April

Lewis Crocker is set to return to Windsor Park for a voluntary defence of his IBF world welterweight title next spring.

The Belfast fighter beat Paddy Donovan by split decision to clinch the vacant belt in front of a sold-out crowd at Northern Ireland’s national football stadium in September.

Crocker and Donovan’s fight – a rematch of their March contest which ended in Donovan’s disqualification – marked boxing’s return to Windsor Park for the first time since Carl Frampton’s victory over Luke Jackson in August 2018.

It is understood a defence is slated for 11 April, with an opponent expected to be confirmed in the next fortnight.

Crocker, who is unbeaten in 22 professional bouts, has been vocal about his desire to fight Conor Benn, who defeated bitter rival Chris Eubank Jr in dominant fashion in their Tottenham Hotspur Stadium rematch on 15 November.

Speaking to BBC Sport NI in the build-up to that fight, Crocker’s manager Jamie Conlan mentioned Benn and WBC champion Mario Barrios as options for the 28-year-old.

However, Englishman Benn this week told Boxing News, external Crocker “is not really a name that is on my radar”.

With a victory in April, Crocker would be expected to return to the ring in late summer.

A sluggish job market lowers consumer confidence but may also lead to another rate cut from the Federal Reserve by the end of the year.

United States consumer confidence sagged in November as households worried about jobs and their financial situation, likely in part because of the recently ended government shutdown.

The Conference Board said on Tuesday its consumer confidence index dropped to 88.7 this month, from an upwardly revised 95.5 in October, hitting its lowest level since April.

Economists polled by the Reuters news agency had forecast the index edging down to 93.4 from the previously reported 94.6 in October.

“Consumers’ write-in responses pertaining to factors affecting the economy continued to be led by references to prices and inflation, tariffs and trade, and politics with increased mentions of the federal government shutdown,” said Dana Peterson, chief economist at the Conference Board.

“Mentions of the labour market eased somewhat but still stood out among all other frequent themes not already cited. The overall tone from November write-ins was slightly more negative than in October.”

Consumer confidence remained low among all income brackets. While confidence among those who make less than $15,000 annually ticked up slightly, it still remained the group with the lowest consumer confidence.

The consumer confidence report was released amid a slowing labour market. The September jobs report, released late last week, showed 119,000 jobs were added to the US economy as the unemployment rate ticked up 0.1 of a percentage point to 4.4 percent.

However, there is limited economic data available to fully gauge the sentiment of the US economy because the government shutdown, the longest in US history, hindered federal agencies’ ability to gather the data needed to assess current conditions.

“More worries about what lies ahead … hence, putting purchases for major items on hold,” Jennifer Lee, senior economist at BMO, wrote to Reuters.

The economic data followed dovish comments from policymakers in the past few days that helped cement rate cut expectations.

On Monday, Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said the job market was weak enough to warrant another quarter-point rate cut in December although action beyond that depended on a flood of data that was delayed by the federal government shutdown.

Former Baltimore Ravens kicker Justin Tucker will attend a tryout forthe New Orleans Saints on Tuesday, the team has confirmed with The Times.

It is said to be the first tryout for the six-time Pro Bowl player since serving a 10-game suspension at the start of this season for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy.

Tucker spent the first 13 years of his career with the Ravens but was released in May after reports of multiple massage therapists accusing him of inappropriate sexual behavior first surfaced in January. The 36-year-old player has denied any inappropriate behavior.

After conducting its own investigation, the NFL announced its suspension of Tucker in June, citing a violation of the league’s personal conduct policy. He was eligible for reinstatement Nov. 11 but had been permitted to try out and sign with a team before that.

A Super Bowl champion following the 2012 season, Tucker is one of the most accurate kickers in NFL history, having made 89% of his field goal attempts (fourth best all-time). In 2021, he connected on a 66-yard field goal that stood as an NFL record until Jacksonville’s Cam Little broke it with a 68-yarder earlier this season.

In 2022, Tucker agreed to a four-year contract extension, including $17.5 million guaranteed, through the 2027 season. Last year, however, Tucker had his worst NFL season, making a career-low 73.3% of his field goal attempts. The Ravens drafted kicker Tyler Loop out of Arizona in April.

The Saints are auditioning kickers after third-year player Blake Grupe missed two field goal attempts Sunday during a loss to the Atlanta Falcons, bringing his total of misses this season to eight. Cade York, who previously kicked for the Cleveland Browns, Cincinnati Bengals and Washington Commanders, also reportedly was slated for a tryout in New Orleans.

Emmerdale’s April Windsor is set for worrying scenes on the ITV soap, as a villain of sorts, Callum, ‘returned from the dead’ in a twist on Wednesday, and April has no idea

There was a dark twist on Emmerdale on Wednesday, as a murdered character was confirmed to be very much alive.

It’s bad news for April Windsor to some degree, as she’s been allowed to believe the person is still dead. This will continue too, with her kept in the dark about the character’s true fate.

Last week we saw April left in danger, as drug dealer Ray Walters sent her on a job with a client. When he tried to force her into sleeping with the client to pay off her debt, she was horrified.

When April told Callum, the client, she couldn’t go through with it, he turned on her. Grabbing her and trying to force himself on her, he said there was no escape and he’d “do it anyway” even after her stating she did not want to have sex with him.

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Fighting for survival, April ended up slamming him over the head with a vodka bottle in self-defence. Shaken, she escaped and told Ray and Celia Daniels that Callum was dead.

Ray headed to his home to check on Callum and when he returned to the village, he confirmed to a distressed April that he was in fact dead and she’d killed him. Both Celia and Ray taunted April about her being a murderer and said she’d go to prison.

When she declared she needed to report her crime and threatened to expose them, the criminals made it clear that if April spoke out, she and her family would be in danger. So April is now struggling to come to terms with being a killer.

Of course she has no idea, and fans didn’t either until Wednesday, that Callum isn’t dead. He’s injured but he’s absolutely fine, and survived the attack.

So Ray’s claims that he disposed of Callum’s body and that April killed him are a lie, and he and Celia know it. They’re now using it against April to keep her doing as they say, meaning more bad news ahead for April when she has to stay in line, but also if Callum reveals his fate, he could get her in serious trouble.

In a twist at the end of the episode, Callum was with Ray in his car and he talked about his head hurting. Ray told him to stay silent and take some pain relief, making it clear he couldn’t do anything about April.

Viewers were stunned by the twist but many said they “knew it”, having figured out Ray would lie to April to target her. Taking to social media, one fan said: “I knew it, I f***ing knew it.”

Another fan said: “I didn’t think he would be.” A further fan posted: “I KNEW he wasn’t dead!!!!!”

Emmerdale airs weeknights at 7:30pm on ITV1 and ITVX, with an hour-long episode on Thursdays. * Follow Mirror Celebs and TV on TikTok , Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , YouTube and Threads .