2 h. ago Inside the Salt Path controversy: ‘Scandal has stalked memoir since the genre was invented’

Raynor Winn’s bestselling book is far from the first time a true story has been called into question after publication. But how does it happen? And should readers really feel betrayed?“The Salt Path is an unflinchingly honest, inspiring and life-affirming true story,” reads the description of Raynor Winn’s bestselling memoir on its publisher Penguin Random House’s website.Which is unfortunate wording if accusations made at the weekend turn out to be true: an investigation by the Observer alleged that the 2018 book – which has recently been adapted into a film starring Gillian Anderson and Jason Isaacs – is not all that it seems. Winn writes in The Salt Path that she and her husband, Moth, had their home repossessed due to an investment in a friend’s company that went on to fail. With nowhere to live, as she tells it, the couple decided to walk the length of the South West Coast Path, wild camping along the way and relying on the kindness of strangers. The Observer piece suggests Win...

Politics

18 h. ago The Salt Path author defends memoir against fabrication allegations

Raynor Winn describes enduring ‘hardest days’ and publishes clinic letters saying her husband, Moth, has been treated for CBD/S for many yearsRaynor Winn, the author of The Salt Path, has described enduring some of the “hardest days” of her life as she defended her memoir against allegations that parts of it were fabricated.The bestselling 2018 book, which was adapted into a film starring Gillian Anderson and Jason Isaacs, tells how she and her husband, Moth, walked the 630-mile trek along the south-west coast path after losing their home. Continue reading...

Culture

44 h. ago ITV This Morning presenter nearly falls overboard during live report from boat in Greece

A This Morning guest presenter almost fell overboard whilst reporting live on air from a boat in Greece.

Politics

48 h. ago Whatever the truth of The Salt Path, I know why people wanted to believe it | Gaby Hinsliff

As questions are asked about the bestselling memoir, is the demand for hope-over-hardship stories outstripping reality?Was the story always, in hindsight, just a little too good to be true? A middle-aged couple, brutally down on their luck after bankruptcy and a terminal diagnosis, escape their troubles on an epic walk round the South West Coast Path, finding comfort along the way in the kindness of strangers. Billed as an “honest and life-affirming” story of prevailing against the odds, The Salt Path became first a bestseller and then a blockbuster film, starring a windswept Gillian Anderson. Though it was never really my thing, I knew plenty of people for whom The Salt Path genuinely resonated, with its romantic central theme of being (as the film’s director, Marianne Elliott, put it) “reformed by the elements” of a blustery English seascape.If it seemed a bit unlikely that a dying man could be rejuvenated by a strenuous trek involving wild camping in all weathers – well, getting ...

Politics

49 h. ago Person 'sucked into plane engine' at airport as all flights suspended amid tragedy

Airport has released as statement referring to 'an incident that occurred on the taxiway'

Transport

50 h. ago Major Italian airport suspends flights after 'person sucked into plane engine'

Local media reports that a person has died after running onto the taxiway at Milan Bergamo airport

Transport

3 d. ago Young people in England’s coastal towns three times more likely to have a mental health condition

They are suffering disproportionately and without help, say researchers, and unless they are given a voice, problems will continue to mount upRead more: ‘We’re told we won’t amount to anything’: is it possible to change the fortunes of young people living in England’s coastal towns? Young people living in the most deprived stretches of England’s coastline are three times more likely to be living with an undiagnosed mental health condition than their peers inland, according to new research.This “coastal mental health gap” means that young people in these towns, which include areas of Tendring on the east coast and Blackpool and Liverpool to the west, are suffering disproportionately, often alone and with no help, said the researchers who conducted the study. Continue reading...

Politics

3 d. ago Pope Leo XIV's touching message to families of Texas flood victims as death toll rises to 79

Search teams are using helicopters, boats and drones to look for victims in flash floods that have torn across central Texas since the at the start of the July Fourth weekend

Events

3 d. ago The places where deadly Texas floodwaters have killed at least 79 people

Searchers used helicopters, boats and drones to search for victims in flash floods that tore across Texas’s Hill Country at the start of the Fourth of July weekend

Events

4 d. ago Photos of rescue teams searching for missing campers after Texas Hill Country flash flood

A powerful flash flood swept through Texas Hill Country, causing widespread devastation and leading to the deaths of multiple adults and children. Search and rescue teams using helicopters, boats and drones are working nonstop to find survivors and victims. Camp Mystic, a Christian girls summer camp, was especially hard hit, with many campers still missing.

Events

5 d. ago Alarming video reveals new twist in blame game over girl's horror plunge from Disney cruise ship

Sturdy railings stand 42.5 inches (3.5ft) off the floor, protecting a gust of wind or rough seas from throwing anyone to almost certain death, yet somehow a five-year-old girl fell overboard.

Events

5 d. ago ‘Catastrophic’ flood in Texas kills at least 13, including children, with more missing from summer camp

Up to 10in of rain fell overnight, prompting flash flooding in region west of Austin hit by long droughtThunderstorms and torrential rain triggered deadly flash flooding along the Guadalupe River in Texas on Friday, killing at least 13 people and leaving more than 20 girls from a summer camp missing, according to local authorities.The region was beset by death and disaster on Friday after months’ worth of heavy rain fell in a matter of hours, leaving search teams to conduct boat and helicopter rescues in the fast-moving water that overtook riverfront communities and children’s summer camps. Continue reading...

Events

5 d. ago ‘Catastrophic’ flood in Texas kills at least six, including children, with more missing from summer camp

Up to 10in of rain fell overnight, prompting flash flooding in region west of Austin hit by long droughtAt least six people are dead in south-central Texas after heavy rains produced a “catastrophic flooding event”, as authorities said that 23 people were also missing from a girls’ camp that was hit by the flash flooding.The region was beset by death and disaster on Friday after months’ worth of heavy rain fell in a matter of hours, leaving search teams to conduct boat and helicopter rescues in the fast-moving water that overtook riverfront communities and children’s summer camps. Continue reading...

Events

5 d. ago Texas floods LIVE: Summer camp horror with 20 kids feared dead after lodge swept away

Multiple fatalities were reported in the wake of the deluge, leaving search teams to conduct boat and helicopter rescues in the fast-moving water that overtook the children's summer camp

Events

5 d. ago Texas floods LIVE: Summer camp horror with 23 kids feared dead after lodge swept away

Multiple fatalities were reported in the wake of the deluge, leaving search teams to conduct boat and helicopter rescues in the fast-moving water that overtook the children's summer camp

Events

6 d. ago Virgin’s bid for west coast mainline rail route rejected by regulator

The Office of Rail and Road cited the risk of delays and cancellations in their decision

Politics

6 d. ago Authorities reveal how girl, 5, fell overboard from Disney Dream cruise ship before dad jumped in to save her

The girl plunged 45ft from the vessel’s fourth deck but it was not initially clear what caused her fall

Culture

7 d. ago China on high alert for floods as record rain triggers landslides and building collapse

Meteorological centre forecasts more storms across north and west even as east coast bakes under a scorching sun

Events

7 d. ago The best men’s walking boots 2025, tried and tested by an expert

I tested some of the best boots on the market, wearing them on Welsh peaks to the South West Coast Path – these are the ones that really walked the walk

Politics

7 d. ago Disney Dream cruise passengers reveal horrifying moment mom realized her daughter fell overboard

Woman saw her five year-old fall off $900 million ship — and watched her husband jump into the sea to rescue her

Politics