2 h. ago Peter Kay says he ‘tried everything’ to lose weight as he opens up about lifelong battle

The comedian, 52, surprised fans when he returned to the spotlight last year looking noticeably slimmer, following a five-year break from public life

Events

13 h. ago The town at war with developers over 'monstrous' warehouses: Families living in shadow of huge 60ft tall structures lose latest battle to halt construction

The Wigan Council has ignored a 10,000-strong signature petition and ruled out halting construction on the 18-metre grey giants.

Society

3 d. ago German president honours victims of Nazi bombing atrocity on Guernica visit

Frank-Walter Steinmeier travels to Basque town for remembrance ceremony marking ‘terrible crimes’ of 1937Eighty-eight years after Luftwaffe pilots took part in the most infamous atrocity of the Spanish civil war, Germany’s president has visited the Basque town of Guernica to honour the victims of the Nazi bombing and to urge that the “terrible crimes” committed there are never forgotten.Hundreds of civilians were killed and hundreds more injured on 26 April 1937 when planes from the German Condor Legion, operating alongside aircraft from fascist Italy, spent hours bombing Guernica on market day. Adolf Hitler had loaned the Luftwaffe unit to Gen Francisco Franco’s nationalist forces to help them in their coup against the republican government, and to allow Nazi Germany’s pilots to practise the blitzkrieg tactics they would later use in the second world war. Continue reading...

Events

9 d. ago Fresh woe for Keir Starmer as Green leader Zack Polanski eyes up bid to oust him from the Commons

The self-described 'eco-populist' said it would be 'very tempting' to 'take Keir Starmer down' by challenging the Labour leader in his north London seat.

Politics

1 week ago Spencer Matthews says 'I knew I'd lose her' as he address Vogue Williams' 'struggles'

Spencer Matthews has opened up about his battle with alcohol addiction and how he knew he would "lose" wife Vogue Williams if he didn't get his drinking under control

Politics

2 w. ago The little village in London's shadow where houses are £200k cheaper

The little village in London's shadow where houses are £200k cheaper  Essex Live

Economics

3 w. ago Europe marks Armistice Day under shadow of war as Russia attacks Ukraine overnight – live

Belgium, France and Poland among countries commemorating first world war as conflict rumbles onUkraine’s military said about 300 Russian soldiers were inside the embattled town of Pokrovsk, and that Moscow had intensified efforts to get more troops in over the past few days, using dense fog for cover, Reuters reported.“Their goal remains unchanged – to reach the northern borders of Pokrovsk and then attempt to encircle the agglomeration,” Ukraine’s 7th paratrooper corps said on Facebook. Continue reading...

Events

3 w. ago Bathgate schools attend special remembrance event at town’s War Memorial

Pupils, staff, and members of the public gathered together to pay tribute to those who made the ultimate sacrifice in all wars and conflicts.

Events

3 w. ago From fiasco to feted: the story of the Dream of Gerontius, the revolutionary music of The Choral

The Choral depicts an amateur choral society in wartime Yorkshire taking on Elgar’s trailblazing and controversial work. But how much does Alan Bennett’s fiction reflect actual fact?Nicholas Hytner’s new film, The Choral – in UK cinemas today – culminates in an unconventional rendition of Edward Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius. Alan Bennett’s screenplay is an affectionate portrayal of a choral society in a small Yorkshire town during the first world war. Searching for non-German repertoire, the chorusmaster Dr Guthrie (Ralph Fiennes) settles in desperation on Gerontius.Perhaps it is Elgar’s reputation as a pillar of the British establishment – he appears briefly in the film, a cameo from an extravagantly moustachioed Simon Russell Beale – that reassures Bennett’s fictional committee members that this will be a safe choice. But as Guthrie starts to teach the unfamiliar score, they realise Sir Edward’s patrician persona has deceived them. They expected something staidly English, but in...

Politics

3 w. ago Furious villagers lash out over 'monstrous' 65ft tall 'mega shed' being built behind their homes

Villagers in Pilning, Gloucestershire, say a new 'stadium-sized' warehouse which has sprung up behind their properties has devalued their homes and is blighting their lives.

Politics

3 w. ago The Choral review – Ralph Fiennes leads the choir in impressively unsentimental Alan Bennett fable

Genteel manners of first world war story about repressed passion delivered with surprising sexual candourAlan Bennett’s new film, directed by Nicholas Hytner, is a quiet and consistent pleasure: an unsentimental but deeply felt drama which subcontracts actual passion to the music of Elgar and leaves us with a heartbeat of wit, poignancy and common sense. Music itself mysteriously exalts and redeems the community, and I mean it as the highest possible praise when I say that The Choral reminds me of Victoria Wood’s musical That Day We Sang, about the recording of Purcell’s Nymphs and Shepherds by Manchester Children’s Choir.The film is about men in a fictional Yorkshire town during the first world war who are variously too old or too young to fight, and the women who have to deal with the menfolk’s repressed emotions and their own. The place is upended by the arrival of Dr Guthrie (Ralph Fiennes) who is to be the choirmaster, directing the music society’s annual production; he scandal...

Politics

3 w. ago Good Morning Britain's Kate Garraway forced to step in as guest swears live on air

Good Morning Britain's Kate Garraway issued a warning to Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick after he swore live on air during his appearance on the ITV breakfast show

Society

4 w. ago Public outcry forces halt to construction of 182m glass lift on iconic Bali beach

Activists and local communities say glass structure will spoil natural beauty of Kelingking’s dramatic cliffs and cause ecological damage

Society

4 w. ago Bali halts construction of glass lift at iconic Kelingking beach after public outcry

Activists and local communities say glass structure will spoil natural beauty of Kelingking’s dramatic cliffs and cause ecological damage

Society