recognise

Coronation Street fans were introduced to new character Ollie in tonight’s episode, as he insisted on buying Dee-Dee a drink, but where have fans seen actor Raphael Akuwudike?

There was another new face introduced in the cobbles tonight, as Coronation Street fans were introduced to new character Ollie, played by actor Raphael Akuwudike.

Ollie was a regular punter in the Rovers, who came over to Dee-Dee Bailey and insisted on buying her a drink. As he tries to chat her up, Dee Dee can’t help being charmed, although reluctant to get to know him at first.

Is happiness finally on the horizon for Dee-Dee or could Ollie be bringing even more trouble into her life?

Although Dee-Dee may not have seen Ollie before, many Coronation Street fans would have, as it’s not Raphael’s first soap, or TV role. Although his roles may have been small, fans may be scratching their heads as they wonder where they’ve seen him before.

Murder mystery fans may recognise the new character for his role as Kit Harcourt in The Marlow Murder Club. The star played the role as Kit Harcourt, alongside stars including Samantha Bond, Jo Martin and Cara Horgan. In the small role earlier this year, Kit’s was found at the Marlow Yacht Club, and he was killed by a blow to the head.

Coronation Street isn’t his first soap role however, as he starred in an episode of Doctors in 2019, as he starred as Beni Cameron.

The actor has also starred in a number of theatre shows, including The Player Kings (The Noel Coward); Beautiful Thing (Stratford East); Romeo and Juliet (The Almeida) and Sons of the Prophet (Hampstead Theatre).

It’s been a tough ride for Dee-Dee this year – and she’s certainly not had the best of luck in her love life. She thought she found the love of her life with fiancé Joel Deering, however, his sick crimes came to light last year and he was killed shortly after.

While with Dee-Dee, Joel attempted to kill Lauren Bolton, before she went on the run for months – only to return pregnant with his child. Lauren later got her own back as it was revealed she was the one who pushed Joel into the river.

However, Dee-Dee’s nightmare didn’t end there, as she later found out she was pregnant with Joel’s child. Will she ever find her happy ever after?

Coronation Street airs Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 8pm on ITV1 and ITV X.

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Russia has become the first country to formally recognise the Taliban government in Afghanistan since the group took power in 2021. The Kremlin said the move would ‘pave the way for bilateral cooperation’, while the Taliban hailed it as a ‘courageous step’.

Supreme Court lifted group’s ‘terrorist’ designation in April, as Moscow seeks normalisation in bid for regional clout.

Russia has accepted the credentials of a new ambassador of Afghanistan as part of an ongoing drive to build friendly relations with the country’s Taliban authorities, which seized power as United States troops withdrew from the country four years ago.

“We believe that the act of official recognition of the government of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan will give impetus to the development of productive bilateral cooperation between our countries in various fields,” said the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement on Thursday.

The move makes Russia the first country in the world to recognise the country’s Taliban government.

“This brave decision will be an example for others,” Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi said in a video of a meeting on Thursday with Dmitry Zhirnov, the Russian ambassador to Kabul, posted on X.

“Now that the process of recognition has started, Russia was ahead of everyone.”

The move is likely to be closely watched by Washington, which has frozen billions in Afghanistan’s central bank assets and enforced sanctions on some senior leaders in the Taliban, which has contributed to Afghanistan’s banking sector being largely cut off from the international financial system.

The group seized power in Afghanistan in August 2021, when US forces supporting the country’s internationally recognised government pulled out.

Moscow, which called the US withdrawal a “failure”, has taken steps to normalise relations with the Taliban authorities since then, seeing them as a potential economic partner and ally in fighting terrorism.

A Taliban delegation attended Russia’s flagship economic forum in Saint Petersburg in 2022 and 2024, and the group’s top diplomat met Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow last October.

In July 2024, Russian President Vladimir Putin called the Taliban “allies in the fight against terrorism” – notably against Islamic State Khorasan Province, ISKP (ISIS-K), a group responsible for deadly attacks in both Afghanistan and Russia.

In April, Russia’s Supreme Court lifted the “terrorist” designation for the group.

Lavrov said that month that “the new authorities in Kabul are a reality”, urging Moscow to adopt a “pragmatic, not ideologised policy” towards the Taliban.

Competing for influence

Moscow’s attitude towards the Taliban has shifted drastically over the last two decades.

The group was formed in 1994 during the Afghan Civil War, largely by former US-supported Mujahideen fighters who battled the Soviet Union during the 1980s.

The Soviet-Afghan war resulted in a stinging defeat for Moscow that may have hastened the demise of the USSR.

Russia put the Taliban on its “terrorist” blacklist in 2003 over its support for separatists in the North Caucasus.

But the Taliban’s return to power in 2021 has forced Russia and other countries in the region to change tack as they compete for influence.

Russia was the first country to open a business representative office in Kabul after the Taliban takeover, and has announced plans to use Afghanistan as a transit hub for gas heading to Southeast Asia.

The Afghan government is not officially recognised by any world body, and the United Nations refers to the administration as the “Taliban de facto authorities”.

A Channel 4 sitcom, starring a Death in Paradise favourite, is now trending on Prime Video despite having been released over a decade ago

A sitcom featuring Ardal O’Hanlon that originally aired over a decade ago has found new popularity on Prime Video.

London Irish, which first graced Channel 4 in 2013, boasts a star-studded cast including Death in Paradise’s Ardal O’Hanlon and Derry Girls’ Peter Campion. The show centres around a group of Belfast expats navigating life in London.

The series was the brainchild of Lisa McGee, the creative force behind Derry Girls. Despite only running for six episodes and Channel 4 deciding against a second season, London Irish has found renewed interest.

Now available on Prime Video, the show has been given the ‘trending now’ label, demonstrating its enduring appeal 12 years after its initial release.

The cast also features Sinéad Keenan, known for her role in Unforgotten, Game of Thrones actor Ker Logan, No Offence’s Tracey Lynch, and Kat Reagan, reports Wales Online.

Phoebe Waller-Bridge, the creator and star of BBC’s Fleabag, also makes a guest appearance in London Irish, portraying a character named Steph in one episode.

The synopsis for London Irish reads: “Conor and Bronagh are twenty-something siblings from Northern Ireland who, along with friends Packy and Niamh, are trying to make their way through London life.

“The foursome find navigating the big city challenging, particularly as they’re playing by their own unique set of rules, leading to all sorts of mischief.

“Conor is highly unpredictable and tends to just go with unbelievable things that tend to happen to him while his older sister, Bronagh, is the opposite of him – cynical, dark and fierce. Self-confident Niamh is ambitious and can be ruthless when she doesn’t get what she wants.

“Packy is the closest thing the group has to a parental figure and tries to keep the others in line but often gets dragged into their madness.”

Ardal, who portrays Chris in the sitcom, first gained recognition in Father Ted before joining BBC One’s Death in Paradise as DI Jack Mooney.

He left the popular drama series in 2020, but recently appeared in spin-off series Return to Paradise. His character featured remotely as part of a storyline with DI Mackenzie Clarke (Anna Samson).

London Irish is available to stream now on Prime Video.

Most of us have been sunburnt, however one holidaymaker suffered an extreme reaction to ‘sun poisoning’, leaving her family members referring to her as ET. She is speaking up about her experience to warn others of the risks of sun exposure

Sunshine, Caribbean heat and cocktails – that’s what Ashlei Bianchi expected from her family getaway. But just two days in, her dream holiday quickly turned into a nightmare.

The 23-year-old had spent the afternoon soaking up the scorching Punta Cana sun while chilling by the pool with family. But hours later, she noticed a strange change – her forehead and head were swollen.

She’d used protection and assumed it was just a mild reaction to the heat – nothing to stress over. “I did use sunscreen, but I still got a little red, which was going to happen either way since I’m not used to the sun down there, and we were in the pool all day,” she said.

Trying to nip it in the bud, Ashlei wiped her face with aloe vera gel and hoped it would clear up naturally. “My face started getting worse, and that’s when the swelling on and under my eyes happened.”

By the final morning of the trip, one of her eyes was completely swollen shut – and things got even more alarming when she phoned her mum. “I FaceTimed my mom, and she said I didn’t even look like myself, then the family I went with said I looked like E.T.”

If her own mum couldn’t recognise her – how would she get through customs? “I had to go on my flight and go through customs looking not like myself, and I was scared I wasn’t going to be able to get back home. I’m so thankful I made it through,” she said.

“I wore my sunglasses the whole trip home, even when it was dark out, because I was so embarrassed.” And it wasn’t just her appearance drawing reactions, “When I went to the pharmacy, the lady working had wide eyes and went, ‘Oh my.’ Then, when I went through customs in Boston, the guy was like, ‘Too much sun?’ and I was like, ‘Yep!’”

Ashlei stopped at a Dominican airport pharmacy and picked up anti-inflammatory medication. While still abroad, she reached out to her doctor, who prescribed her an oral steroid but she couldn’t begin the course until landing back in New York on March 25.

It took four full days of steroids for her face to finally return to normal.

“My doctor wasn’t sure if it was sun poisoning, but I work at a hospital and asked a rheumatologist. She said it was sun poisoning, so that’s what I have been telling people it is.” she said

Now fully recovered, Ashlei is speaking out to warn others about how dangerous sun exposure can be – even when you use protection. “I would say the dangers of sun exposure are real. I’m lucky my sun poisoning affected my face and not anything else, and I had no symptoms besides swelling.”

“It’s very important to use your sunscreen and wear hats. I think that’s where I went wrong. I really should have had something besides sunscreen protecting my face.”

“But all in all, the sun is no joke, especially in the Caribbean where it’s much more potent.”

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Ashlei needed strong medication for days when she got home and a doctor explained what had happened

A woman’s holiday turned into a nightmare when sunburn made her face so swollen her own mum didn’t recognise her. Ashlei Bianchi said she looked like ET two days into her trip to the Dominican Republic.

The 23-year-old had spent the afternoon soaking up the Punta Cana sun while relaxing with her family around the pool. But by evening she noticed her forehead and head had swollen.

Despite using suncream, Ashlei thought she had just suffered a mild reaction to the sun. The children’s hospital assistant says she wiped her face with an aloe vera gel and carried on with her trip.

But Ashlei woke up on the final morning of the holiday to find one of her eyes had swollen shut. By the end of the four-day trip, Ashlei’s face had become so puffy that even her own mum, Michelle Bianchi, 52, didn’t recognise her over FaceTime.

Other family members also joked that she looked like alien ET. On the way to the airport, Ashlei feared her drastically changed appearance meant she wouldn’t be able to get through customs.

“I did use sunscreen, but I still got a little red, which was going to happen either way since I’m not used to the sun down there, and we were in the pool all day,” she said. “I FaceTimed my mum, and she said I didn’t even look like myself, then the family I went with said I looked like ET.

“My face started getting worse, and that’s when the swelling on and under my eyes happened. It was definitely a mixture of just laying out and being by the resort all day. One of the pools barely had any shade, so I was more exposed to the rays.

“I had to go on my flight and go through customs looking not like myself, and I was scared I wasn’t going to be able to get back home. I’m so thankful I made it through. I wore my sunglasses the whole trip home, even when it was dark out, because I was so embarrassed.”

Desperate to find relief, Ashlei stopped at a pharmacy at the Dominican airport and bought anti-inflammatory medication. She also reached out to her doctor, who prescribed her an oral steroid – but she couldn’t start treatment until she got home on March 25.

Once home, it took four days of steroids for her face to finally return to normal. Ashlei said: “It wasn’t painful, just more uncomfortable. It hurt when I had to close my eyes all the way.

“When I went to the pharmacy, the lady working had wide eyes and went, ‘Oh my.’ I wore my sunglasses on both my flights and throughout the airport even when it was dark.”

Ashlei says she later learned she had suffered from sun poisoning. She said: “My doctor wasn’t sure if it was sun poisoning, but I work at a hospital and asked a rheumatologist.

“She said it was sun poisoning, so that’s what I have been telling people it is.”

Now fully recovered, Ashlei is sharing her story as a warning about the dangers of sun exposure – even with sunscreen. She said: “I would say the dangers of sun exposure are real. I’m lucky my sun poisoning affected my face and not anything else.

“I had no symptoms besides swelling. It’s very important to use your sunscreen and wear hats. I think that’s where I went wrong. I really should have had something besides sunscreen protecting my face.

“But all in all, the sun is no joke, especially in the Caribbean where it’s much more potent.”