8 h. ago ‘It seemed like quite a do’: why East Grinstead hosts one of Scientology’s glitziest evenings

Last week, 7,000 people – including Tom Cruise – descended on the West Sussex town for an event that divides local opinionIn the nearly 30 years that Diane Juchau has lived in East Grinstead, not many days live as long in the memory as the day she saw Tom Cruise on the high street. “I saw him a couple of years ago walking past Iceland,” she said.It may seem like a once-in-a-lifetime anecdote but, this week, Cruise was back – and, when the purpose for his visit was revealed, the chance sighting of the Mission: Impossible star in a West Sussex town makes a lot more sense. Continue reading...

Politics

45 h. ago An Arizona town is dreading plans to turn its prison into an ICE facility: ‘It’s morally objectionable’

In Marana, residents crowded into a town hall recently to learn the fate of a building that’s been closed for two yearsIn an Arizona town where farmers have long wrested a living off the arid land, reports that a former prison complex may be turned into an immigration detention center have sparked a fierce backlash, with residents seeing the potential transition as the latest undesirable symbol of the Trump administration’s massive escalation of immigration enforcement.The facility in Marana, a town of about 63,700 people located north of Tucson, sprawls across a flat expanse of desert studded with scrubby bushes and hardy trees. It was shuttered almost two years ago, and the Management and Training Corporation, the private company that owns it, informed the town manager of company plans to operate a detention center in the prison. Continue reading...

Events

4 d. ago Fire at a retiree boarding house in Bosnia kills several people, media reports say

Bosnian news media reports say a fire at a boarding house for retirees in the northeastern Bosnian town of Tuzla has killed several people

Events

7 d. ago Actor Alexandra Roach looks back: ‘I’m from a small town – when I snuck into a nightclub underage, 11 people told my dad’

The Utopia and No Offence star on channelling her righteous younger self, how she shakes off heavy roles, and her alter ego DJ DaveBorn in Ammanford, south Wales, in 1987, Alexandra Roach began her career in the S4C soap Pobol y Cwm, before training at Rada in London. Her first major role was as a young Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady in 2011, and she has gone on to star in TV dramas including Utopia, No Offence, Hunderby and Being Human; she is currently staring in Amazon Prime Video’s series Lazarus. She lives in Bristol with her husband and daughter.This is me in my living room. I’m 12 years old and proudly holding a letter I’d written to the local town council. In it, I pleaded with them to do something radical for the sake of the youth of Ammanford: open a Claire’s Accessories. Continue reading...

Politics

7 d. ago Multiple objections following series of shared housing applications in Greater Manchester borough

People in town 'fed up' with increasing numbewr of HMOs

Politics

8 d. ago ‘How do you rebuild all this?’ Black River residents assess damage after Hurricane Melissa

People of Jamaican coastal town described as storm’s ground zero are traumatised and desperate for helpIt is a treacherous journey to Black River, a coastal town in Jamaica’s southwestern parish of St Elizabeth, which this week bore the brunt of Hurricane Melissa, one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes on record.Uprooted trees and lamp-posts, rubble from landslides, huge potholes and miles of thick, slippery silt from severe flooding have turned the route into a dangerous obstacle course. But most daunting is the water that you encounter as you pass through communities that overnight have become rivers. Continue reading...

Events

8 d. ago Town's bonfire is so big there are serious worries about people's safety

While the unofficial November 5 bonfire in Rhondda Cynon Taf has become popular over the years, others say it's getting out of hand

Events

9 d. ago Vietnam floods: streets of Hoi An submerged like canals of Venice – in pictures

Flooding that killed 10 people in central Vietnam this week turned streets in the historic town of Hoi An into canals on Thursday after a major river reached a 60-year high, authorities say. The Unesco heritage-listed town is among the country’s most popular tourist destinations Continue reading...

Events

9 d. ago Decision not to hold Birmingham pub bombings inquiry ‘deeply disappointing’

Two bombs planted in the Mulberry Bush and Tavern in the Town pubs also killed 21 people and injured up to 220 other victims.

Events

1 week ago Afghan asylum seeker sexually assaulted two women as he delivered takeaways to their homes despite ruling he had overstayed in UK

Shafiullah Rasooli, 29, was working illegally when he used his friend's registration details to deliver food to people in and around the town of Maidstone, Kent.

Events

2 w. ago Tropical Storm Melissa lumbers through Caribbean as residents warned of floods

Storm brings risk of landslides to Jamaica and southern Hispaniola as dozens in shelters in Dominican RepublicTropical Storm Melissa lumbered through the Caribbean Sea on Thursday, bringing a risk of dangerous landslides and life-threatening flooding to Jamaica and southern Hispaniola. Officials urged residents of flood-prone areas to seek higher ground.The storm was blamed for downing a large tree that killed an elderly man in the coastal town of Marigot in southern Haiti, while five other people were injured in flooding in the central Artibonite area, according to the Civil Protection Agency. Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago The Scottish seaside town that is 'buzzing with young people' and has £52k homes

The 'bustling' town has been hailed by shop owners as a place where independent retailers thrive.

Economics

2 w. ago UK's UFO hotspot revealed as tiny town sees more aliens per 100k people than anywhere else

With the UK recording on average around 400 UFO sightings each year, new data has now revealed the best place to spot them, as a quaint Welsh town tops the list

Politics

3 w. ago Historic town founded by Black Colombians fleeing slavery eyes second ‘independence’

San Basilio de Palenque calls itself ‘the first free Black territory in the Americas’ – a referendum next month could win its own local governmentThe Caribbean Colombian village that proudly calls itself “the first free Black territory in the Americas” is on the verge of freeing itself once again – not from the Spanish crown, as it did in the early 18th century, but from local government control.Just over 300 years after Spain recognised San Basilio de Palenque as a slavery-free territory, residents of the community, just 30 miles away from the touristic hub of Cartagena, are set to vote on finally becoming an independent town.Young people rehearse their musical performance for the night of the Drum festival in San Basilio de Palenque Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago 'Feral' kids causing mayhem in town people 'don't want to visit'

The last week has seen the town make the headlines after reports of anti-social behaviour

Politics

3 w. ago 'Charming' UK town serves 'best hot chocolate' and has 'secret area' tucked away

Hailed as the "perfect" little town, people looking for a day trip in the UK may want to give this North Yorkshire town a visit – and it's not York.

Politics

3 w. ago Incinerator in Welsh town at the centre of major planning row set for demolition People argued for years about building this in a Welsh town, now it's set to be ripped down

Vale of Glamorgan Council was locked in a long running planning dispute with the company behind the incinerator in Barry over the way the site had been built

Politics

3 w. ago People argued for years about building this in a Welsh town, now it's set to be ripped down

Vale of Glamorgan Council was locked in a long running planning dispute with the company behind the incinerator in Barry over the way the site had been built

Politics

3 w. ago Obituary: Eleanor Morris, pioneering feminist, town planner and academic

Eleanor Morris PhD, town planner. Born: November 14, 1935. Died: August 16, 2025, aged 89.

Politics

3 w. ago New library to open in Welsh town but '90% of people are against it'

The controversial plan to move Aberaeron Library in Ceredigion was confirmed last year, and now the new facility is finally ready to open

Politics