s and women’s tennis, and in premium scheduling slots, according to the WTA.

Fans of women’s tennis’s current generation and depth of talent are extraordinary, and they deserve and also anticipate the opportunity to witness these elite performances, athleticism, and excitement on the sport’s biggest stages.

Swiatek emphasized her preference for daytime play on Tuesday.

“We discuss it every year.” My position is unchangeable. She said, “I enjoy playing days, so I’m happy that I’m done and can take a longer break.”

Coco Gauff, the second-seeded American, suggested that more women could compete in the evening session, which was similar to Swiatek’s contention that women shouldn’t play too late.

Maybe there could be a women’s match if there is only one game scheduled for 8:15 p.m., said Gauff.

Analysis of “Organizers don’t want it to change”

Jonathan Jurejko
The tennis news correspondent for BBC Sport

Over the past few years, discussions about the gender imbalance in the French Open night sessions have become a regular theme.

Why hasn’t anything else, then? Because of the pressure, Roland Garros organizers are reluctant to put it off.

The primetime slot on Amazon Prime, which airs across France, only has one match.

The Australian Open and US Open both use two-night matches, but both risk stretching the play into the early morning hours of the next morning.

Amelie Mauresmo, a former women’s world number one, points out that having just one match is the main reason for her choices in defending her choices.

related subjects

  • Tennis