What’s hot... and what’s not — keep up with Joe Bromley’s weekly barometer

Politics

A range of foods are ready to be at their best as we approach the start of spring.

Society

The fortified Royal Mint complex in East London resembled the set of a B-grade horror movie as it was lashed last week by the gusting winds and torrential rain of Storm Herminia.

Economics

The transfer window is approaching its final week as clubs in the Premier League and across Europe seek to close out deals

Sport

Disgraced Love Island winner Jack Fincham was released on bail this week, as he is appealing a six-week prison sentence after his Cane Corso attacked two people on separate occasions

Events

The actor and comedian, 45, tells Tom Parker Bowles about school Nutella feasts, the glamour of frozen orange juice and why he won't taste his own cooking

Culture

Salford bus driver Gary spent more than £100 on takeaways a week

Transport

Aston Villa are set to seal a deal to land Marcus Rashford on loan for the remainder of the campaign and will pay the bulk of the forward's £325,000-a-week wages

Politics

Earlier this week, the opera singer, 53, stepped down from the tour after coming under fire for making a vile remark aimed at host Janette Manrara.

Society

Carers across the UK are calling for a significant increase to the weekly rate paid via Carer's Allowance, which would see the benefit align with the hourly minimum wage - worth £400 a week

Economics

Arsenal are desperate to add a new striker to their ranks before the January transfer window slams shut next week and Mikel Arteta is running out of time to get a deal over the line

Sport

From gouged out eyes that were eaten, fully disfigured faces, bitten arms and abducted and mauled children - these are some of the most horrific monkey attacks in history

Events

Love Island's Scott Thomas sensationally quit the show this week and left the Islanders in tears, however fans are now worried that another contestant is going to call it quits

Politics

In a speech in Oxford this week, the chancellor claimed that a new runway at Heathrow could create up to 100,000 new jobs and open Britain up to new markets.

Society

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) could be set for a major update this year as campaigners fight for a new benefit for carers to be introduced and for rates to increase

Economics

The transfer window is approaching its final week as clubs in the Premier League and across Europe seek to close out deals

Sport

According to a new poll, half of our 13- to 27-year-olds can’t see the point of all those time-wasting elections and parliaments. Why do they not know that authoritarianism is worse?The phrase “shocking findings” is hugely overused in the media, which is strange because it’s so clumsy. The word endings nearly rhyme, but not quite, and there’s something infantile about the word “finding” for something you’ve found. Is your lunch your eatings? Did you do any pooings this morning? Always go for a weeing before leaving the house – or building.Most “shocking findings” don’t turn out to be that shocking. The phrase gets deployed to dupe you into reading on and then it’s just some study that’s come out with something predictably depressing. Not this time. Last week, there were some genuinely shocking findings. I’d go so far as simply to call them shockings. Never mind that they were found – that’s not their key characteristic at all. They’re shockings, infuriatings and frankly frightenings...

Events

It’s time to celebrate celery with a soothing soup, and a nice potato pancake to go with itMost of the soup I make is in an effort to deal with my over-enthusiasm at the shops, a need to tidy up a vegetable rack overflowing with beetroot or leeks. A case of waste not, want not rather than to spotlight a vegetable in season. The results can be good or less so, depending on just how many turnips and swedes I am also trying to get rid of. This week, I made soup simply to celebrate a particularly fine head of celery.I carried it home with my shopping, the celery’s plume of leaves poking pertly from my bag. The soup was good, using the entire head, or at least those stalks I hadn’t torn away and munched raw the moment I arrived home. The like-it-or-loathe-it vegetable was mellowed and sweetened by sour cream and potato. Continue reading...

Politics

Mum-of six Tracy Phillips said they were forced to sleep in their coats

Society

It was five years ago this week that the first folk on British soil - two Chinese nationals staying in a York hotel, as it happens - tested positive for coronavirus.

Economics

The transfer window is approaching its final week as clubs in the Premier League and across Europe seek to close out deals

Sport

The identity of the third pilot of the H-60 Black Hawk Helicopter who died as the aircraft collided with an American Airlines passenger jet earlier this week has been revealed

Events

A survey found that young people admitted finding democracy dull against the toxic glamour of strongman politics‘DYOR.” That’s what they say. That’s Do Your Own Research, for those of us not quite meeting the 13- to 28-year-old gen Z age bracket. It’s a common refrain when one of them finds their truth challenged.So I set out on some DYOR regarding the report last week that most gen Zers were in favour of the UK becoming a dictatorship. The study, commissioned by Channel 4, has been described broadly as “shocking”, “worrying” and “bleak”. Yet for anyone with daily interaction with that generation, it would probably be better described as – “fairly predictable”. Continue reading...

Politics

The transfer window is approaching its final week as clubs in the Premier League and across Europe seek to close out deals

Sport

Forest responded from their 5-0 defeat at Bournemouth last week with a resounding victory over Brighton.

Events

You can dine out like a footballer at a host of Manchester's top cafes, restaurants and bars

Politics

The Masked Singer fans are convinced they know who's behind the Bush mask - and it's an EastEnders star who has made headlines after quitting the BBC soap this week

Events

The Princess of Wales made a major appearance in Wales this week - and a leading royal expert has explained why the visit made her priorities very clear

Politics

Supermarket chain Lidl and the Food Standards Agency has issued an urgent UK recall on two popular snacks that could cause a 'burning sensation' in the mouth when eaten.

Events

For the Beyond Paradise actor, happy Sundays are all about the plotWhat’s an average Sunday? I share an allotment with my friend, which is wonderful. We grow turnips, parsnips and tromboncinos, which are in the squash family and a bit phallic. It’s a really peaceful thing to do and it calms me.Is it hard to get an allotment? You have to go on a waiting list. One of my big regrets is that I didn’t do it with my kids. Now they’re grown up, they look at me as if I’m a mad woman when I say I’m going down to the allotment. But it’s full of young couples with young children, digging.Is there allotment envy? Yes. There’s always someone better than you. There’s a lady who does French squashes in the most extraordinary shapes, and someone else who has a magical bottomless pit of potatoes. My friend Caroline sorts out our logistics. She’s always getting gets me to build structures and hang nets to stop the birds eating all the cavolo nero.Have you got a shed? We share a shed. There’s a lot of...

Politics

Brazilian’s injury-blighted career highlights iniquities of the game, from inflated expectations to curse of celebrity excessNever go back, but sometimes going back is all that remains. Just 18 months after he joined Al-Hilal, Neymar and the Saudi club have agreed to terminate his contract, allowing him to return to Brazil and rejoin Santos. Al-Hilal paid £77m to sign Neymar from Paris Saint-Germain on a salary of £2.5m a week. He will be paid 85% of that for the remainder of this season, meaning he cost the club £322m for seven appearances, three assists and one goal. Like so much of Neymar’s career, it all seems such a dreadful waste.His is a story almost designed to highlight the iniquities of the modern game, from the impossible pressures placed on young players to the curse of celebrity and financial excess. Neymar’s great misfortune was to emerge just after Lionel Messi. Argentina had seemingly found a second Diego Maradona, so Brazil needed a second Pelé. When, in June 2011, ...

Events

Sam found himself getting sucked deeper and deeper in to betting, sometimes risking £11,000 in a day. Now a judge has ruled he was unlawfully targetedAt 1.17pm on 15 August 2018, Sam* logged in to his online betting account and gambled five days’ worth of wages. Already deep in debt – having taken out 13 loans over three years, and with his marriage under strain – he had been desperate to quit.But Sky Betting & Gaming, operator of Sky Bet, Casino, and Vegas, had other ideas. Having labelled him a “high value” customer, and not realising he was at risk, it had sent him an email promising a £100 bonus if he spent £400 on a casino game. “Well done on making it past level 2. Can you make it even further this week?” it said. Soon after receiving it, Sam deposited £400. Continue reading...

Events

Independent journalists live outside the mainstream and their numbers are growing

Politics

It's getting closer to EastEnders' highly anticipated anniversary week, as Denise Fox star Dianne Parish teases what's to come for her interactive love story twist

Events

Justin Bieber sparked fresh concern on Saturday as he was seen in New York City looking fatigued for the third time this week, fueling rumors of tension in his marriage to wife Hailey Bieber.

Politics

The loss of the young figure skaters whose lives were cut tragically short in the American Eagle flight 5342 crash has ripped a hole in the tightly knit world of figure skatingEveryone agreed it was the best camp they’d ever been to. The most fun. There was an interpretive dance class. Successful jump drills were met with high-fives all around. On the day of the Chinese new year, the kids all went out for hot pot. And parents and coaches, regardless of athlete rivalries, intermingled in camaraderie; when one parent noticed a coach’s voice grow hoarse, they pulled a ginger shot from out of their purse, handing it to her with a smile.National development camps, such as the one that took place following the US figure skating championships in Wichita last week, are held for the highest performing juvenile, intermediate and novice skaters. The young athletes with the greatest potential are offered this chance to watch the stars of their sport compete, and then learn from some of the most...

Events

Wayne Rooney is being chased by a number of TV programmes, with Match of the Day keen snap him up, while Sky also rate him highly and this week he offered strong views on Gary Neville’s The Overlap

Politics

The reserve in Geltsdale in the north Pennines has been expanded by a third after RSPB buys land for £4mIt covers more than 50 square kilometres of blanket bog, heath, meadows and woodland and rises from a valley floor to the 640m summit of Cold Fell in the north Pennines. This is RSPB Geltsdale, and it will now be the organisation’s largest English bird sanctuary when the society announces this week that it has bought land that expands the existing reserve by a third.“This is going to be a reserve on a different scale from many of our other sites in England,” said Beccy Speight, the RSPB’s chief executive. Continue reading...

Events

‘Everything was so sexy and seductive....up to where he was eating a bowl of cereal,’ one commenter on Instagram wrote

Politics

Investigation first published by the Guardian proved volunteers at 2022 Black Lives Matter protest were unarmedThe chief of police in Portland, Oregon, acknowledged this week that the force had misled the public about a deadly attack on traffic-safety volunteers before a Black Lives Matter protest in 2022, by wrongly telling the media that the gunman had been confronted by “armed protesters”.In fact, as a visual investigation by the research group Forensic Architecture first published by the Guardian last year showed, the traffic-safety volunteers at the 19 February 2022 protest were unarmed, and trying to de-escalate the rightwing gunman when he opened fire. Continue reading...

Events

This week, leading money educator Vanessa Stoykov helps a woman looking after her elderly mother deal with her selfish siblings.

Politics

The Black Hawk helicopter destroyed this week when it collided with an American Airlines flight landing in Washington DC had been on a drill in preparation of evacuating the president

Events

The foundation was a sell-out success every single week - and it's on offer right now

Politics

Jeff Zvonova, 44, spent a week in Bulgaria with his wife Jelena and youngest son Andrew as they took a break from their busy schedules, but the holiday quickly became a nightmare.

Events

Viewers of The Masked Singer UK are convinced they've 'worked out' the identity of character Bear after much speculation earlier this week

Politics

Jeff Zvonova, 44, spent a week in Bulgaria with his wife Jelena and youngest son Andrew as they took a break from their busy schedules, but the holiday quickly became a nightmare.

Events

New arrivals are set to push the population to 72.5 million but the numbers matter less than how well people fit in once hereLast week some startling numbers hit the headlines. If the Office for National Statistics is correct, net migration will add five million people to these islands in the span of a decade. That will account for almost all population growth in that time, driving us up to 72.5 million by 2032.Is it good news or bad? Many commentators reacted with alarm: there is already a great deal of strain on housing, education and health services. But others like the idea. They point out that birthrates are falling across the world, and that Britain, like other countries, is due to get increasingly decrepit with time. We will eventually have to live off the life force of skilled young people from overseas, over whom everyone else will be competing. Continue reading...

Politics

WARNING, DISTRESSING CONTENT: Victims of Philip Hamer, found guilty of 21 charges, including eight counts of rape and seven counts of sexual assault, spoke at a sentencing hearing this week

Events

It's that time of the week again and The Masked Singer fans are certain they've worked out the 'real identity' of character Kingfisher as they perform in front of the judges

Politics

A doctor who treats cancer patients has shared how he minimises his own risk of developing the disease by eating certain foods – and they're all easy to incorporate into a daily diet

Events

Ferne McCann was eliminated from Dancing On Ice last week and has now found a new way to spend her time after her surprise exit from the ITV skating show

Politics

The White House has posted a video featuring grieving parents who lost children to undocumented migrants as a response to Selena Gomez's emotional social media post earlier this week.

Events

Liverpool march on as league leaders, departing with no little relief from Bournemouth. Arne Slot’s team had not fallen into the traps Andoni Iraola’s team have used to sink top-four opponents this season. Mohamed Salah, with customary efficiency, scored twice to claim the three points. If his first came after a highly debatable penalty award, the second, a left-footed chip hit like a prime Tiger Woods approach shot, was a goal of inarguable beauty. It meant Liverpool had negotiated one of their most demanding remaining assignments and sent the pressure back into Arsenal’s fraying mindset. The post-match celebrations reflected the importance of victory.A game too far for Bournemouth? They were unchanged, as necessity has demanded for weeks now, Liverpool able to field the same XI that swept aside Ipswich last week. A lack of jeopardy in the week’s Champions League action meant only Andy Robertson and Cody Gakpo had played at PSV Eindhoven. Continue reading...

Politics

Six people - including a child have died - in the US's second deadly plane tragedy this week, which saw a Learjet 55 aircraft disappear from the radar after taking off in Philadelphia

Events