Industry

The first full-length trailer for Wicked's forthcoming sequel has been released, offering fans a glimpse of how the Wizard of Oz spin-off will conclude.

Wicked: For Good will see Cynthia Erivo return as Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, alongside Ariana Grande as Glinda the Good Witch of the North.

The sequel picks up where the first film left off and covers the years after Elphaba and Glinda's decision to part ways.

Elphaba is now an enemy of the state of Oz, while Glinda has become a public figure controlled by the Wizard.

The new trailer shows Glinda's bedroom window cracking. She goes outside to her balcony to search for Elphaba, who then appears next to her from the shadows.

It also teases the arrival of Dorothy – seen walking down the yellow brick road with her friends – suggesting the character might have a bigger role in the films than in the musical. But the actress who plays her has not yet been revealed.

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At another point in the trailer, Elphaba is seen writing the phrase "Our wizard lies" in the clouds above Oz using her broom stick. But her unpopularity is emphasised in one scene showing an angry mob carrying torches through the streets as they look for her.

Other highlights include Elphaba receiving a handwritten note from Glinda reading: "I hope you get what your heart desires."

The trailer ends with Elphaba saying she's "off to see the Wizard" before flying on a broom into the distance with her winged monkeys.

Director Jon M Chu told Vanity Fair: "Our heart was broken when Glinda can't make the choice that we want her to so badly at the end of movie one, and it feels empowering for Elphaba to fly away from society.

"In movie two, we get to see the consequences of those choices. The temperature is up."

The films have been adapted from the hugely successful Broadway and West End musical, which itself was based on Gregory Maguire's 1995 novel.

However, the stage musical was split into two films for its big-screen adaptation, with the second due to be released on 21 November.

The two movies were shot simultaneously at Sky Studios Elstree in Hertfordshire between December 2022 and January 2024, with production interrupted mid-way through by the Hollywood actors' strike.

Wicked was the highest-grossing movie of 2024 in the UK, and scored 10 Oscar nominations – winning two for best costume and production design.

At two hours 40 minutes, the first film alone was almost as long as the entire length of the stage show.

Part of a village was cordoned off after a suspected bomb was found in a river.

The object was found by a person magnet fishing – which involves dangling a magnet attached to a rope into water to locate metallic finds – in the River Bure off Station Road in Hoveton, near Wroxham, on the Norfolk Broads, at about 13:40 BST on Saturday.

Norfolk Police placed a 100m (340ft) cordon at the scene and closed the road.

The cordon was lifted at about 16:50 after the Army's explosive ordnance disposal team from Colchester assessed the object and established it was not an unexploded ordnance device, police said.

The idea for the team came about after the island previously entered a five-a-side competition and realised there were more potential players.

However, the Papa Westray squad has to overcome a number of difficulties for any 11-a-side clashes.

The island has no football pitch so the team will have to travel by ferry to a different island – nearby Westray – in order to play a "home" match.

Meanwhile, training has been taking place indoors – or on a small five-a-side pitch near the island's only school.

For its first match, a special sailing was put on to take the team and supporters to the game and back.

The second leg of the tie will be played later in May where the team hopes to score its first goal.

Centre-half and team manager Alistair said that despite the defeat it was a special occasion for his family – which made up nearly half the team – and the island.

"It meant a lot I must admit," he said.

"Going out to the pitch – a great sense of pride because it is a small island, there is only about 80 folk here.

"We lost quite heavily but actually the game was surprisingly good and having three sons and a grandson – it was one of those days you will never forget."

Grandson Aidan said that they had worked well together.

"I got a bit of abuse from my grandad – but it was good playing with them," he joked.

"Obviously dad has played with me out in the garden a good bit and in a five-a-side team so it's no different with an 11-a-side team, apart from a few extra folk."

Alison Hourston was at the match to support her husband Shane – and the rest of the family – along with children Alma and Archie.

She said: "I am getting very emotional about it all.

"I have been jumping up and down I have been very vocal – I think they are doing good.

"I am really proud of them, I am proud of them all."

'Discussed tactics'

Resident Alan Sharp, also spectating, said the game had really captured the island's imagination.

"We've been talking about it every Saturday in the pub for the last three months," he said.

"So it has been discussed as a project and then discussed as tactics and now they are here."

Papa Westray is best known for being the destination for the world's shortest scheduled flight.

The 1.7 mile (2.7km) flight between Westray and Papa Westray takes about two minutes to complete – including taxiing.

Strathclyde Partnership for Transport continued to provide a subsidised passenger ferry until 2010, when the crossing was taken over by private operator Clydelink.

The new Renfrew Bridge opened on 9 May, the first new road bridge across the river since the Clyde Arc, nicknamed the "Squinty Bridge," in 2006.

Further west, in the wider Firth of Clyde, ferry services continue to operate between Gourock and Dunoon, operated by Western Ferries and CalMac.

A campaign has started to find ambassadors to help "reshape" the image of a town in Nottinghamshire.

The Destination Mansfield brand initiative was launched at the town's Palace Theatre on Tuesday.

Bosses said the aim of the project was to recruit businesses, community organisations and residents to promote the town and surrounding district in new ways.

New branding for the town has also been unveiled along with a new website.

Mansfield District Council hosted the launch, which is part of a wider two-year £715,000 project funded jointly by the authority and from a £12.3m Towns Fund grant from the government.

Destination Mansfield spokesperson Michael Fisher, who is one of the new ambassadors, said they would "raise the profile of the area to help put it on the map, change perceptions, and drive investment".

Mr Fisher added: "This journey is a long journey, and like anything that develops it needs to be nurtured well and more importantly loved by people in and around the area."

The council said the campaign to rebrand the town, known for its industrial heritage and its proximity to Sherwood Forest, would be backed by a number of events to attract people to the town.

They include the unveiling of a 6m (19.7ft) artwork globe, called Gaia, which can be visited without charge at the Palace Theatre until Sunday.

Two teenage boys have been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after a 16-year-old suffered serious injuries in a stabbing.

The boy was wounded at the junction of Weedon Road and Spencer Bridge Road in Northampton between 16:45 BST and 17:30 on Sunday.

Police said a 15-year-old and 16-year-old, both from Northampton, were being held in custody for questioning.

The victim, who was airlifted from the scene, remained in hospital and anyone with information about the assault was asked to call 101.

A house in a West Sussex village caught fire after being struck by lightning.

Fire crews were called to the property on School Close, Fittleworth, shortly before 15:00 BST on Wednesday, West Sussex Fire & Rescue Service said.

A spokesperson added that the incident had been "scaled back" but firefighters were "expected to remain on scene for the time being".

No casualties have been reported.

"Residents are urged to continue to avoid the area to allow firefighters to work safely," the fire service added.

A Swindon charity has opened a mobile cafe where young offenders can become baristas in an attempt to prevent reoffending.

SMASH youth project mentors children and young people and has partnered with Swindon Borough Council and the Wiltshire Police and Crime Commissioner's office to set up the scheme.

Those involved have been selected for "restorative interventions", which is an alternative to being formally sentenced.

The cafe, named Solid Ground, is on the council's Civic Campus and is open to the public every Wednesday and Thursday from 10am until 3pm.

'Gained confidence'

One of the young people involved in the project said it had made a major difference in their outlook.

"Since starting at the van, I have gained confidence in myself and become more confident and tolerant of others, as well as gaining customer service skills," they said.

"I feel I have more hope and plans for the future now and I am starting to learn how to budget and plan better with the money I earn. I am grateful for the training opportunities."

The opening of the mobile cafe was attended by the leader of Swindon Borough Council Jim Robbins and Wiltshire Police and Crime Commissioner Philip Wilkinson.

Mr Wilkinson pointed to the scheme as an example of what could be achieved by young people from difficult backgrounds.

"We are constantly looking for initiatives which give young people the opportunity to move out of the clutches of the organised crime groups which want to drag them down into the world of drugs and criminality," he said.

"Through funding the coffee van and working with an organisation like SMASH, we're able to provide them with the confidence and skills to give them the opportunity to find meaningful employment."

Lead for innovation and collaboration at SMASH, Rowan Kikke, said it was crucial for schemes like this to give young people an outlet.

"We're really keen to work with young people in a way that develops their employability skills and getting them into independence and we didn't have a way of doing that," she said.

"About two years ago the youth justice service approached us and said they had this old chip van and asked could we do anything with it that would create a space for young people.

"It takes time to garner trust, but they are ready to learn the skills to be a positive presence in the community."

An "obsessive" man who stalked women while wearing a trench coat and face mask has been sent to prison.

Travis Ward, 22, "pursued and intimidated" his victims as they walked home or took their children to school in Hull, before writing about them in a diary.

Four women reported Ward to the police and he pleaded guilty to four counts of stalking, sexual assault and possession of extreme animal pornography.

Ward, of Grange Lane, Londesborough, was jailed for three years and four months during a hearing at Grimsby Crown Court on Friday. He was also given a seven-year sexual harm prevention order.

Det Sgt Sam Cunnington, of Humberside Police, said "methodical" Ward made notes and plans to prey on the women and kept the diary for his "sexual gratification".

"Before he went out on his hunt, he donned a trench coat, red hoody and face covering to alter his persona and was seen multiple times on CCTV wearing the same clothing as he pursued and intimidated women, who were strangers to him, as he followed them home or as they took their children to school," he said.

Ward was caught after a woman called police while she was being followed by him in the Porter Street area of central Hull. He was arrested nearby later that day.

'Brave' victims

Det Sgt Cunnington said Ward's phones, computers and hard drives were seized and examined, which revealed videos of "extreme animal pornography, as well as a digital diary full of derogatory and offensive language highlighting who he was planning to target".

The detective praised the victims for coming forward.

"It is because of their bravery we were able to stack up the evidence against him, leading to Ward deciding to plead guilty," he added.

"The streets of Hull will be much safer without him."

Ward was placed on the sex offenders' register for seven years and given a 10-year restraining order.

Hull and East Yorkshire on BBC Soundslatest episode of Look North here.

Balls repeatedly kicked over a fence from a school into a neighbouring property's garden were a nuisance, a High Court judge has found.

Mohamed and Marie-Anne Bakhaty were awarded damages after bringing a legal claim against Hampshire County Council regarding the footballs from Westgate All Through School in Winchester.

Mrs Bakhaty told the court in a witness statement that about 170 balls came over the fence over a period of 11 months.

But High Court Judge Philip Glen, sitting in Southampton, did not grant an injunction stopping the use of the all-weather play area.

The play area, built in 2021, is parallel to, and about 2m (6.6ft) from the boundary of the Bakhaty's house, which has a large garden and swimming pool.

They are separated by a 1.8m (5.9ft) wooden fence.

In his written ruling Judge Glen said: "I recognise that they are extremely fond and proud of what is on any view a beautiful home.

"I fear, however, that they have become sensitised by the noise from the school in a way which has caused them to become over-invested in their belief that they are victims of a wrong. In short, they have lost perspective."

Judge Glen added that while use of the £36,000 all-weather play area did not give rise to "actionable nuisance", the "frequent projection of balls over the boundary" from the play area was a nuisance.

He ordered the council to pay the Bakhatys £1,000 in damages when there was "excess use" of the area, and when "significant numbers of balls were crossing the boundary fence".

He said he was satisfied that the noise from the school, with or without the play area, was "substantial, in the sense of not being trivial or transient", and that a substantial number of balls crossed the boundary fence before measures were put in place in 2022.

The headteacher of the school wrote to the couple to offer to fence off the area to create a buffer zone, put up a ball net, and restrict use of the area at certain times of the day.

The couple did not respond, but the school took action anyway.

Judge Glen added: "If a net was erected to prevent balls and other objects from crossing the boundary fence, I cannot necessarily see that there could be any real objection to opening this area up altogether."

He also said he did not consider that the defendant "threatens and intends" to "continue the nuisance".

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