The classical singer on scrimping and saving for his first guitar, being diagnosed with two brain tumours and getting back to musicBorn in Salford in 1966, Russell Watson is the UK’s bestselling classical crossover artist. The tenor started on the north-west’s working men’s club circuit, before getting a record deal and releasing The Voice, an album that held the No 1 spot for 52 weeks. He has had seven Top 10 albums, more than 7m album sales, and has performed for Queen Elizabeth II, King Charles and the late Pope John Paul II. He is celebrating 25 years of The Voice with a UK tour.I was 15 when this photo was taken. My childhood bedroom was the size of a postage stamp, but I still filled it with posters – Marilyn Monroe, Madonna and Paul Weller. I was obsessed with music, but even more with football. I wasn’t particularly interested in girls; my life revolved around hanging out with my pals. Continue reading...

Politics

Natural Resources Wales said that with storms becoming fiercer and more frequent, there will come a point when it may no longer be possible to hold back the tide of sand

Events

A Married At First Sight UK reunion is set to air later this month, and one former couple who return are Lacey and Nathan - and they have a lot of unresolved issues

Politics

There are two weather warnings in place in Wales over the next few days

Events

Vladimir Putin's most formative event in his rule came 25 years ago when Kursk sank. The most deadliest naval incident of post-Soviet Russia resulted in the death of 118 men

Politics

Vladimir Putin's most formative event in his rule came 25 years ago when Kursk sank. The most deadliest naval incident of post-Soviet Russia resulted in the death of 118 men

Politics

Indian agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan publicly criticised the Air India airline for allotting him a ‘broken’ seat on the flight from Bhopal city to the capital New Delhi

Politics

This weekend, a symphony of Singers (not that kind) will lead an experimental performance that stitches together feminism and fashion – and offers the audience free repairsStepping into the studio of the Brazilian-born artist and performer Lisa Simpson – no relation to the cartoon character – feels like entering a crossover between the Mad Hatter’s workshop and a postindustrial steampunk landscape with a colourful girl-power twist. The ground floor space in Berlin’s southern district of Neukölln is filled with shelves laden with old sewing machines and coat racks brimming with hats, bags and fabric scraps. Even more sewing machines propped on two tables might suggest that this is a tailor’s workshop, were it not for the tangle of cables and synthesisers connected to them. Toy sewing machines in candy colours have a purple phone receiver attached; colourful cables with knitted covers sneak out of household sewing machines and seam overlockers; pins and needles are connected to microp...

Politics

The Scottish Premiership table toppers can extend their lead at the summit with a result against David Gray's in-form side

Politics

The day that changed Ukraine forever

Events

Moscow and Washington held their first talks on ending the nearly three-year war in Ukraine on TuesdayUkrainians who once lived in parts of the country now occupied by Russia hope they can claim some kind of compensation from the Russians in charge for the damage to their homes, Reuters reports.Maria Seryogova is one of those who have returned to snap photos of the rubble to back up their claims. Continue reading...

Politics

Godstone’s once busy high street is now eerily quiet as theories swirl on what could have caused the craters that sparked residents to flee. Barney Davis reports

Politics

Kate Cassidy's recent social media post shared a sweet hidden tribute to her late partner Liam Payne months on from his tragic death in Argentina

Politics

After 35 US caps, three World Cups and hall of fame recognition, the former flanker is still a fighter – but now it’s in the octagon, for moneyPhaidra Knight is already a pioneer, the only African American woman in the World Rugby Hall of Fame. In 2017, when she retired after three World Cups and 35 US caps, she was 43. Now she’s 50 but on Saturday night in Patchogue, New York, she will claim another first: the oldest woman ever to make her pro MMA debut.“All roads lead to where I am,” Knight says, by phone from New York, on her way to training, with a sort of fierce zen sentiment familiar from conversations about rugby, the game she found at law school, through which she found herself, and which she came to see as a prop and a flanker as “violent yet controlled, kind of a form of art”. Continue reading...

Politics

The London photographer always saw odd things going on while cycling at weekends, but nothing quite like this You’d be forgiven for thinking this shot was taken during the pandemic; an inventive, impromptu attempt at masking up, perhaps. Instead, Richard Chambury took it in the spring of 2013, in London’s Victoria Park.“My daughter was 11 and to get her out and about on the weekends we used to go cycling,” Chambury says. “We eventually discovered this was not her favourite pastime; she’s a reader, and likes the warmth. But we always saw odd things going on, people doing the morning walk of shame dolled up from the night before, or wild birds and swans knocking about.” Continue reading...

Culture

Meghan Markle has been sharing even more glimpses of her children Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet online after she and Prince Harry have been fiercely protective over their privacy - and one expert has weighed in on this strategy

Politics

The money is already flowing at Celtic Park but a takeover looks set to spark an influx of money in the blue half of Glasgow

Sport

Whether taking a selfie, filming a daring activity or simply posing for a holiday snap, the minutes before disaster strikes can be the happiest and most exhilarating of people's lives.

Events

According to scientific evidence, EU bureaucrats said in a report, caffeine - a key component of coffee (pictured, file photo) - 'is harmful to humans if swallowed'.

Events

This was a judgment with a sting in its tail. On Wednesday, three of the five people named in connection with the death of Liam Payne had all charges dropped against them in an Argentine court.

Events