Category Archives: Manchester

‘A lasting legacy of tolerance’: Marcus Rashford messages to be preserved

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Notes left on defaced Manchester mural will be removed to protect from rain, amid plans for digital exhibition

Thousands of messages left on the mural of footballer Marcus Rashford in Manchester will be removed and preserved on Friday, to protect them from forecasted rain this weekend.

A team of archivists and conservators will detach the tributes so they are preserved for future generations to mark the national moment of solidarity that followed the mural being defaced and a torrent of racist abuse was targeted at the player on social media, as well as England teammates Bukayo Saka and Jadon Sancho.

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UK trial aims to find hidden lung damage caused by long Covid

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Study is part of £20m research drive that scientists hope will end stigma around the condition

A clinical trial has been launched to detect currently invisible lung damage in people with long Covid, as part of a £20m research drive that scientists hope will end stigma around the condition.

Patients still suffering breathlessness will be drawn from long Covid clinics in Sheffield, Manchester and Cardiff to undergo special scans using xenon gas to reveal damage that does not show up on conventional CT scans, leading to a mystery about why people are not getting better.

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Manchester shows support for Marcus Rashford: ‘It’s evolved into something special’

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Community comes together to back England footballer and oppose racism after mural was defaced

“We’re going to take the knee like the footballers do,” said Nahella Ashraf, leading a crowd of at least 300 people in performing the anti-racism gesture in front of the freshly repainted mural of Marcus Rashford on Tuesday evening.

Ashraf, a member of Manchester Stand Up to Racism, said she aimed to show “we are the majority” after the mural was defaced in the wake of England’s Euro 2020 final defeat.

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New Manchester park to use Victorian wells to water greenery

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Mayfield Park will be watered using wells discovered while archaeologists were on site

Manchester’s first public park for more than a century will use recently uncovered wells from the Victorian era to provide a sustainable source of water.

The 2.6-hectare (6.5-acre) Mayfield Park will sit behind Piccadilly station and provide play areas and floodable meadows. The £1.4bn development’s greenery will be watered using three Victorian wells that were discovered while archaeologists were on site to catalogue historical features of the site.

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‘Jaw-dropping’ fall in life expectancy in poor areas of England, report finds

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Sir Michael Marmot’s report says Covid figures from Manchester reveal sharp decline in social conditions

Boris Johnson’s post-Covid “levelling up” agenda will fail unless it addresses declining life expectancy and deteriorating social conditions in England’s poorest areas, a leading authority on public health has warned, as he published figures showing the impact of the pandemic on Greater Manchester.

Sir Michael Marmot revealed the coronavirus death rate in Greater Manchester was 25% higher than the England average during the year to March, leading to “jaw-dropping” falls in life expectancy and widening social and health inequalities across the region over the past year.

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Scotland’s Covid travel ban extended to Manchester and Salford

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Nicola Sturgeon prohibits non-essential travel as Delta variant spreads through north of England

Nicola Sturgeon has imposed a travel ban between Scotland and Manchester and Salford as a result of rising Covid cases.

The restrictions, which will come into force from Monday, add to travel limits put in place last month as the Delta variant spread rapidly through the north of England.

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The Hut Group strikes complex joint venture deal with SoftBank

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Deal values ‘yet to be formed’ technology division of THG at $6.3bn

The Hut Group (THG), the online retailer empire run by billionaire Matthew Moulding, has struck a complex joint venture deal with Japanese investment giant SoftBank that values a “yet to be formed” technology division of THG at $6.3bn (£4.5bn).

The deal, announced on Monday, values THG Ingenuity, which Moulding described as a “social media influencer platform” used to promote products, at about the same amount that the whole company floated at last year.

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British man who died in crush at Israeli festival is named as Moshe Bergman

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Bergman, 24, had been in Israel to train as a rabbi before dying at Mount Meron

A British man who died in a crowd crush at a Jewish festival in Israel has been named as Moshe Bergman.

The 24-year-old from Salford, Manchester, had been in the country to train to be a rabbi in Jerusalem. He had been living in the city for two years and had married 18 months ago.

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Police told man helping victims of arena attack to leave, inquiry hears

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Daren Buckley told armed police ‘somebody’s got to help’ people injured in Manchester Arena terror attack

A man has described attempting to give first aid to victims of the Manchester Arena terror attack but was told to leave by armed police, the independent public inquiry into the attack has heard.

Daren Buckley was leaving the Ariana Grande concert on 22 May 2017 with his son when the suicide bomb exploded, killing 22 people and injuring hundreds.

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One of world’s rarest toads bred in captivity for first time in Manchester

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Programme may help to ensure the survival of the critically endangered variable harlequin toad

One of the world’s rarest toads has been bred in captivity for the first time, thanks to the scientists at Manchester Museum.

The critically endangered variable harlequin toad, Atelopus varius, lives deep in the central American rainforests of Panama and Costa Rica, breeding only in turbulent streams filled with stones and boulders on which they lay their eggs.

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Manchester Arena inquiry hears of ‘unacceptable’ security failures

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Lawyers point out series of failings in buildup to bombing that killed 22 and injured hundreds

A series of “unacceptable and unjustified” security failures occurred before the Manchester Arena bombing, the public inquiry into the attack has been told.

The inquiry heard lawyers’ closing statements on chapter seven, relating to security at the venue. The arena is operated by SMG, who employed the company Showsec to provide security and stewarding services there.

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Two Manchester Arena bombing victims could have been saved, inquiry hears

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Evidence given that Saffie-Rose Roussos and John Atkinson could have survived with ‘different’ emergency service response

Firefighters did not arrive at Manchester Arena until two hours after the suicide bombing, only one paramedic entered the blast scene in the first 40 minutes, and Greater Manchester police (GMP) did not declare a major incident until the following day, the inquiry into the terror attack has heard.

The Manchester Arena inquiry, which resumed on Monday, moved to examine the response of the emergency services to the tragedy.

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Victorian bathhouse uncovered beneath Manchester car park

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Mayfield baths found in ‘stunning’ condition by archaeologists on site behind Piccadilly station

A large Victorian washhouse that served Manchester textile workers more than 150 years ago has been uncovered during work to create the city’s first public park in a century.

The ornate tiles of the Mayfield baths, whose pools measured nearly 20 metres, were found in “stunning” condition beneath a car park 164 years after it opened.

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Patel attacks Burnham as Greater Manchester’s police chief resigns

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Home secretary says mayor has ‘thrown senior officer under bus to save his own skin’

The home secretary has attacked the mayor of Greater Manchester as the area’s chief constable stepped down after the force was placed in special measures.

Ian Hopkins said he was bringing forward his retirement in the wake of a damning report by inspectors that found the force had failed to record 80,000 crimes, a fifth of all offences, in the year to 30 June.

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Greater Manchester police to be placed in special measures

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Inspectors had expressed ‘serious cause for concern’ after force failed to record a fifth of all reported crimes

Greater Manchester police (GMP) are to be placed in special measures after inspectors expressed “serious cause for concern” when the force failed to record a fifth of all reported crimes.

Last week Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) criticised GMP for failing to report 80,000 crimes in the year to 30 June.

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Manchester bomber may have trained with Libyan militia, inquiry told

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Senior police officer says it is ‘not unreasonable’ to suggest Salman Abedi fought or trained with militia in 2011

The Manchester Arena bomber Salman Abedi may have trained and fought with Islamist militia in Libya, an inquiry into the attack has been told.

Abedi’s cousin Abdurrahman Forjani told police that he had travelled to Libya during the 2011 revolution and got a job “locating Gaddafi supporters”.

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A tale of two cities: Manchester, Liverpool and the journey of Covid tiers

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Analysis: the two regions have emerged with contrasting fortunes from their dealings with Westminster

As Matt Hancock put the final touches to England’s new lockdown regime on Wednesday night, the mood of leaders in Manchester and Liverpool could not have been more different.

On Merseyside the leaders felt they had done all they could to have become the first English region to leave the strictest coronavirus measures introduced six weeks ago. The Liverpool city region has now been moved down to tier 2.

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Police let public down on night of Manchester Arena bomb, chief says

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British Transport Police assistant chief constable says officers should have been patrolling site of attack

A senior police chief has admitted that officers who failed to patrol the site of the Manchester Arena bomb “let the public down”.

An inquiry into the terrorist attack heard that two British Transport Police (BTP) officers left the area to take a meal break of more than two hours, involving a five-mile trip to buy kebabs.

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PM confirms Covid tier 3 restrictions for Greater Manchester as talks fail

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Boris Johnson refuses to specify how much support region will get

Greater Manchester will be moved into the highest tier of coronavirus restrictions from midnight on Thursday, Boris Johnson has confirmed as he refused to say whether a £60m offer of support for the region remains on the table following failed negotiations.

Speaking at a Downing Street press conference, the prime minister did not specify how much support the region would get. Andy Burnham, the Greater Manchester mayor, had sought £90m in support for businesses and staff affected by the measures, dropping the request to £65m, but ministers offered £60m and ended the talks without a deal.

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Greater Manchester given midday Tuesday deadline for tier 3 deal

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Government says it will impose tier 3 restrictions on the region if no agreement reached

The strictest Covid restrictions will be imposed on nearly 3 million people across Greater Manchester if no deal is reached by midday on Tuesday, the government has said in a dramatic ultimatum.

The communities secretary, Robert Jenrick, warned northern leaders late on Monday night that if they fail to agree to pub closures and a ban on household mixing, the tier 3 measures will be brought in unilaterally.

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