Jonathan Price has always been active and exercise-focused. Growing up in south Wales, rugby was his first love. Through school, university and beyond, he also surfed, rowed, played squash and ran competitively – on track, in 10k races and cross-country. Career and family demands meant that much of this fell away in later years, but…
Pick of the weekThe Positive Distraction Podcast While he is best known for his No 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency novels, Alexander McCall Smith has something of a soft spot for short stories, which can “cover a whole sweep of history in a couple of paragraphs”. His new series features a selection of short original works…
Appropriately enough, Andy Burnham ended a week of political signalling and first impressions back in Manchester on Friday. At the offices of the new No 10 North – where the prime minister hopes to work at least one day a week – regional mayors sat alongside ministers in an example of Burnhamism at work. It was…
Cost: Downing Street says no additional cost to taxpayers, funded Burnham ended his first week as PM by working out of the new No 10 North, external, based at Heron House in Manchester’s city centre, which he claimed will be the “situation room for making Britain better”. He’s expected to work from there each week,…
Featuring Colson Whitehead, Michael Cunningham, Claire Vaye Watkins, and More Colson Whitehead’s Cool Machine, Michael Cunningham’s Unsayable, and Claire Vaye Watkins’s Yellow Pine all feature among the best reviewed books of the week. Article continues after advertisement Brought to you by Book Marks, Lit Hub’s home for book reviews. * Fiction 1. Cool Machine by Colson Whitehead(Doubleday) 14 Rave •…
Gimlets may be on the small side, but they tend to make up for that by packing a pretty decent punch. This gently spiced, citrus-forward example is no exception, and makes for a gloriously summery aperitif. Cardamom and lemon (or lime) gimlet Serves 1 50ml dry gin – we use Bombay Sapphire25ml fresh lemon juice,…
The current heatwave is not expected to break any daily temperature records, however, on Thursday the Met Office announced there have been eight days in 2026 where the heat has reached or exceeded 34C. There were two in the May heatwave, four in June’s and so far two in this one, which is a record…
This is a reimagining of two classic British drinks, the English garden and the London fog, but with a Mancunian twist. It brings together gin, earl grey, elderflower and honey in a refreshing, lightly floral cocktail that’s perfectly suited to drinking in the garden on a hot day. We like to champion local producers, so…
Ella Langley’s “Choosin’ Texas” rebounds a spot for another history-making week atop the Billboard Hot 100. With an 11th week in command, the song becomes the sole longest-leading Hot 100 No. 1 by a woman with a country hit, defined as those that have hit Billboard’s multimetric Hot Country Songs chart. It breaks out of…
One person a week dies with undiagnosed and therefore untreated tuberculosis in England, a study has found. British-born, older men were among those most likely to have TB diagnosed only after death, researchers said, suggesting healthcare workers could be overlooking the possibility of the disease in these patients. Being diagnosed with TB postmortem should be…
