15 m. ago Didsbury residents 'forced to flee' after major water main bursts with 30 homes under threat

A water main has burst on Borrowdale Crescent in Didsbury

Events

40 m. ago I went searching for the grandmother I never met. Under a tree where she once sat with Leonard Cohen, I broke | Gina Chick

When adoption laws changed in Australia, we discovered her name: Charmian Clift. I felt instant recognition. This explained everythingGet our weekend culture and lifestyle emailWhen I was young, I had no idea that my mother was such an extraordinary woman. She was just my mother, swirling in and out of the house, singing to her jonquil bulbs, tripping over the animals I rescued, all while reading five books at once. If she was in the kitchen, my sisters and I hid downstairs as she clattered and crashed all the saucepans and swore like a sailor at the latest ruined batch of biscuits.She wept at whatever devastation the nightly news delivered into the lounge room. She loved and was loved in return by my father, Douggie. She birthed four babes, grew the surviving three into formidable women and instilled in us a fierce belief that there was nothing we could not do. Continue reading...

Politics

78 m. ago Gladiators final thrown into chaos after contestant is forced to quit following serious injury as bosses scramble to find a replacement

The Gladiators final has been thrown into chaos one contestant was forced to pull out at the last minute.

Events

1 hour ago For the age of Amorim, this Manchester derby feels like a decisive moment

Against a backdrop of internal strife, facing their sky blue rivals provides a struggling team with chance to rebuild the brandThis brave overhanging firmament, this majestical roof fretted with golden fire, this collection of generic spires with a massive plastic handkerchief chucked over the top. Three weeks on from first sight of the conceptual drawings for Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s stately pleasure dome, also known as the proposed Manchester United Stadium Soccer Product Hub, there is still a sense of double-take about the whole thing.Early impressions of the new ground ranged from a defunct Venusian mercury mine, to Dubai Butlin’s, to a pointed corporate monument to our divided world. Welcome to the Staff Lunch Arena, embodiment of the 21st-century conviction that if you just stopped buying so many sandwiches and also fired the tea lady you could probably afford a vast and unattainable house. Continue reading...

Politics

1 hour ago Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton wrongfully fired whistleblowers, judge rules

A district court judge has ruled in favor of four whistleblowers who said that Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton retaliated against them for reporting bribery allegations, awarding his employees more than $6 million combined in damages

Events

2 h. ago Gladiators star 'devastated' as painful injury forces them to pull out ahead of final

The player won the final leg of The Eliminator on the BBC One show but later withdrew due to injury.

Events

2 h. ago BBC Gladiators star forced to withdraw before final as injury leaves them 'devastated'

The Gladiators competitor was sadly forced to pull out of the BBC competition due to a leg injury.

Events

2 h. ago Red Bull risk losing Max Verstappen after show of force at Suzuka

Team’s fall from grace has been similar to Manchester City’s and rivals are circling around the world championTurbulence and turmoil, infighting and instability, the past 12 months have been trying for Red Bull to the extent it was a wonder that Max Verstappen stood in the eye of the storm and calmly dragged a recalcitrant car to his fourth Formula One title. A fifth this year already looks to be a tall order as the team swing from a period of undisputed dominance to being left impotent by a car they cannot tame and in no little disarray, so much so that Verstappen may be considering his options.In Japan, all eyes have been on the home hero Yuki Tsunoda, promoted to Red Bull from the sister team, Racing Bulls, with indecent haste, after Liam Lawson was sent packing the other way after two races. Even by F1 standards it was a brutal decision but indicative of the disorder that embroils Red Bull. Continue reading...

Events

2 h. ago BBC Gladiators chaos as finalist forced to quit and bosses scramble to find replacement

The star will remain in the audience and watch her new replacement compete in the final of the hit BBC show despite being devastated at having to pull out

Events

3 h. ago Chilling gang war footage shows masked men firebombing UK homes in war cry on 'vermin'

The video footage shows firebombs being thrown through windows and features a creepy voice over, and is believed to have been released as a chilling warning to rival gangs

Events

3 h. ago Video footage appears to contradict Israel’s account of Gaza medic killings

The Israeli military has previously said soldiers fired on ‘terrorists’ in ‘suspicious vehicles’

Events

4 h. ago Ingoldmells caravan park fire horror that killed man and girl, 10, was SECOND blaze this week

This morning's fire at the Golden Beach Holiday Park in Ingoldmells, which killed a man and a girl, 10, happened just days after another blaze in the same Lincolnshire town

Events

5 h. ago Nick Rockett holds off I Am Maximus to win thrilling 2025 Grand National – live reaction

Willie Mullins-trained horse ridden to victory by sonTom Jenkins’s best pictures from AintreeAnd send Simon an email with your thoughtsWilliam Hill Handicap Hurdle (1.20pm)And they’re off Jipcot, always held up in the past, is up there in the very early stages Building Bridges has taken over the lead Dartan and Timmy Tuesday are also prominent Act Of Authority and Double Powerful are at the back no fallers with a circuit to go and not much change in the running order for now but Bill Joyce has gone at the first hurdle in the back straight he’s up and going on riderless Building Bridges has kicked clear with Dartan who is under pressure Timmy Tuesday comes with a challenge Deep Cave comes late and gets there close home.I love that ITV still open up their National day coverage (as the Beeb used to) with the theme music from the 1984 film Champions based on the victory of Bob Champion and Aldaniti in 1981. I still haven’t seen the movie but I found it for a quid last year on DVD. Conti...

Events

5 h. ago Tesco tinned beans shortage sparks chaos as supermarket forced to issue major apology

Supermarket Tesco issued an apology after customers were left empty-handed when trying to buy tinned beans, including butter beans, borlotti beans, and even black beans

Events

5 h. ago Man jailed for five years after setting moped on fire outside ex

Adam Woodhouse texted his former partner hundreds of abusive messages including one which said ‘I will go to prison for murder of you’

Events

5 h. ago No forgetting my encounter with two giants of the stage | Tim Lewis

Old pals Ewan McGregor and Michael Grandage prepare for their new play, My Master Builder, by chuckling about everything that could go wrong and hasFor today’s Observer New Review I had the not-exactly-onerous assignment of spending an hour with the actor Ewan McGregor and director Michael Grandage, as they prepared to put on a new play, My Master Builder, in London’s West End. The two men go way back, and mostly they were cracking each other up with knockabout old stories – much of which there wasn’t room for in my article. McGregor recalled one of his first roles on stage, as Orlando in As You Like It, and how when Simon Callow – multiple Olivier and Bafta award winner – played the part in 1979, he walked out on stage at the National Theatre only to promptly forget the first line of the play.“If you’re a woman and you’re about to have a baby, everybody tells you nightmare stories about childbirth,” said McGregor. “And when you’re an actor about to do a play, everybody tells you te...

Politics

5 h. ago Genetic data is an another asset to be exploited – beware who has yours | John Naughton

The bankruptcy of genealogy company 23andMe has resulted in a fire sale of millions of people’s genetic information – and there’s no shortage of eager buyers with questionable motivesEver thought of having your genome sequenced? Me neither. But it seems that at least 15 million souls have gone in for it and are delighted to know that they have Viking ancestry, or discombobulated to find that they have siblings of whom they were hitherto unaware. The corporate vehicle that enabled these revelations is called 23andMe, which describes itself as a “genetics-led consumer healthcare and biotechnology company empowering a healthier future”.Back in the day, 23andMe was one of those vaunted “unicorns” (privately held startups valued at more than $1bn), but is now facing harder times. Its share price had fallen precipitately following a data breach in October 2023 that harvested the profile and ethnicity data of 6.9 million users – including name, profile photo, birth year, location, family s...

Events

5 h. ago Bentley and house torched in suspected early hours fire attack

A Bentley and part of a home went up in flames in a suspected early hours attack.

Events

5 h. ago Plans for Hammersmith Bridge are unveiled including blowing it up

While pedestrian and cycle access was allowed to remain open, the bridge was closed to all traffic, including to pedestrians and cyclists since August 2020 but in July 2021 it reopened again.

Politics

5 h. ago Phone footage appears to contradict Israel's account in troops' killing of 15 Palestinian medics

A video on the phone of one of 15 Palestinian medics killed by Israeli forces in Gaza shows that their emergency vehicles had their lights and sirens flashing and their logos clearly visible when they came under a barrage of gunfire from troops lasting more than five minutes

Events