THE Nordic Darts Masters gets underway in Copenhagen on Friday!
Eight PDC superstars will feature alongside eight Nordic and Baltic representatives.
Some of the biggest names in darts are set to feature, with the likes of Luke Humphries, Stephen Bunting and Gerwyn Price all competing.
Michael van Gerwen will miss the event as he continues his break from the sport following his split from wife Daphne.
Many fans will want to know if Luke Littler will compete for the first time since his Premier League Darts final defeat to Luke Humphries last Thursday.
The Nuke missed last weekend’s European Darts Open, but will the world champion return in the Danish capital?
Luke Littler has not featured in any pro event other than the Premier League since his run at the German Darts Grand Prix back in April.
The Nuke opted to skip the last four European Tour events to focus on the Premier League.
But Littler is expected to compete at the Nordic Darts Masters this week as he looks to add to his two World Series of Darts titles.
The world champion will take on Swedish newcomer Viktor Tingstrom in the first round of the tournament.
It will be Littler’s Nordic Darts Masters debut after he withdrew from last year’s edition due to family commitments.
A MAJOR fashion retailer with 180 UK stores has confirmed it will shut one of its ‘favourite’ shops in just days.
The store creates product ranges across women’s, men’s, kids, footwear and accessories.
The outdoor-inspired clothing retailer FatFace has revealed that its store in Queensgate Shopping Centre will close permanently on June 15.
A notice in the shop window states: “Thank you for shopping in our Peterborough store.
“Our last day here is 15 June 2025.”
The closure comes 20 months after FatFace, which was founded in 1988, was acquired by the leading clothing retailer Next, headquartered in Leicester.
FatFace announced a pre-tax loss of £3.2 million last October, which was in part attributed to costs related to the acquisition.
Sharing the news on the We Love Peterborough Facebook group, shoppers reacted to the closure.
The post said: “I have to say it’s shame to see that Fat Face will be closing down in Queensgate.
“After speaking with someone in the store for confirmation, I’m afraid that they are not moving to an alternative location either, they are closing permanently for us.
“Is this a shop that you shopped in? If you want anything, you’ll need to get it quick as it closed in a couple of week’s time.”
Members of the group were quick to comment and one replied: “Another decent store closing, might as well knock Queensgate down, just not worth going into town these days.”
Another disappointed shopper added: “Queensgate is doomed.
“First John Lewis then M&S , there’s nothing left there now.
“They should have left flagship stores alone. It used to be a good place.
“The whole city feels tawdry and dirty. I don’t go there anymore.”
RETAILERS have been feeling the squeeze since the pandemic, while shoppers are cutting back on spending due to the soaring cost of living crisis.
High energy costs and a move to shopping online after the pandemic are also taking a toll, and many high street shops have struggled to keep going.
However, additional costs have added further pain to an already struggling sector.
The British Retail Consortium has predicted that the Treasury’s hike to employer NICs from April will cost the retail sector £2.3billion.
At the same time, the minimum wage will rise to £12.21 an hour from April, and the minimum wage for people aged 18-20 will rise to £10 an hour, an increase of £1.40.
The Centre for Retail Research (CRR) has also warned that around 17,350 retail sites are expected to shut down this year.
It comes on the back of a tough 2024 when 13,000 shops closed their doors for good, already a 28% increase on the previous year.
Professor Joshua Bamfield, director of the CRR said: “The results for 2024 show that although the outcomes for store closures overall were not as poor as in either 2020 or 2022, they are still disconcerting, with worse set to come in 2025.”
It comes after almost 170,000 retail workers lost their jobs in 2024.
End-of-year figures compiled by the Centre for Retail Research showed the number of job losses spiked amid the collapse of major chains such as Homebase and Ted Baker.
It said its latest analysis showed that a total of 169,395 retail jobs were lost in the 2024 calendar year to date.
This was up 49,990 – an increase of 41.9% – compared with 2023.
It is the highest annual reading since more than 200,000 jobs were lost in 2020 in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced retailers to shut their stores during lockdowns.
The centre said 38 major retailers went into administration in 2024, including household names such as Lloyds Pharmacy, Homebase, The Body Shop, Carpetright and Ted Baker.
Around a third of all retail job losses in 2024, 33% or 55,914 in total, resulted from administrations.
Experts have said small high street shops could face a particularly challenging 2025 because of Budget tax and wage changes.
Professor Bamfield has warned of a bleak outlook for 2025, predicting that as many as 202,000 jobs could be lost in the sector.
“By increasing both the costs of running stores and the costs on each consumer’s household it is highly likely that we will see retail job losses eclipse the height of the pandemic in 2020.”
Another added: “I absolutely love this shop! I’ll be sad to see it go, a real shame and another loss for Peterborough shipping centre.”
“I only go into Queensgate to get my nails done and pop in Fatface. I’m really sad it’s closing. Nowhere to get clothes for my age now,” said another.
“Another one bites the dust sadly. Love fatface,” said a fifth dissapointed shopper.
While another poster wrote: “Fat Face have also closed in various locations from Aberdeen to Sheffield to Gloucester this year.
“Anyone thinking retail clothes stores closing is just a Peterborough thing is sadly mistaken. Same happened with John Lewis and Marks and Spencer on a bigger scale.
“We have a new occupant imminently for the old John Lewis store, and new shops like Sostrene Greene that people can’t find it in themselves to be positive about, it’s easier to moan I guess.”
The news comesafter IKEA revealed yesterday that it is shutting another UK store in just a fortnight’s time after ‘lessons learned’ amid a customer backlash.
And that a major high street name is pulling the plug on one of its stores in just two weeks.
It’s already slashing prices by up to 70% to clear the shelves.
FABIO WARDLEY and Justis Huni are all set to battle it out for the WBA interim title THIS Saturday – and the tickets are selling like hot cakes.
A homecoming win for Wardley would propel him into pole position to fight for the WBA heavyweight crown.
And the unbeaten Brit goes into this bout as a huge favourite, with Huni stepping in for the injured Jarrell Miller at such short notice.
Wardley, 30, also enters the ring off the back of a brutal win over Frazer Clarke last October, so he’ll certainly have the wind in his sails.
However, despite Huni not fighting much outside of Australia, he has an impressive undefeated record of 12 wins and seven KOs.
The tickets have been released for this mouthwatering event, which also sees Dillian Whyte fighting in the co-main, and you don’t want to miss out.
*Please note that StubHub and similar secondary ticket resale sites may list tickets above face value.
Fans are itching to see who will come out on top between Fabio Wardley and Justis Huni.
But in devastating news to the bill, Dillian Whyte has pulled out at the last minute
IF YOUR Amazon Fire Stick has begun running slowly in recent months, you may be tempted to fork out for an upgrade.
However, with a new bit of kit setting you back up to £70, buying a replacement is not an option for many budget conscious Brits.
The Amazon gadget, which has recently had Netflix blocked on some versions of the tech, allows users to turn normal TVs into smart TVs by giving them access to streaming services.
It’s the perfect penny pinching alternative to splashing out for a new TV, but after a while, devices can start running slowly.
However, with just a few quick button presses, you can get it working as good as new again.
If your Amazon Fire TV Stick is constantly plugged in and running this can eventually lead to issues such as software issues.
Occasionally restarting your device helps give your Fire Stick a boost, so it starts to run quickly again.
The easiest way to restart your Fire stick is to unplug it from your TV, wait a few seconds, and then plug it in again.
Like mobile phones, Fire Sticks need regular updates to help fix bugs and improve performance.
If your device misses an update means your device will be running an older software version, with unresolved issues.
To check for a system update, go to Settings, click on My Fire TV, and then About.
Choose Check for Update, and then if one is available, follow the on-screen instructions to download and install it.
If your Fire Stick is littered with apps that you downloaded, tried once and never used again, these will be taking up storage, that will make your device run slower.
To uninstall unused apps, go to Settings, then Applications, then click on Manage Installed Applications.
Select any apps you no longer use, and click Uninstall.
Apps build up temporary files, or cache over time, which can eventually end up slowing down apps.
Fire TV Sticks are an easy way to add streaming to an older television. They’re manufactured by Amazon, but you can buy them from a number of different stores.
*If you click on a link in this boxout, we may earn affiliate revenue.
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To clear your cache, go to Settings, then Applications, then Managed Installed Applications,
Select and app and click Clear Cache, before repeating with other apps.
Apps that you’ve downloaded but aren’t currently using may be still running in the background, and taking up memory.
To stop this go to Settings, Applications, then Manage Installed Applications, then select an app you think maybe running in the background, and click Force Stop.
Fire Sticks use data monitoring to track the amount of data your apps are using.
However, this in itself uses up resources.
To turn this off click on the Home Screen and then open settings and then Select Preferences.
Then, go to Data Usage Monitoring and turn Data Monitoring off.
Amazon also tracks a lot of other data in the background, that can slow down your Fire Stick.
To disable this, got to Settings, Preferences, Privacy Settings and then turn of Device Usage Data.
Also turn off Collect App Usage Data and Disable Interest Based Ads.
Fire Sticks often autoplay trailers for new shows on the home screen, which can take up significant space on your device.
To turn this feature off in Settings go to Preferences, Featured Content and then click on Turn Off Video Autoplay and Turn off Audio Autoplay.
Try some of these top tips to improve your Amazon Fire Stick instantly.
When your Fire TV device sends you notifications, such as alerting you to a new show, this takes up processor time, and can make your device run slower.
To turn this off go to Settings, Preferences, Notification Settings and then click on Do Not Interrupt.
If you’ve tried everything and your gadget is still running a snail’s pace you may have to resort to a factory reset.
This will erase all apps, so you will have to manually download them again after the reset.
To reset your device hold down the home button, and then click on Settings, Devices and Software, and then Reset to Factory Default.
PORNHUB has pulled out of France over objections to a new law requiring porn sites to verify the age of users.
Aylo, the adult entertainment company that owns Pornhub, has announced it will block access to the site in France over the new rule.
The company claims the French law poses a privacy risk to users.
The law could see users required to enter credit card details or other forms of official ID to verify their age.
Aylo also runs other popular porn sites such as Youporn and RedTube – which will also now be unavailable in France.
The company argues that device-based age verification is a better solution than requiring porn sites to police the age of users.
Aylo’s VP for Brand and Community Alex Kekesi said: “All it requires is that the government enforce regulations on three companies – Apple, Google and Microsoft – the three operating system manufacturers requiring age verification at the device level prior to accessing adult content.
“The French government refuses to take this simple step and instead are focused on futile and entirely symbolic regulatory actions which are unenforceable, do not protect children and expose your private data.”
Pornhub is the world’s most visited porn site, with France being one of its biggest markets.
The website claims that France was its second biggest audience in 2024 after the United States.
Kekesi added: “We’ve made the difficult decision to suspend access to our sites in France and instead use our platforms to speak directly to the French people.
“French citizens deserve a government and a regulator who are serious about preventing children from accessing adult content.
“They also deserve laws which protect their privacy and safeguard their sensitive data.”
French Gender Equality Minister Aurore Bergé posted on X that Aylo’s decision meant there would be “less violent, degrading and humiliating content accessible to minors in France”.
She added: “Pornhub, Youporn, and RedTube refuse to comply with our legal framework and decide to leave. Good!”
It comes after Aylo made similar moves to block access to its porn sites in several US states over age verification laws.
So far, 19 US states have passed laws requiring porn sites to verify users’s age.
The bans cover around one third of the US population.
Methods of checking under these laws can include providing a government-issued ID or even scanning a user’s face.
It has seen many porn sites opt to block access to their pages rather than implement such verification systems.
States that have implemented these laws include Texas, Florida, Arizona and Virginia.
The European Commission has also launched an investigation into several adult websites – including Pornhub – over accusations they had not complied with regulations aimed at stopping minors accessing porn.
The UK also has a law requiring platforms to have “robust” age checks in place by July.
It is currently unclear whether the same porn platforms will also block access to their sites in Britain when this comes into force.
SYDNEY Sweeney looked incredible as she made no less than four outfit changes in one day to promote her new movie, Echo Valley, in New York City.
Actress Sydney, 27, turned heads in a bold red gown, with a midsection that highlighted her svelte waist and a statement skirt accessorised with a giant red bow.
The Euphoria star wore her blonde locks in tumbling waves and accentuated her natural beauty with a full face of make-up.
Earlier in the day, Sydney put on an equally-chic display in a black fitted waistcoat and a white miniskirt, elevating her height with leather boots.
She toted her essentials around in a black leather handbag and shielded her eyes with wayfarer sunglasses.
If that wasn’t enough, Sydney was also spotted wearing a plaid brown jumpsuit and a giant matching tie on the same very steps of her hotel.
This time, she carried a stone handbag, which coordinated with her heels.
And, for her arrival at Good Morning America, the starlet put on a leggy display in a brown pinstriped blazer dress.
Sydney appeared to confirm her breakup with long-term partner Jonathan Davino at the film‘s premiere.
Speaking to The Times at the AMC Lincoln Square event, the Washington-native was asked if she was still planning her wedding to Jonathan.
“No,” she replied. When pressed on whether she was now single, she answered simply: “Yes.”
The actress had been seen in recent months without her engagement ring, fuelling rumours that the couple – who began dating in 2018 and became engaged in 2022 – had quietly parted ways.
At Wednesday’s premiere, Sydney was joined by co-star Julianne Moore, who plays her on-screen mother in the new thriller.
The film follows Julianne’s character, a horse trainer living on a Pennsylvania farm, whose life is upended when her daughter, played by Sydney, arrives covered in someone else’s blood.
It comes as Sydney films the third – and potentially last – series of Euphoria.
The explicit teen drama, which follows recovering drug addict Rue (Zendaya) as she navigates school life and relationships while narrating the lives of her school mates, has become known for its dark storytelling.
Sydney shot to fame in the series as Cassie, a popular girl with painfully low self-esteem who starts an abusive relationship with her best friend’s ex, the violent and uncaring Nate (played by Jacob Elordi).
Despite the success of the series, by the time season three is released there will have been a four-year wait for new episodes, thanks to the massive success of its cast in other projects, the death of star Angus Cloud, and the 2023 writers and actors’ strikes.
As a result, writer Sam Levinson has placed a time jump, launching the troubled teenage group into adulthood.
Sydney has since sparked rumours that, despite their physically and mentally abusive relationship, her character Cassie is set to marry Nate, with the actress being spotted in a wedding gown on set.
