The fact that Shankland has not made it clear he is leaving is cause for optimism for both McInnes and Hearts supporters.
McInnes is evidently and understandably excited at the prospect of working with the 29-year-old, but will Shankland sign on the dotted line to link up with the club’s new team boss?
Hearts will hope the chance to be part of their new project, with tried-and-tested performer McInnes in the dugout and Bloom’s gravitas in the boardroom, is enough to persuade their star man.
However, uncertainty over Shankland’s future has been clouded further still as McInnes heads to Spain without him.
“I really feel Lawrence as part of a strong Hearts team can elevate himself,” McInnes said earlier this week.
“I think he’s capable of scoring 25-30 goals a season in the right team and used in the right way.
“We can offer security. We can offer building a team and being part of a team that’s trying to be successful.”
With Bloom aiming to “disrupt the pattern of domination which has been in place for far too long” in Scottish football, there is an expectation Hearts will attack the transfer market.
Right-back Christian Borchgrevink, winger Alexandros Kyziridis, striker Claudio Braga, centre-half Stuart Findlay and midfielder Oisin McEntee have already signed in the early knockings of the window, while Elton Kabangu joined permanently after last season’s loan spell.
Beyond the ambition of the McInnes-Bloom project, the prospect of playing under the immediate gaze of Scotland head coach Steve Clarke would be another perk of staying in Edinburgh for Shankland.
In true Hallmark fashion, “When Calls the Heart” co-stars Erin Krakow and Ben Rosenbaum found love on set. Now, the two are officially married.
The newlyweds, who have appeared in the period drama since the show premiered in 2014, confirmed their union Monday with a joint Instagram post of photos from their wedding, captioned with a simple infinity symbol.
Krakow, 40, and Rosenbaum, 38, first sparked romance rumors in 2023 when Krakow revealed on Instagram that they had adopted a dog, Willoughby, together. But it wasn’t until a year later that the two confirmed their relationship on Valentine’sDay.
The actors, who have kept their relationship relatively private, surprised fans with news of their nuptials.
“Y’all dropped a whole wedding like it was a Tuesday fit check,” one social media user commented. “Plot twist of the year!!”
But this isn’t the first marriage to come out of “When Calls the Heart.” Last September, co-stars Kevin McGarry and Kayla Wallace also wed.
“I’m still crying. My favorite pairing!” Wallace commented on Krakow and Rosenbaum’s post, adding wine and cheese emojis.
“When Calls the Heart” is Hallmark Channel’s longest-running original series and was recently renewed for a 13th season, scheduled to premiere in 2026. The release date has not yet been announced. Krakow stars as Elizabeth Thornton (and also serves as an executive producer) and Rosenbaum plays Mike Hickam on the popular western.
Gilan, Iran – The prospect of war seemed to creep nearer to reality with each passing day, but perhaps few of the millions who have been forced to abandon their homes across Iran in the past week – including myself – could have known this new reality would impose itself so harshly or abruptly.
The first explosions jolted people awake in Tehran shortly after 3am on June 13, when a large number of Israeli fighter jets and drones attacked dozens of areas across the country, and explosives-laden quadcopters and anti-fortification Spike guided missiles were launched by Israeli agents from inside Iran.
Entire residential buildings were levelled in the capital, military sites and air defence batteries were targeted, and above-ground facilities supporting nuclear enrichment halls buried deep inside mountains in Isfahan province’s Natanz were bombed. Dozens of civilians were killed, as were a large number of top military commanders and nuclear scientists.
In this photo released by the Iranian Red Crescent Society, rescuers work at the scene of an explosion after an Israeli strike in Tehran, Iran, on Friday, June 13, 2025 [Iranian Red Crescent Society via AP]
Tehran was in shock the first morning after the attacks, as people struggled to process the terrifying news and evaluate their options while the authorities scrambled to mount a concerted response to the surprise hits.
As the attacks came on a Friday morning – the last day of the weekend in Iran – most city streets were eerily quiet in the immediate aftermath, except for those where Israeli bombs had made an impact.
Soon, however, hours-long queues had formed at almost every single fuel station across the sprawling capital, which has a population of nearly 10 million people and holds more than 15 million during busy workdays, as millions also commute from neighbouring cities like Karaj.
I went out to visit a few of the targeted sites in western Tehran: Multiple homes had been destroyed in the Patrice Lumumba neighbourhood, several floors of a 15-storey building providing accommodation for university professors had caved in at Saadat Abad and adjacent buildings were damaged, while the top two floors of another residential building had been completely wiped out in Marzdaran. All were successful targeted assassinations – including of several top nuclear scientists – and many civilians were also killed.
Debris from an apartment building is seen on top of parked cars after a strike in Tehran, Iran, early on Friday, June 13, 2025 [Vahid Salemi/AP]
Later that night, Iran’s armed forces began launching hundreds of missiles and drones at Israel in retaliation. Nearly one week on, at least 16 rounds of Iranian strikes have been launched, with no immediate end in sight as Tehran says it will continue to hit back so long as Israel is attacking. Meanwhile, United States President Donald Trump teases triggering an all-out regional war by directly entering the war alongside Israel, which he and Washington’s Western allies already support with cutting-edge munitions, a massive fleet of refuelling planes and intelligence efforts.
For the next few days, the Israeli attacks were ringing out across Tehran and the country during the daytime, terrorising civilians who saw the smoke and heard the explosions get closer to their homes or places of work. Both at home and at Al Jazeera’s Tehran bureau, I heard many explosive impacts, with some of the closer ones only about 2km (1.2 miles) away.
Most of Tehran was shut down after the Israeli attacks ramped up, and the streets and petrol stations were more crowded than ever after Israel and Trump told people to evacuate immediately. The government said metro stations and mosques were opened as 24-hour shelters since it has built no dedicated shelters or come up with any clear security protocols, despite the ever-present threat of war.
Red Crescent Society rescuers work at the scene of an explosion following an Israeli strike in Tehran, Iran, on Friday, June 13, 2025 [Iranian Red Crescent Society via AP]
On Monday, after three days of evaluating the situation, my family and I decided to join the countless others who had already fled Tehran.
After hurriedly packing some clothes and a few belongings in a suitcase, I drove from my own place to my girlfriend’s house to pick her up at about 4pm. Her parents, who work in healthcare, needed to stay in Tehran that day but they have since left as well, after Israeli air strikes intensified in their neighbourhood.
We then picked up my mother – along with our four cats who have been staying with her – from her home in western Tehran, close to a major road which exits the capital.
Israeli bombs were falling on multiple areas across western Tehran as we scurried to grab the cats and put them in their boxes.
The unmistakable sounds of the explosions, which leave a sickening, sinking sensation in your stomach no matter how many times you hear them, only added to the urgency – especially since the Israeli military had issued a new evacuation threat at about the same time and then bombed the state television headquarters.
Smoke rises from the building of Iran’s state-run television channel after an Israeli strike in Tehran, Iran, on Monday, June 16, 2025 [AP]
Fleeing north
We left Tehran with heavy hearts, not knowing when we might return. The buildings were already mostly empty of residents.
The feeling that we may not return to the same intact neighbourhoods was unavoidable, as was the terror we feel for those who wanted to leave but could not, whether because they are nursing a sick family member or because they simply lacked the means to do so. Iran’s ailing economy has been dragged under the weight of years of local mismanagement and US sanctions.
The journey north, which usually takes about four hours, took close to 12. The highways were a sea of vehicles filled with families, pets and belongings. Roadside diners and service areas brimmed with people who had no idea when or how they might return. Many worriedly followed news of the latest air strikes.
Close to our destination in the north of Iran, checkpoints set up by armed and masked security forces made the traffic even worse. They were stopping some vehicles, mostly pick-up trucks, since those are what have been used by Israeli agents to smuggle explosive quadcopters and other weapons inside Iran.
I am writing this from a small but vibrant city in the province of Gilan in northern Iran. The northern provinces, also including Mazandaran and Golestan, are where most Iranians have opted to go. They are relatively close to Tehran, have far fewer places that could be potential targets for the Israeli army, and were already popular travel destinations with a large number of hotels that many have visited before.
Many here have opened their homes to people displaced from other provinces, too. Six million people have entered Mazandaran alone since last week, according to Iran’s deputy police chief, Qasem Rezaei.
The authorities are trying to reassure the population, especially Iranians who have fled to the northern provinces, that the government faces no problems in providing for their basic needs, especially food and fuel.
The aftermath of an Israeli strike on Iran’s State TV broadcaster building in Tehran, Iran, seen on June 19, 2025 [Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters]
But in the meantime, 90 million Iranians have been thrown into a state of uncertainty, frustration and anger while trying to maintain hope for a semblance of normal life when the country is not constantly under threat of military action or isolated from the international community.
For ordinary civilians, the situation is seriously compounded by the fact that they have been completely cut off from the internet for days, with internet observatory NetBlocks confirming on Friday that 97 percent of the country’s connectivity was down. Barring a handful of small daily updates gleaned from state media or local sources, Iranians have little idea about the extent of the Israeli military strikes across the country.
The Iranian authorities began imposing internet restrictions from the first day of the Israeli strikes, but increased them as Israel expanded its offensive and a pro-Israeli hacking group also launched cyberattacks.
Several of the country’s top banks have been taken offline as a result of the cyberattacks, as well as Iran’s top cryptocurrency exchange, Nobitex, which said its “hot wallet” had been compromised but promised it would return any lost money.
Iranian officials, who also took the country offline during the deadly nationwide protests in November 2019, claimed disconnecting the internet was necessary to fend off Israeli quadcopters and other projectiles, but gave no timeline as to when they would restore full connectivity.
Iran already has one of the most closed-off and slowed-down internet connections in the world, as almost all major global messaging apps and other services, along with tens of thousands of websites, are blocked and only accessible through workarounds such as virtual private networks (VPNs).
If you are reading this now, it means I managed to find a barely functioning connection to send this out.
Derek McInnes has been confirmed as the new head coach of Heart of Midlothian on a four-year contract.
The 53-year-old leaves Scottish Premiership rivals Kilmarnock and succeeds Neil Critchley, who was sacked in late April after just six months in charge.
Coaches Paul Sheerin and Alan Archibald will follow McInnes from Rugby Park to Tynecastle.
McInnes had been in charge at Kilmarnock since 2022 and last season guided the Ayrshire side into Europe by finishing fourth.
His managerial career began when he took St Johnstone into the top flight in 2009 and, after a brief stint at Bristol City, he had eight years in Aberdeen, with whom he never finished lower than fourth and won the League Cup in 2014.
McInnes left Pittodrie in 2021 and took charge of Kilmarnock the following January, leading them to promotion to the Premiership.
His spell in Ayrshire ended with his side finishing in ninth, two places below Hearts.
Kilmarnock lost 1-0 to Hearts at Rugby Park on Sunday, with McInnes absent from the home dugout after a compensation deal was agreed between the clubs.
Krakow, Poland – As Adrian Zandberg, leader of Poland’s left-wing Razem (Together) party, prepared to speak to the large crowd at his rally in one of Krakow’s central squares on Wednesday this week, he wasn’t just getting ready to contest Sunday’s presidential election.
Speaking with a revolutionary zeal to the cheering crowd, Zandberg put forward his ideals: Quality public services, affordable housing for all, investment in education and science and the end to a toxic right-wing duopoly in Polish politics.
Zandberg is one of two presidential hopefuls of Poland’s left – the other is Magdalena Biejat of the Lewica (The Left) party. Between the two of them, they represent a political force that has long remained on the margins of politics. Sunday’s contest is also a fight for the leadership of this movement which is popular with urban, generally younger people.
Opinion polls suggest that the final presidential battle – first-round voting takes place on Sunday – will be between the two favourites, Rafał Trzaskowski and Karol Nawrocki, representatives of right-wing parties Civic Platform and Law and Justice (PiS) which have dominated the country’s political scene for the past 20 years.
Nevertheless, Zandberg was confident and full of passion as he addressed his supporters.
“I believe that we can build a different, better Poland. I believe that we can afford for Poland to become a country with decent public services,” he declared. “That we can afford for people in the 20th economy in the world to stop dying in line to see a doctor. That we can afford for young, hard-working people to be able to rent a roof over their heads for a normal price, so that they can afford to start a family.”
Calling the current system “unconstitutional” and one which “explodes with inequalities”, he called for a change. The system, he said, “is a threat to the future of Poland”.
Like other left-wing politicians, he has been a staunch critic of the neoliberal views of the two main candidates, their lack of commitment to securing affordable housing for people (which is a constitutional right), attempts to privatise the healthcare system, and their seeming embrace of rising anti-migrant sentiment within the country.
Adrian Zandberg, leader of Razem party, reacts after exit poll results for the parliamentary elections are announced in Warsaw, Poland, on October 13, 2019 [Jedrzej Nowicki/Agencja Gazeta via Reuters]
Having a ‘real’ effect on Polish politics
The day before, in another square in central Krakow, Biejat, Zandberg’s main competitor for the hearts and minds of Poland’s left and deputy marshal of the Senate, stood before her own crowd of supporters. Unlike Zandberg’s Razem, her party, Lewica, is part of the ruling Civic Coalition along with the centre-right Civic Platform.
Lewica’s decision to enter the coalition government in late 2023 prompted criticism among some on the left, and has become the main bone of contention between the two leftist presidential candidates.
Speaking at her rally on Tuesday, Biejat defended the decision to join the coalition as the right one. According to her, it has allowed her party to have a real effect on politics in Poland.
She listed their achievements: “It is thanks to Lewica being in the government that we managed to introduce a pension supplement for widows. We managed to introduce a pilot programme which shortened working hours. We managed to increase the funeral allowance,” Biejat said.
“We have changed the definition of rape, so that women no longer have to explain to the judges that it was not their fault that someone had hurt them. Thanks to us, parents of premature babies have received additional leave days for each week spent in hospital with a small child.”
The Krakow crowd, albeit smaller than Zandberg’s, cheered Biejat’s declarations of support for the rights of women, LGBTQ people and those with disabilities and for affordable housing.
Magdalena Biejat of the Lewica party speaks at her rally in Krakow on May 13 [Agnieszka Pikulicka-Wilczewska/Al Jazeera]
A fragile resurgence?
The two-term presidency of the left-wing Aleksander Kwasniewsk, an independent but also one of the founders of the Democratic Left Alliance, was highly successful. Under his presidency, which ended in 2005, Poland joined NATO and the European Union and introduced a new constitution. Since his departure, however, the left has been in crisis.
While the ideals of the left-wing candidates barely differ from those of left-wing candidates in other European countries, their appeal in Poland is limited these days as people have become disillusioned with immigration, and resentment towards the one million Ukrainian refugees taking shelter from the war with Russia has grown. According to Politico’s latest aggregate poll, the two leftist candidates are each expected to win 5 percent of the vote.
In the most recent European election in 2024, Lewica secured just 6.3 percent of the vote, the lowest score in its history. In the most recent parliamentary elections of 2023, the party secured just 5.3 percent of the vote. The question now is whether leftist parties can start to make a comeback.
Some observers see signs of a possible resurgence – but it is fragile.
“Any result above 5 percent for each of the candidates [in the upcoming presidential contest] would be a good score. And below 4 percent – a bad one,” said Bartosz Rydlinski, a political scientist at Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski University in Warsaw.
He credits Zandberg with “restarting the Razem party project” by appealing to younger voters. “Recent studies show that he is competing with Slawomir Mentzen [the highly popular ultraconservative and free-market-enthusiast leader of the Confederation Party] to be number one among the youngest voters.
“Magdalena Biejat, on her part, represents women from the middle class, living in large cities. She is their mirror image. The election will show which one of them is more popular,” Rydlinski said.
Limited appeal
At the last presidential election five years ago, Robert Biedron of Lewica, who now serves as a Polish member of the European parliament (MEP), won just 2.2 percent of the vote. This time around, the left is expected to do better, but its appeal remains limited.
According to experts, the left has lost much of its traditional support base to the nationalist conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party, which attracted voters with generous welfare packages. In this presidential election, Karol Nawrocki, who is backed by PiS, is expected to take 25 percent of the vote in the first round, according to Politico’s aggregate poll.
This is despite the fact that Nawrocki has abandoned Law and Justice’s commitment to social welfare and has embraced free-market thinking with a focus on strengthening an alliance with the US while distancing Poland from the EU.
His main competitor,Rafał Trzaskowski of the centre-right Civic Platform, is polling at 31 percent.
“The left is continuously trying to win back pro-social Law and Justice voters, but so far it has failed,” Jakub Majmurek, a commentator at the left-wing Krytyka Polityczna media outlet, told Al Jazeera. “First of all, because these voters are often calculating and feel that the Law and Justice is a much more credible welfare provider than the weak left.
“Second, these voters are largely pro-church and much more conservative when it comes to social issues than the left.”
A good result for the left in the Sunday election could have the effect of bringing left-wing politics back to the agenda, analysts say, and make some inroads into reversing the long-term trend of far-right and centre-right politicians dominating government.
“If the combined result of Biejat and Zandberg is around 10 percent, in the second election round, Trzaskowski or even Nawrocki will have to try to claim this left-wing electorate somehow,” Majmurek explained.
“That would be the best scenario for the left. Especially if both candidates receive a similar percentage of the vote. That would show that none of them is a hegemon and cannot build the left without the other.”
Derek McInnes will not be in charge of Kilmarnock for Sunday’s match against Heart of Midlothian with the manager poised to move from the Ayrshire club to their Scottish Premiership rivals.
The 53-year-old had said on Tuesday that he expected to be in the dugout for the final two games of the season despite the clubs having agreed a compensation deal for his summer switch.
But, following Wednesday’s 3-0 defeat away to Motherwell, Kilmarnock stated on their website: “It has been agreed between our board of directors, Derek McInnes and his staff that the best approach would be if they were not in charge for the final match of the season.”
McInnes had indicated before the match that talks were still ongoing to finalise his move to Tynecastle, but it was assistant Paul Sheerin who was sent out to address the media after the loss at Fir Park.
However, Kilmarnock now say Sheerin and coach Alan Archibald will also not be involved in Sunday’s game against Hearts.
“First team preparation and matchday duties will be undertaken by Chris Burke and Craig Clark,” they stated.
AN AWARD-WINNING pub has been forced to close after opening its doors just two years ago.
The luxury eatery was voted as the best pub in the Midlands and even were finalists for the best Desi grill of the year 2024.
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The Emerald Pub in Nottingham is closing its doors after just two yearsCredit: Google Maps
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The Emerald served a range of delicious Indian meals
The Emerald in Nottingham offered a huge range of Indian dishes and had become a thriving community hub.
The pub doubled as a sports bar, attracting both hungry diners and football fans – in what the owners have described as a “cultural space” and a “labour of love”.
However, after being open for just two years, The Emerald has been forced to shut its doors for good.
The eatery has battled with soaring costs, as well as crushing internal pressures.
Announcing its closure on Facebook, The Emerald issued a lengthy and emotional post in which it thanked its loyal fan base.
A spokesperson for the pub said: “The Emerald was always more than just a pub—it was an Indian pub, a cultural space, and a labour of love that aimed to bring something different to our community.
“We will forever hold dear the memories, the celebrations, and the friendships that were forged within its walls.
“Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts, for your unwavering support. It has meant everything to us.”
Fans flooded the comment section of the post, sharing their incredible stories and experiences from their trips to the pub.
One Facebook user wrote: “Very saddened to hear this and we always loved Emerald, it was more like home for us and will be missed.
Why are so many pubs and bars closing?
“Thank you for all the lovely food and memories we have created at Emerald specially watching cricket and more importantly India winning the world cup.
“All the very best team Emerald for future!!”
Another shared: “Such sad news always made me and my family very welcome thank you for what you have tried to do.”
However, in its Facebook post, The Emerald detailed internal pressures which had contributed to its closure – which is scheduled to take place on May 31.
A spokesperson for the pub detailed how the departure of a business partner had created “emotional, financial and operational” strain which affected the “day-to-day running of the pub”.
What is happening to the hospitality industry?
By Laura McGuire, consumer reporter
The spokesperson also pointed to soaring costs as a major factor behind the closure of the pub.
They wrote: “Rising costs—including a significant increase in barrel prices, rent, and business rates—have placed a substantial financial burden on us, ultimately making the business unsustainable.
“Although we explored the possibility of selling the business to enable someone else to carry on what we began, we were unable to move forward due to conditions and restrictions that were beyond our control.
“More broadly, the current economic climate and policy environment have created immense pressures for small businesses, making it increasingly difficult for independent establishments like ours to survive.”
Many other businesses have faced closure, just like The Emerald.
