Former Luton Town manager Rob Edwards has been appointed as Middlesbrough’s new head coach.
Michael Carrick, who was fired earlier this month, will be replaced by Edwards, 42, who will join Riverside Stadium on a three-year contract.
He was then fired by the Hatters in January, when Luton were 20th in the Championship, but he was unable to avoid being relegated from the top flight 12 months later.
His current focus is to improve the Boro team, which finished last season in 10th place, four points outside the play-off spots.
According to Edwards, “It’s a real privilege to be able to lead this outstanding football club,” he said on the club website.
He continued, “It immediately made me feel excited and that this was the right decision.” We have a really good chance here, so I wanted to go back in if I had a chance to go there.
Edwards’ managerial journey
After leading Forest Green Rovers into League One for the first time in his first EFL season as manager of AFC Telford United in the National League North and working for Wolves and England at age groups, Edwards moved up to Watford in the summer of 2022.
He didn’t stay for long at Vicarage Road, playing 11 games, to be exact, but Luton won.
Six months after signing with the Hatters at Kenilworth Road and beating Coventry City in the play-off final at Wembley, he had already coached them to the Premier League.
For the entire club, returning to the top flight for the first time in 31 years marked a significant improvement, but Luton’s promotion was only made clear on the final day of the season.
Resuming the Championship proved to be a challenge, especially if you’re away from home. After 10 straight defeats, the club and Edwards had to reconcile.
Left behind in the north-eastern region
Middlesbrough have fallen into the second tier after eight years of being in the Premier League.
Their north east rivals from the A19 had a memorable season last year, with Newcastle United winning the Carabao Cup, ending a 56-year wait for a major trophy, and Sunderland earning dramatic promotion to the Premier League.
Only two of the eight seasons have they reached the play-offs under Edwards, who is now the eighth manager or head coach to have been a part of the organization since 2017.
In Carrick’s first season, they finished fourth, but they struggled to get there in the second and third campaigns, finishing eighth and then 10th.
Ryan Reynolds, a partner at Wrexham, says he can’t wait to see Paul Mullin sporting a different kit once he’s signed for Wigan Athletic.
After spending the majority of last season’s promotion-winning campaign on the sidelines, Mullin claims he feels “sad” and “disappointed” to leave Wrexham. He has signed for the League One side for the 2025-26 season.
Given Mullin’s enormous contribution to the Red Dragons’ transition from the National League to the second tier in successive seasons, Reynolds says it will be strange to see him play elsewhere.
The Hollywood actor posted a picture of Mulls on social media that made him want to go on a loan and get another kit.
Without his heart, talent, and work ethic, “we wouldn’t be where we are.”
After leaving Cambridge United in 2021, Mullin started 110 goals in 170 games for Wrexham, but he was permanently dropped from the squad for the duration of the 2024-2005 campaign.
According to Mullin, “It was sad to leave where it was,” according to Wigan’s website.
The way that football is conducted is rather disappointing, despite the fact that you can leave clubs.
“But one door opens and one closes.” I’m prepared for the start of a chapter.
Even with the arrival of forwards Sam Smith and Jay Rodriguez in January, many Wrexham fans still have questions about why Mullin was unable to make the bench in the final few months of the previous season.
However, some pundits and supporters have been keen to pay tribute to a man who has, at least for the moment, become infamous at Stok Cae Ras.
Waynne Phillips, a former Wrexham midfielder, calls Mullin “one of the greatest players to have worn the red of Wrexham.”
“There have been so many wonderful memories over the past four years,” said BBC Wales pundit Phillips.
Reports have suggested that a ‘messy’ breakup involving the show’s creator and one of its most well-known stars could prevent the legendary ITV sitcom’s revival.
Jake Canuso (pictured with co-star Sheila Reid) is one of Benidorm’s biggest names (Image: Julian Hamilton/Daily Mirror)
Fans of hit ITV comedy Benidorm were delighted earlier this year when rumours suggested the iconic show was close to returning. Written by Derren Litten, the sitcom following holidaymakers at the Solana all-inclusive resort had been brutally axed from our TV screens back in 2018.
But rumours of a rift could scupper negotiations to bring back one of the show’s biggest stars. Jake Canuso, who played randy barman Matteo, was married to Derren, but they divorced in 2024 and the creator has now spoken out on X.
“I don’t really talk about my personal life here, but I’ve been a little quiet on social media because I’ve been going through a pretty miserable divorce for the past 18 months,” said Darren. So it’s obvious that I’m currently in poor shape. You argued, “We can’t possibly have more in common than we already do.” ! “
READ MORE: Benidorm return ‘in crisis’ after creator Derren Litten’s divorce from star Jake Canuso
The sitcom was reportedly set to return but reports suggest this could be up in the air(Image: ITV Picture Publicity)
Offscreen, the first UK visitors to Spain made their first appearance with a package holiday that included all singing and dancing in the Spanish sunshine, 70 years ago. And while recent protesters in Spain’s islands have urged tourists to leave, blaming them for the rising costs of housing, supplies, water shortages, and even climate change, Benidorm still welcomes them.
Last summer, anti-tourism protests erupted on holidaymakers in Spanish islands like Majorca, Menorca, and Ibiza. In the well-known Las Ramblas region of Barcelona, protestors were spotted chanting “tourists go home” while squirting tourists with water pistols.
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The city’s mayor, Jaume Collboni, renewed his “firm commitment” to eliminating Airbnb style short-term rentals in the city within five years. His words would have had another famous Spanish mayor, Pedro Zaragoza, turning in his grave. Appointed Mayor of Benidorm in 1950, his appointment saw the resort transformed from a fishing village into the tourist mecca we know today.
Benidorm was dubbed the “Spanish Las Vegas” for its non-stop entertainment(Image: Mirrorpix via Getty Images)
And while the first British tourists on a package holiday to Spain in 1954 went to the Costa Brava, they soon discovered that they were visiting Alicante in droves in Benidorm. Pedro fought the strict morals of the Catholic Church, becoming excommunicated while overcoming Spain’s fascist dictator General Franco, to realize his dream.
He said in one of his final interviews that he had before passing away in 2008, at the age of 85, that a plaque stating “You live from your dreams” was unveiled, and it is still in use today. When he was first elected, a former railroad porter, said Tripadvisor, Benidorm, which now has 461 hotels, was a sleepy fishing town that still relied on mule to transport goods. The town’s first step toward resortizing to the town’s wealthy residents involved installing a water supply from a distance of ten miles.
He was subject to excommunication calls in Mayor Zaragoza’s effort to make Benidorm a holiday hotspot for Brits.
He asserted that “people didn’t anticipate it.” However, one of the fountains suddenly gave birth to the first drops, which made people start to believe in me. Pedro appeared to be an unlikely influencer with his thick white moustache, receding hairline, and dark colored spectacles.
However, his ambitious plans to make Benidorm a “Sun and Beach” destination for those who reside in cooler European climates were visionary. Benidorm became the first Spanish town to break the tourism ban in 1953 when he issued a public order allowing women to wear bikinis on the beach.
The Catholic Church and other organizations reacted with fury and demanded that the mayor be excommunicated. He claimed that when I passed a decree authorizing the wearing of bikini within the town limits of Benidorm, it “caused a major scandal” throughout Spain.
The Bishop of Valencia initiated the excommunicating me, which in those days was a very serious matter and would have resulted in my losing any rights over my daughter and being barred from any positions in public office. “
Fed up with the flak he was getting, Pedro – who stayed in office until 1967 – woke one morning before dawn and set off on his trusty green Vespa scooter for a 500 km round trip to Madrid, to see the ruthless Spanish dictator Francisco Franco, and explain his bikini predicament. “I reached Madrid mid-morning and went to the palace to see Franco,” he said. “He received me and I explained what was going on. I said: ‘General, this is like trying to stop the Ebro river. It is a waste of time to fight what is going on in the world’.
The sunshine destination’s beaches are packed in the summer months(Image: Getty Images)
“And then I explained to him that I had also issued a decree outlawing any offensive remarks and zero tolerance. You’re fine if you’re showing your belly button. No dirty comments, just an elegant response like “what a beautiful figure!” Franco made sense of my contention and said, “Go home, relax, and if you have any more issues, let me know.” “
Additionally, Pedro argued that constructing tall buildings would make it easier for more people to see the coastline and breathe the sea air. From that point on, Benidorm’s marketing to Brits, who were then unknowns, was “genius” according to Keith Betton.
Early travelers reportedly worried that what they were going to experience would make them feel more “outside” than “inside” the vacation, he says. My parents used to travel to Spain, but they were concerned about the food, the currency, the language, and the other-sided road driving.
However, Benidorm quickly persuaded people that “yeah, many people here speak English, and we will happily serve bacon and eggs, and it’ll be very, very good value for money and very cheap!” The government in post-war Britain imposed restrictions on the amount of money that residents could withdraw from the country, a policy that was scrapped in the late 1970s.
It is a sun, sea, and sangria lover’s paradise, and is known as “Spanish Las Vegas” for its nonstop entertainment and “Spain’s Manhattan” for its soaring skyscrapers. It will take more than a string of protests, in Keith Betton’s opinion, to put an end to the romance between Benidorm and Brits, as he foresaw it for 20 years.
Brits last summer weren’t abetted by reports of a deadly virus known as Crimean Congo haemorrhagic fever, according to Keith. He continues, “I don’t think that the recent wave of reports about Brits not being very welcome in Spain and all the medical scare stories are going to have any impact on holidaymakers going to Spain and places like Benidorm.” He is probably correct when he says that there were more than 18 million Brits visiting Spain last year.
Early pioneers in the resort helped nervous holidaymakers by making it a home from home(Image: Mirrorpix via Getty Images)
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With its 5 km of coastline, endless sandy beaches, 60 plus skyscrapers, some of which are over 100 meters high, one of the best climates in the Mediterranean, and opportunities for nonstop fun, today’s location looks like a favorite for British tourists for many years to come.
Whether it is supported by fact or imagination, the truth is that Spain will always be the number one package holiday destination for people to spend a week or two in the sun because it’s close to home, has good sunshine, people there generally speak English, and is typically very tourist friendly. Keith, who spoke on TV more than 1,000 times about travel news and changes during his two decades at ABTA, continues: “Whether it is a top package holiday destination, where people go for their week or two weeks in the sun,
A peace agreement between Tiv and Fulani tribes in Taraba State’s Gassol Local Government Area was facilited by the Commander 6 Brigade of the Nigerian Army/Sector 3 Operation Whirl Stroke Brigadier General Kingsley Uwa.
The state’s efforts to promote peaceful coexistence among its various communities are reflected in the peace pact’s signing, which emphasizes the value of nonkinetic measures in resolving conflicts and strengthening relations with the state.
Following rising tensions and unresolved communal disputes between the Tiv and Fulani ethnic groups, the meeting was held at the 6 Brigade Headquarters Conference Room in Jalingo to discuss a sustainable course to peace.
The Brigade commander warned against breaking the law while holding the meeting. He also criticized the violent cycle.
He emphasized that no one or entity is required by the Constitution to carry out justice outside the law’s bounds.
All parties should serve as peace-promoting agents of development in their communities, according to Captain Olubodunde Oni, the acting assistant director of 6 Brigade, Nigerian Army Public Relations.
READ MORE: Troops Destroy Bandits Camp, Recover Ammunition In Taraba
He argued that a sense of coherence and mutual respect is the only way to achieve true security, growth, and prosperity.
The parties involved in the conflict agreed to support stability, encourage regular dialogue, and refrain from using their neighborhoods as a shield for criminal activity.
They pledged to provide timely information to security agencies and work together to stop conflict from re-emerging.
Abubakar Usman, the council’s chairman, praised the 6 Brigade Commander for initiating the peace process in the name of the Gassol communities. He praised the sacrifices and persistent efforts made by the Nigerian Army to keep peace and stability in the area, particularly the troops in the 6 Brigade.
Russia and Ukraine have swapped further drone attacks, with at least 10 people reportedly killed in Moscow’s attacks.
Strikes were reported overnight on Tuesday in several areas of Ukraine, killing three people, as well as in Moscow. Later in the day, a Russian attack killed at least seven people in the city of Dnipro.
The attacks are the latest in a series of intensifying hostilities as the efforts of the United States to broker a ceasefire have stalled, with Russia appearing eager to take advantage while the war between Israel and Iran dominates global attention.
A Russian attack on a village in Sumy killed an eight-year-old boy and two adults and injured three others, the military administration of the region said.
Drone strikes also wounded five people in Kharkiv and four others in the Dnipropetrovsk region, local authorities said.
The attacks came a day after a “massive” missile and drone strike on Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, killed at least 10 people.
“The strike took the lives of people from different families,” the military administration said on Telegram regarding the Sumy attack. “They all lived on the same street. They went to sleep in their homes. But Russian drones interrupted their sleep – forever.”
At least seven people were killed later on Tuesday as a Russian missile struck Dnipro.
“Around 70 people were wounded, including 10 children,” Governor Sergiy Lysak announced on social media.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha said the strikes on Dnipro were “a rejection of peace”.
“While leaders gather in The Hague for the NATO summit, Russia sends a message of terror and rejection of peace,” Sybiha said on social media.
He called on Kyiv’s allies to “step up pressure on Moscow” as the military alliance gathered for a summit at which members are expected to agree to boost military spending.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to meet US President Donald Trump to discuss support for Kyiv and the bid to secure a ceasefire.
The Kremlin, meanwhile, accused NATO of demonising Russia to justify militarisation.
Ukraine has also stepped up its drone attacks on a wide range of targets in Russia in recent months.
Russia said a Ukrainian drone had targeted a residential building in Moscow overnight, wounding two people, including a pregnant woman, and triggering a fire.
Andrei Vorobyov, the governor of the Moscow region, said the drone started a fire on the 17th floor of the building in the town of Krasnogorsk, west of the capital.
“About 100 people were evacuated from the building, including 30 children,” Vorobyov said, adding that the injured were receiving treatment at a hospital.
Russia’s air defence units destroyed 20 Ukrainian drones overnight, including two over the Moscow region, local news agencies reported, citing Russian Ministry of Defence data.
Russia currently occupies about a fifth of Ukraine and claims to have annexed four Ukrainian regions as its own since launching its invasion in 2022, in addition to Crimea, which it captured in 2014.
Trump had promised to swiftly end the war while on his campaign trail last year, but his diplomatic attempts have not resulted in a ceasefire so far.
While Washington succeeded in bringing the two sides together for direct talks last month, little progress was made, and no meetings have taken place in the last three weeks.
Lateysha Grace, a reality star, admitted to being “so scared” when her six-month-old daughter, Navy, was struggling to breathe, leading to an emergency hospitalization.
Big Brother star, Lateysha Grace, rushed her baby daughter, Navy, to hospital(Image: Getty Images)
Celebrity Big Brother star, Lateysha Grace, rushed her baby daughter to hospital on Saturday after a “heartbreaking” health scare. The mum-of-three, 32, who found fame on Welsh reality show, The Valleys, in 2012, posted a snap of her six-month-old, Navy, in hospital, revealing that the tot had been struggling to breathe.
Lateysha urged other parents to go straight to A&, E if their child had similar symptoms and explained that she couldn’t “take her eyes off” her “brave baby girl,” who had been diagnosed with bronchitis and croup. She explained the tot, who had received three nebuliser rounds and two steroids, when she captured a photo of Navy Storm, that her heart rate was “through the roof” due to her temperature. She must be so heartbreaking to see this.
Lateysha Grace, told fans she was ‘so scared’ when her six-month-old baby daughter, Navy, was struggling to breathe(Image: @lateysha_grace/Instagram)
She apologized to her followers, “Sorry I’ve been so MIA guys.” On Friday night, the weather turned a negative for the Navy, which kept us hospitalized until Saturday.
“It was sprightly. She was given a bronchitis and croup blessing.
She continued, “I’m going to add a video of her breathing to warn other parents to go straight to A&, E if their child has similar symptoms.” She continued, “I’m going to share a video of her breathing to help other parents.
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Little Navy was diagnosed with bronchitis and croup(Image: @lateysha_grace/Instagram)
Thankfully, the mother-of-three acknowledged that little Navy is now “so much better,” adding, “She’s on the mend now.” She breathes much better. She is now drinking her milk, and she is no longer at her temperature.
According to Lateysha, who is also the mother of Winter, nine, and Layke, two-year-old, she had it for a few days prior, and day four or five is the worst because both days were spent in the hospital. So check your baby’s health even if they have the tiniest of coughs and colds.
She had no temperature, drank plenty of water, and was sleeping normally at first, but I honestly assumed it was nothing.
Thankfully, Lateysha said her daughter is ‘so much better’(Image: @lateysha_grace/Instagram)
Lateysha, who waited until she was seven months pregnant to announce her third pregnancy after suffering a miscarriage in 2022, posted another photo of Navy, clutching a pink toy in her hospital bed, saying she ‘couldn’t take her eyes off her’.
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She recalled the heartbreaking image, saying, “I didn’t sleep for the entire 24 hours!” I was unable to take her off my radar. I’m so happy I listened to my gut and took her!
After appearing on Celebrity Big Brother in 2016, Lateysha bagged her own MTV series called Million Dollar Baby. She has also starred in reality shows, Ex On The Beach and Just Tattoo Of Us.
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