Yasmeen Metcalfe (Shelley King) says an emotional goodbye to Coronation Street next week as the character bows out after 10 years.

Earlier this year, it was revealed actress Shelley King had quit her role on the ITV soap.

Yasmeen’s exit storyline gets underway on Friday when she announces to her granddaughter and business partner Alya Nazir (Sair Khan) that she’s been offered a job working for a charity in London and wants to sell her share in Speed Daal.

She manages to get a quick sale on the restaurant, as by next week, Yasmeen has already managed to offload her share to a familiar face.

Alya is surprised when the identity of her new business partner is revealed, as Yasmeen makes the final preparations for her big move.

On Monday, she shares an heartfelt goodbye with her granddaughter and makes her exit from Weatherfield after an eventual decade.

But for Alya, it looks like it will be far from plain sailing with her new co-owner.

She arrives at work the following day and is furious to discover that the menu has already been changed.

Ripping it up, Alya then attempts to stamp her authority on her new business partner – is this a taste of things to come?

Actress Shelley filmed her final scenes as Yasmeen back in December, with an insider telling Metro: ‘Shelley spoke to producers early last year and advised that after 10 years on the show and being involved in many major storylines during the past decade she had decided the time has come for her to explore other opportunities.

‘Shelley is an accomplished stage and television actress and we fully understand her desire to take her career in another direction after 10 years playing the same role.’

During her time on the show, Shelley’s biggest storyline saw her pull in awards and critical acclaim as Yasmeen was coercively and physically abused by her vile husband Geoff Metcalfe (Ian Bartholomew).

Geoff died at the end of the plot and Yasmeen would later embark on a romance with Stu Carpenter (Bill Fellows), but he departed the street to take up a job offer in Germany last year.

One of Europe’s largest spiders was spotted in a delivery of olives from Spain this week, startling a nursery owner.

The Spanish funnel-web spider is a venomous species with a ‘huge appetite’, and surprisingly made an appearance in West Sussex after a shipment of olives from Cordoba was unloaded.

The nursery owner, who asked not to be named, said: ‘My son, who was driving the forklift, saw it when he drove past. He just saw it out of the corner of his eye walking slowly across the yard. He rang me and said there’s something big just walked across the yard and under a pot.’

The father and son shared a photo of the spider with arachnologists on Facebook, and quickly discovered it was a Spanish funnel-web spider, or Macrothele calpeiana.

A 1989 description of the species from the British Arachnological Society called it ‘Europe’s largest spider’, and also being ‘aggressive’ when disturbed. The creatures can grow up to three inches in diameter – much larger than the average British spider.

The nursery owner added: ‘Honestly, we’re a nursery so we see bugs and spiders all the time,’ he added. But the size?

‘That was the only thing. It was impressive.’

The spider has now been taken in by Jack Casson, a spider enthusiast from Hartlepool, who said the species builds elaborate webs – with the entrance shaped like a funnel, giving it the name.

‘The spider looks to be female, is settling in very well and has already started webbing up her enclosure to make herself feel at home.

‘She has a huge appetite, having eaten five crickets since I took her in. My girlfriend has named her Bessie.’

He said, though the spider is venomous, it can’t kill humans – though a bite would hurt a lot.

‘Spiders are hugely misunderstood creatures and I hope that people reading this will look at them in a more positive light,’ he said.

‘None of our UK spiders are medically significant and the last thing a spider wants to do is bite a human hundreds of times its own size. We’re simply not on the menu and spiders don’t go around biting people willy nilly, contrary to popular belief, it seems.

‘Next time you see a spider about your home, let it go about its business. And thank it for the free pest control it provides, by helping keep at bay the bugs that actually do seek out humans to feed on.’

Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong threw shade at Vice President JD Vance by changing the lyrics of one of their hit songs

The pop punk band – which consists of lead singer Billy, bass player Mike Dirnt, and drummer Tré Cool – are currently performing Down Under as part of their Saviors tour.

During the band’s set in Melbourne on March 1, Billie Joe, 53, hit out at JD Vance, who is currently serving as President Donald Trump‘s second-in-command.

While performing their 2004 hit Jesus of Suburbia, Green Day switched the lyrics from ‘Am I r******d or am I just overjoyed?’ to ‘Am I r******d or am I just JD Vance?’.

And the jabs didn’t end their as Later on, Billie took aim at the Us President and Tesla founder Elon Musk, asking the Australian audience: “Don’t you want Elon Musk to shut the f**k up? Don’t you want Donald Trump to shut the f**k up?”

This isn’t the first time musician Billie has expressed his dislike for President Trump.

In the lead-up to the 2024 US Presidential elections,the Boulevard of Broken Dreams hitmaker urged fans to vote for Kamala Harris instead.

He penned at the time: ‘Vote for Harris. I think there’s probably a lot of things that people disagree with, but the one thing that we do agree on, is Trump has got to go and we need to turn the page.’

Elsewhere, the pop-punk band Green Day recently took action by cancelling their by scrapping the final show of their Australian Saviors Tour, which was due to take place on Wednesday (March 5) at Robina Stadium in Gold Coast, Queensland, due to the tornado.

The group, made up of Billie Joe Armstrong, Tré Cool and Mike Dirnt, confirmed the news in a statement shared on the Robina Stadium’s official Instagram.

‘Hey Australia, unfortunately due to circumstances out of our control, tomorrow’s Gold Coast show has been cancelled,’ they wrote.

‘With Cyclone Alfred bringing some seriously nasty weather, it’s just not possible to go ahead safely.’

Cyclone Alfred is expected to be the first such extreme storm to impact Queensland in more than 50 years, with wind speeds of up to 130km/h and expected rainfall of 450mm in the space of three days.

While the TV show still has at least one more season in it, it sounds like The Last Of Us fans shouldn’t hold their breath for any new games.

It’s been commonly assumed that The Last Of Us Part 3 will be a thing at some point, especially after the series’ notoriety ballooned thanks to the TV show and the last game ended on a relatively ambiguous note.

However, series co-creator and creative director Neil Druckmann has flipped back and forth on the possibility and it’s been difficult to be tell whether he’s being honest or just coy.

In 2021, Druckmann said he had an outline for a third game’s plot, but he seemed to have lost interest by 2023, saying the sequel would only happen if it had a ‘compelling’ story. Then, in 2024, he said he had finally landed on an ‘exciting’ concept, adding there was ‘probably one more chapter to the story.’

Now, it appears Druckmann has flipped the other way again, going so far as to suggest that he and developer Naughty Dog are very much done with The Last Of Us altogether.

Recently, Druckmann and his fellow executive producer on The Last Of Us TV show, Craig Mazin, sat down with Variety to discuss the upcoming second season, which will be adapting the storyline of The Last Of Us Part 2.

Naturally, the subject of The Last Of Us Part 3 was brought up, which Druckmann sounds tired of hearing about, given the big sigh he apparently let out in response.

‘I was waiting for this question. I guess the only thing I would say is don’t bet on there being more of Last Of Us. This could be it,’ was all Druckmann said, implying not just that there’ll never be a third game, but that there may be no new The Last Of Us games period.

Even the TV show isn’t intended to last forever. Although the second game’s more expansive plot means Druckmann and Mazin plan to split it across multiple seasons, they haven’t decided how many are required and it likely won’t be many.

‘It feels like we’ve got one or two more seasons,’ said Mazin. ‘It’s getting harder to make, because every episode gets big. You don’t want to wait four years for a 17-episode finish, or whatever it is.’

What is Naughty Dog making next?

As far as video games go, Druckmann is far more preoccupied with Naughty Dog’s next project, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet. Announced during The Game Awards last year, it’s set to be another action adventure title, albeit with an 80s inspired sci-fi setting.

Naughty Dog has said that it has at least one other single-player game in development, but it now sounds like that isn’t The Last Of Us Part 3.

Part of the problem may simply be the amount of time it takes to make new games. Depending on when work started, Intergalactic probably won’t be out for two or three years and if it was to start from scratch now The Last Of Us Part 3 would take at least five or six years to make.

Especially given he seems more interested in TV and movies at the moment, Druckmann may be concerned at the idea of spending such a huge amount of time working on yet another sequel – which is one of the reasons why the God Of War reboot has just two games set in Scandinavia, instead of the originally intended trilogy.

Naughty Dog has already insisted that it will never work on another Uncharted game, even though Sony is rumoured to be bringing in other developers to make one, and The Last Of Us may end up in a similar situation.

Although attempts at a multiplayer spin-off have already failed, and Naughty Dog will likely try to prevent anyone else making a direct sequel, spin-offs and titles set in the same universe, but with different characters, do seem a strong possibility.

Entrepreneur Sara Davies has announced she will step away from filming Dragons’ Den ‘for now’ to focus on her own business.

The TV presenter, author and businesswoman joined the BBC show in 2019, then aged 35, making her the show’s youngest ever female Dragon, having joined following the departure of Jenny Campbell.

In a post on Instagram, she said: ‘Little update from me…..

‘As this last run of Dragons’ comes to an end I have to say I’ve loved every minute of this series so far and I’m so proud of the businesses I’ve invested in this year!

‘As a lot of you will know, I’ve taken up my position again as CEO of Crafter’s Companion and my business is my big priority this year. And when I commit to a business, I really commit, which is why I find Dragons’ Den such a rewarding role.

‘As well as filming an incredible show, being a Dragon requires so much dedication and time behind the scenes as you join the life of each business you invest in.

‘It means seeing through your investment and committing to your part in that organisation. It’s so much more than a TV show.

‘That’s why I’ve taken the decision to step away from the Den for now, to focus on my own business, which was my first baby! So I won’t be filming with the team this year for the next series.’

The 40-year-old ended her post saying: ‘Sending so much love to my fellow Dragons and the amazing team behind it all. In the meantime, you can still catch me in the second half of this series of Dragons’ Den later in the year – it will not disappoint!’

Davies founded the global company Crafter’s Companion, a retail business which specialises in craft tools, which she set up in her bedroom while at university in 2005.

According to reports, earlier this year Davies again became a major shareholder in the business, returning as chief executive.

The entrepreneur, who is from County Durham, was made a Member Of The Order Of The British Empire (MBE) in 2016, recognised for services to the economy.

In 2021, entrepreneur and author Steven Bartlett went on to take the title of the youngest Dragon in the programme’s history, when he joined aged 28.

Davies was part of the celebrity line-up for Strictly Come Dancing in 2021, where she was partnered with Aljaz Skorjanec.

She has recently been on screen hosting BBC One show, The Big Idea Works, where ordinary people who have clever ideas for a new product are connected with people who can turn them into a reality.

Earlier this week it was announced she will host a new ‘high-stakes’ quiz show on ITV called Time Is Money.

Kalpna Patel-Knight, head of entertainment commissioning at the BBC, said: ‘Sara has been an exceptional Dragon, investing in numerous entrepreneurs over her years in the Den. We wish her all the best and hope to have her back in future series.’

Pope Francis has shared his first spoken message since he was admitted to hospital nearly three weeks ago.

Francis, 88, thanked well-wishers ‘from the bottom of my heart’ in an audio recording played during a nightly prayer service for the pope in St Peter’s Square at the Vatican this evening.

Speaking in his native Spanish, and pausing for breath every few words, he said: ‘I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your prayers in the Square for my health.

‘May God bless you.’

It came shortly after the Vatican said Francis remained stable on Thursday and did not have any new episodes of respiratory crisis.

Hearing Francis’s voice is another encouraging sign after his doctors said they would not issue another medical bulletin until Saturday ‘considering the stability of the clinical picture’.

But they repeated their regular caveat that the Argentine’s prognosis remains ‘guarded’, meaning he is still not out of the woods.

Francis was admitted to Gemelli hospital on February 14 with a severe respiratory infection that has required continuously evolving treatment.

The tone of the updates from the Vatican has been more upbeat in recent days, following what was described as two episodes of ‘acute respiratory insufficiency’ on Monday.

On Thursday, the Vatican said the pope had been able to work between receiving his treatments and taking rest.

It also said the pontiff, who has used a wheelchair in recent years due to knee and back pain, had continued with some physical therapy to help with mobility, which first started on Wednesday.

Monday’s respiratory episodes had required Francis to use non-invasive mechanical ventilation, which involves placing a mask over the face to help push air into the lungs.

The pope is now only receiving ventilation at night, said the Vatican. During the day, he receives oxygen via a small hose under his nose.

Francis has not been seen in public since entering hospital, his longest such absence since his papacy started 12 years ago.

His doctors have not said how long the treatment might last.

The pope, who is known to work himself to exhaustion, has continued to work from hospital.

On Thursday, the Vatican announced the appointments of two bishops that would have required his approval.

The pope has experienced several bouts of ill health over the last two years and is prone to lung infections because he had pleurisy as a young adult and had part of one lung removed.

Double pneumonia is a serious infection in both lungs that can inflame and scar them, making it difficult to breathe.

My son, Leo, was insistent that he didn’t want to wear a costume for World Book Day last year.

In year two at the time, he felt self-conscious and hated the attention that a costume brings.

While I initially tried to coax him round to the idea, I didn’t force the issue. Secretly, I was more than happy to avoid the stress.

But as the day crept closer, the pressure from his friends started to build. Everyone was excitedly talking about what they were dressing up as, and suddenly – three days out from the main event – he didn’t want to feel the odd one out.

Cue a frantic online order for a costume, which ended up being Where’s Wally, as there was very limited choice left within the £20 budget I set. Thankfully, the stripey hat, t-shirt and round glasses arrived just in time – the day before.

As he walked through the school gates, his hand tightly gripped in mine, admittedly, there was little flicker of pride that he was joining in. But beneath that, there was a nagging frustration that the day was supposed to be about books, not how well he fitted in because he was wearing a costume.

The whole ordeal left me wondering; when did World Book Day become more about the costume and fitting in, than celebrating books?

Created in 1995, World Book Day aimed to promote a love of reading in children. While costumes have consistently featured, they’re undoubtedly now the main focus.

I think the rise of social media has certainly played a part in costumes taking centre stage. The day has turned into a competitive costume parade, filling people’s feeds with parents who have created Pinterest-worthy outfits to share for likes.

Crafting just isn’t a skill that I possess, so when I see parents proudly posting their kids’ elaborate outfits, when I have struggled with a barely-held-together creation or taken the easy route and bought one ready-made, for the briefest of moments, I’ll admit, I do feel inadequate and wish that I’d paid better attention in textiles.

On top of that, walk into any supermarket and you’ll see the commercialisation of the day. There are whole sections selling pre-packaged costumes, carefully marketed as making parents’ lives easier.

I get it. No parent wants to feel their child is being judged on their own lack of skills with a needle, thread, and glue gun.

I, myself, have succumbed to ready-made costumes some years. After all, we are all busy and even if you have the skills, DIY costumes can take time or money that many of us don’t have.

Over the last eight or so years, I have put together costumes for Slinky Malinki – which ended up with wonky ears and by the end of the day, one missing. I have bought a Golden Ticket costume for £20, which my daughter HATED wearing and ended up taking off once she got to school.

With Leo’s Where’s Wally outfit, the hat was itchy and too small – and once,my poor husband ended up in the Tesco Extra 12 miles away at 9pm the night before, trying to find a red headband for my daughter’s costume after she misplaced the one we already had!

In recent years, I have noticed that what should be an inclusive, low-cost celebration of literature, has turned into an event that puts unnecessary pressure on parents.

A survey in 2022 found that 81% of parents admit to feeling pressure to deliver a good costume, while a fifth of us parents find it more overwhelming than getting our children ready for the first day of school.

Children – like my son Leo – feel the expectations too, detracting from the joy of reading. When World Book Day has become just another date in the parenting calendar to stress over, something has gone wrong.

At a time where there is a decline in children reading for pleasure, we need World Book Day more than ever to help nurture our children’s love of books. The National Literacy Trust revealed recently that just one in three young people aged eight to 18 now enjoy reading in their free time, while only one in five read something every day – the latter is the lowest level they’ve recorded since 2005.

Smartphones and social media are undoubtedly a huge part of the issue. But if we are stifling younger children’s interest in literature because we are putting the focus on costumes rather than characters, it is little wonder that – as children get older – they will opt for screens and scrolling to pacify themselves.

At the end of the day, I believe that we are not helping to create good reading habits. If we really want to inspire children to love books and reading, we need to rethink how World Book Day is celebrated, without costumes taking centre stage.

Many schools do now relax the option of dressing up, but there are still many who award prizes to the best dressed. This can make children who don’t partake feel left out.

Schools already spend the day with planned activities, but I think parents need to stop feeling under pressure or in competition with each other to create perfect costumes, but I also think dressing up should be a thing of the past. These days, it is an added thing to parents’ already long to-do lists and instead, I think the money and time would be better spent on buying your child a new book and reading it with them.

For World Book Day this year (Thursday, March 6) Leo is not overly bothered about dressing up again so it will likely be a last-minute decision.

If so, it’ll be in his PJs, as one of The Midnight Gang characters by David Walliams. It’s a very low-cost, simple costume that he will feel comfortable in.

But if he wanted to completely drop the costume altogether and just pick up a book instead, that sounds like a much better idea to me.

After sharing a teasingly short glimpse at a poster yesterday, Glastonbury Festival has revealed its 2025 headliners.

Last year, fans were treated to Coldplay, Dua Lipa, and Sza, which marked the first time the festival had two female headliners in its over 50-year history.

Being a headliner means joining an epic legacy, which includes artists like David Bowie, Sir Elton John, Beyonce, Adele, and Oasis.

This year, we’ve got another pop queen taking to the Pyramid Stage with the heavily rumoured Olivia Rodrigo in Sunday’s closing slot.

The 1975 are headlining Friday’s show, the first full day of music, which also features performances from CMAT, Fatboy Slim, Lola Young, and Alanis Morrissette.

Of course, our already announced Neil Young is the Saturday headliner and Sir Rod Stewart is this year’s Sunday Legend.

Glastonbury is taking place from Wednesday, June 25 – 29, with most of the music on the last three days, but there’s plenty to see in the fields of Worthy Farm.

Fans will be frantically checking to see if their favourites made the cut after forking out almost £400 to go to Worthy Farm in the summer.

Powerhouse Charli XCX is on the lineup for Saturday, confirmed to be headlining the Other Stage by Nick Grimshaw and Annie Mac’s Sidetracked podcast after taking over Levels last year.

The Other Stage’s Friday headliner is Loyle Carner while Sunday is The Prodigy, returning as headliner for the first time since Keith Flint’s death.

The lineup is bursting with popular artists like Raye (on the Pyramid Stage), Biffy Clyro, Gracie Abrams, Doechii, Beabadoobee, and a debut performance from Noah Kahan.

Lola Young is performing but that’s no surprise after her accidental self-confirm at the Brit Awards, telling fans she was at Coachella and Glastonbury while on the red carpet.

There’s plenty of rising stars in the mix with English Teacher, Ezra Collective, and Myles Smith joining Lola across the weekend.

Our brand new solo Brit winner Jade will be taking to the stage, hopefully, she can bring another jaw-dropping stunt to the farm.

Iconic 00s hitmakers The Scissor Sisters will be there after previously telling Metro they would play there until they ‘kick the bucket’.

The slew of beloved bands doesn’t stop there with Franz Ferdinand, The Script, The Maccabees, The Prodigy, and The Libertines all on the lineup.

Even Busta Rhymes is making his Worthy Farm debut this year. The only person missing is Rihanna who, despite heavy speculation, won’t be performing – let alone headlining.

Ever since the Somerset music festival opened its doors in 1970, it’s pulled in some massive names, especially for a gig that only cost £1 to get into originally.

Unfortunately, tickets are all sold out. But fear not – there is a resale in April of any cancelled or returned tickets, which will give hopefuls their last chance to attend.

This year tickets cost £373.50, plus a £5 booking fee – an £18.50 increase from 2024.

If all else fails and you haven’t got a ticket by June, the festival will be broadcast on the BBC.

President Donald Trump has aired a ‘last warning’ to Hamas to free hostages or see the US send Israel all it needs to ‘finish the job’.

Trump posted his chilling threat on Truth Social shortly after welcoming eight freed hostages to the Oval Office. His apparent willingness to give Israel a blank check stands in stark contrast to his decision to literally turn the tap off on aid to Ukraine amid peace negotiations.

‘”Shalom Hamas” means Hello and Goodbye – You can choose,’ wrote Trump late afternoon on Wednesday.

‘Release all of the Hostages now, not later, and immediately return all of the dead bodies of the people you murdered, or it is OVER for you.’

Trump continued that ‘only sick and twisted people keep bodies, and you are sick and twisted!’

‘I am sending Israel everything it needs to finish the job, not a single Hamas member will be safe if you don’t do as I say,’ he stated.

‘I have just met with your former Hostages whose lives you have destroyed. This is your last warning!’

Trump met with eight hostages from Gaza: Noa Argamani, Iair Horn, Naama Levy, Eli Sharabi, Aviva Siegel, Keith Siegel, Doron Steinbrecher and Omer Shem Tov.

He ‘listened intently to their heartbreaking stories’ and they thanked him ‘for his steadfast efforts to bring all of the hostages home’, stated White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.

Trump told the terrorist group’s leadership on social media that ‘now is the time to leave Gaza, while you still have a chance’.

‘Also, to the People of Gaza: A beautiful Future awaits, but not if you hold Hostages. If you do, you are DEAD!’ he concluded.

‘Make a SMART decision. RELEASE THE HOSTAGES NOW, OR THERE WILL BE HELL TO PAY LATER!’

Leavitt, who shared a photo of the hostages standing behind Trump in the Oval Office, confirmed that administration officials have been speaking with Hamas directly to see through the release of at least some of the remaining hostages.

Trump has sent multiple threats to Hamas, including as president-elect in December when he posted: ‘Please let this TRUTH serve to represent that if the hostages are not released prior to January 20, 2025, the date that I proudly assume Office as President of the United States, there will be ALL HELL TO PAY in the Middle East.’

Vladimir Putin unleashed a missile on Volodymyr Zelensky’s home some 24 hours after US military aid and intelligence was halted.

Russian weapons rained down on the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih, in the Dnipropetrovsk region, late on Wednesday.

One smashed into a hotel where Ukrainian, British and US volunteers from a humanitarian organisation had just checked into.

Four people were killed and another 29 wounded, including a young child.

At least 20 victims are understood to be in ‘serious conditions’ and fighting for their lives in hospital.

Ukraine’s Emergency Services said on Telegram that 14 people had been rescued from the rubble at the hotel, which suffered heavy damage.

President Zelensky said: ‘Just before the strike, volunteers from one of the humanitarian organisations checked into the hotel – citizens of Ukraine, the US, and Britain.

‘They survived as they managed to get out of their rooms. Unfortunately, four people were killed by this strike.’

He did not clarify if any of the victims are foreign citizens.

This comes as CIA director John Ratcliffe confirmed on Wednesday that US intelligence-sharing, alongside weapons, had been paused, pressuring Zelensky to cooperate with the Trump administration.

Experts have long warned that such suspension will cost lives by hurting Ukraine’s ability to defend itself against Russian ballistic missile.

Oleksandr Vilkul, head of the city’s military administration, said rescue operations proceeded through the night.

Crews made their way through piles of concrete outside the floodlit five-storey building as they clambered up and down ladders.

Smoke billowed from the top of the hotel and virtually all its windows had been blown out. A crane was deployed to reach upper levels.

Kryvyi Rih, the hometown of Zelensky, remains a frequent target of Russian missile attacks.

With a population of 660,000, it is the second-largest city in the region and it is located about 40 miles northwest of the nearest frontline.