15 h. ago Fresh legal challenge over Brockwell Park festivals as campaigners accuse council of 'silencing residents'

Lambeth Council approved a Certificate of Lawfulness less than 24 hours before Wide Awake opened its gates to revellers

Politics

19 h. ago Work set to begin on two major projects in Neath Port Talbot

Both projects were approved unanimously by members at a council planning committee last year

Politics

25 h. ago Paisley's Abbey Mission Hall set for transformation after plans approved by Renfrewshire Council

The project in Lawn Street has been granted the relevant approvals by the local authority.

Events

3 d. ago Dig into summer fun: free children’s gardening workshop at Dobbies

Dobbies Garden Centres is inviting children to come along to its free-to-attend Little Seedlings Club, taking place across the UK this June. This hands-on workshop will spotlight garden tools and the summer gardening jobs that these tools can be used for, followed by a fun activity.

Economics

4 d. ago The Guardian view on Romania’s presidential election upset: a vote for stability and the west | Editorial

A stunning comeback victory for the centrist mayor of Bucharest was also good news for Kyiv. But elsewhere in Europe, the far right continues to flourishAs Romanians voted on Sunday in arguably the most consequential election in the country’s post-communist history, Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, will have been preparing to welcome a fellow disruptor to the European stage. The first round of a controversially re-run presidential contest had been handsomely won by George Simion, a Eurosceptic ultranationalist who views Donald Trump as a “natural ally” and opposes military aid to Ukraine. On the back of a 20-point lead, Mr Simion, a 38-year-old former football ultra with a taste for violent rhetoric, was so confident of winning that he made a confrontational visit to Brussels in the last days of his campaign.Those expectations were confounded in remarkable fashion at the weekend. In a dramatic reversal of fortunes, Nicușor Dan, the centrist mayor of Bucharest, benefited ...

Politics

5 d. ago Timothy Spall details 'high expectations' he faced ahead of new BBC comedy drama Death Valley

The BBC's upcoming comedy drama Death Valley centres around an unlikely pair who solve a series of murders in the Welsh countryside

Events

8 d. ago Increase in rates paid by Renfrewshire Council to funded childcare providers approved

The changes were rubber-stamped at a meeting of the education and children's services policy board.

Politics

8 d. ago Opportunity to improve people’s health and happiness comes to Central Scotland

Slimming World is inviting people who’ve successfully lost weight at a local Slimming World group – either former or current members – to run their own weight loss group.

Politics

9 d. ago New canine rescue centre is coming to Ayr after proposals are approved by council planners

Proposals have been approved for an extension and alterations to the base in Mainholm Road.

Events

1 week ago Sadiq Khan urged to block high rise building that skirts Grenfell building rule by 30cm

Tory controlled Bromley Council has approved an application to build a tower block in Penge, South London, that attempts to get around the rule by reducing the height of the building by 30cm.

Politics

2 w. ago Former west London RAF site to be turned into hundreds of flats

Long-awaited final phase of Uxbridge regneration project given unanimous approval by Hillingdon Council

Politics

2 w. ago The Berlin art legend who found his calling in sneaking into other artists’ shows

Disillusioned with art that didn’t engage the public, Mr Jambon found deeper meaning in striking up conversations at openings. After 6,000 shows in 25 years, could the ‘galleries project’ come to an end?As the crowd outside a gallery in central Berlin filters indoors to get out of the rain, a man in a bright red T-shirt wearing cartoonishly large metal-framed glasses heads in the opposite direction.With a retro futuristic yellow bike helmet under his arm and an orange backpack stuffed full of rain gear slung over his shoulder, Patrick Jambon, a 58-year-old Frenchman, leaves Galerie Neu and makes for his bike. The rain is not stopping him from making the most of Berlin’s gallery weekend, when many of Berlin’s 400-plus galleries exhibit new shows over three days. Continue reading...

Culture

2 w. ago Community centres could come under West Lothian Council's direct control

The new option was tabled after councillors heard that only around half of the £1m needed savings have been identified through communities taking ownership of centres or signing new leases.

Politics

2 w. ago Australian conservative opposition leader loses seat in ‘Trump factor’ backlash

It comes days after Canada’s centrist Liberal Party stormed to victory in what will be seen as part of an international voter backlash against the Trump administration

Politics

3 w. ago Cocktail of the week: Beach House Falmouth’s the harbour – recipe | The good mixer

A sprightly, grapefruity number in the manner of a gin sour, and with a dash of Campari to give it an extra grown-up edgeI’m a huge fan of Campari, so am always keen to come up with new cocktails in which it can take centre stage, and this zingy little number is now a firm favourite. We also love working with local Cornish producers, and Caspyn’s dry gin is made in West Penwith, on the southern tip of the county.William Speed, co-owner, Beach House Falmouth, Cornwall Continue reading...

Society

3 w. ago Town 'saturated' with 13 barber shops just got a 14th given permission to open

Rhondda Cynon Taf Council's planning committee approved plans to turn an amusement arcade in Hannah Street, Porth, into a barber shop

Events

3 w. ago Hotel in Shotts seeks permission to remodel its interior and create additional rooms for guests

The Station Hotel has applied to North Lanarkshire Council seeking planning approval for alterations to its internal layout, removing lounge space, a function room and a kitchen area to build four new rooms.

Events

3 w. ago ‘When she first gave me her paw, my heart melted’: here’s what I’ve learned about taking on a rescue dog

For the first six months after arriving in the UK from Romania, Sophie never strayed from behind Rory Cellan-Jones’s sofa – but with patience and love she slowly emerged back into the worldWhen a trembling dog was placed in my arms in the early hours of a December Saturday I was not too concerned by her terrified state. After all, I knew about rescue dogs. Cabbage, our lovely collie cross who had died at the beginning of the year, had come from a Dogs Trust rescue centre 15 years earlier, and had also been pretty nervous at first. I was confident that Sophie, a one-year-old of indeterminate breed (but with a lot of German shepherd), brought to us on a van from Romania, would, like Cabbage, quickly settle down in her new home. How wrong I was.Our new dog seemed frightened of my wife and I, and our house, and desperately searched for the smallest space she could find, eventually settling behind a sofa. The next morning, I was keen to restart the early dog walks which had been a key fe...

Events