7 hours ago The Greater Manchester secondary schools with the highest truancy rates

It comes as absence rates across the country continue to rise year on year since COVID

Politics

8 hours ago Cooking for one? Sometimes frozen lasagne just won’t cut it and life calls for a cheese soufflé | Rachel Cooke

A new book of classic but simple recipes makes solo cooking more pleasure than choreLike many people, I read a lot during the Covid-19 lockdown, and one of the books I enjoyed most in those strange, silent months was a memoir by the novelist Michèle Roberts called Negative Capability: an account of being alone, but not lonely. In the face of what people on social media like to call (ugh) self-care, Roberts wrote of her efforts to be good to herself after a painful rejection without recourse either to self-pity or to yoga. Four years on, I still sometimes pull it from the shelf when I’m feeling embattled. Radiant and meditative, a few pages are all I need to get going again; to remind myself to pay attention to everything, and by doing so both to recognise and to give thanks for what gre...

Politics

8 hours ago Man takes to paddleboard to get around city's flooded streets as heavy rains sweep away animals and submerge roads in southern France

Following hours of heavy rainfall France on Thursday has been grappling by its worst flooding in 40 years.

Events

9 hours ago The unseen role Aaron Ramsey played in Cardiff City's Plymouth Argyle demolition

The Wales captain and injured Bluebirds star was given a different role in the win over the Pilgrims

Politics

9 hours ago ‘Appreciate winter for what it is, without wishing it were something different’: psychologist Kari Leibowitz on beating the seasonal blues

The researcher spent 10 years studying how attitude affects mood and behaviour, and her new book shares ways in which we can learn to value the colder monthsKari Leibowitz holds a PhD in social psychology from Stanford University, where she studied the role of our mindsets on our health and wellbeing. For the past 10 years, Leibowitz has been investigating people’s attitudes to winter and the ways they can powerfully affect our mood and behaviour – research that has culminated in her debut book, How to Winter: Harnessing Your Mindset to Thrive in Cold, Dark Or Difficult Times.As a Fulbright scholar, you moved from Atlanta to the University of Tromsø in Norway. The polar night there lasts for almost two months. How did that experience inform your views of winter?I was looking for a resea...

Politics

9 hours ago Covid XEC symptoms: Coronavirus signs to look out for in new deadly variant hitting UK

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) warned members of the public that the XEC strain of the disease is spreading in the UK with cases increasing at a high rate

Events

10 hours ago BBC Strictly Come Dancing Pete Wick's incredibly different first career before finding fame

Strictly Come Dancing’s Pete Wicks once had a very surprising and highly successful career before TOWIE and reality TV came knocking on his door and he shot to fame

Politics

10 hours ago Tottenham respond perfectly to Brighton blip as momentum builds under Ange Postecoglou

Spurs fell away in Postecoglou’s first campaign in north London but this season could be different

Politics

11 hours ago Cuba power blackout hits ten million people as national emergency declared

The island’s main energy plant failed on Friday with engineers working round the clock to restore power

Events