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The results of the election for a new mayor to succeed Andy Burnham in Greater Manchester show progressives standing at the threshold of a new era. But only if they work together.New mayor Bev Craig was elected using the supplementary vote which uses voters’ second preference if no one wins more than half the vote in the first round. Despite the Burnham bounce, Labour received only 47% of the vote in the first round, well down on Burnham who never achieved below 63% in his three campaigns. But when second preferences kicked in, it’s estimated that about seven in 10…

“The Inbetweeners” — the hit Brit teen comedy series from the late 2000s that spawned two successful spin-off films — is officially back. A reunion movie is now in the works at Netflix, Variety has confirmed, with the original lead cast of Simon Bird, Joe Thomas, Blake Harrison and James Buckley understood to be attached, although final deals are yet to be finalized. The news comes less than a year after rights holders Banijay U.K. revealed that it had struck a deal with “The Inbetweeners” creators Iain Morris and Damon Beesley and their Fudge Park Productions that, at the time, they said…

If you manage to spot a garden in bloom this summer, beyond the strips of bleached and torched grass, there may be one colour you see more than any other: purple, the horticultural hue of the season.Plants such as lavender, salvias and catmint are in vogue, according to the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), which conducted extensive research into the colours Britons best love to see in their gardens.In one experiment at RHS Garden Wisley’s Hilltop, more than 11,000 visitors were asked to choose their preferred shades. Purple flower hues accounted for the strongest preference (26.67%), closely followed by red (25.24%).Visitors…

Street-pop singer Habeeb Okikiola, popularly known as Portable, has alleged that actor Charles Okocha bit him during their celebrity boxing rematch in Lagos, saying the incident prompted him to leave the ring before the contest ended. Portable made the allegation in a series of posts on his official Instagram account shortly after he was disqualified, and Okocha declared the winner of the bout at the Balmoral Convention Centre, Federal Palace Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos, on Friday. The rematch, promoted as “Unfinished Business” under the Chaos in the Ring celebrity boxing event, descended into chaos during the opening round as both…

101 East investigates how the Philippines’ ambitious regreening programme is failing the nation’s forests.In 2011, the Philippines’ government promised to deliver one of the world’s most ambitious regreening projects.The idea was simple: pay locals to restore forests and cultivate barren land by planting and tending millions of trees.But 15 years on, a joint investigation by 101 East and Lighthouse Reports reveals how the National Greening Program has failed to meet most of its targets.Satellite imagery shows that instead of being protected, some forests are being destroyed, while some Indigenous communities fear losing the land their livelihoods depend on.101 East investigates…

German Bundesliga side Eintracht Frankfurt are closing in on the signing of Super Eagles midfielder Raphael Onyedika after reaching an agreement with Belgian champions Club Brugge. According to Sky Germany, all parties have agreed on a deal worth €9 million plus performance-related bonuses, with the Nigerian expected to complete his medical within the next 48 hours before signing a long-term contract until 2031. Frankfurt beat Saudi interest The Bundesliga club moved swiftly to secure Onyedika’s signature after fending off late interest from clubs in Saudi Arabia, which had also submitted offers for the midfielder. Read Also: Club Brugge reject Galatasaray’s…

The issue follows a separate incident on 24 July in which the PlayStation Network also suffered an outage for several hours.Both incidents have created unease about a so-called digital-only future in games and the questions over game ownership and licensing that come with it.In June, Rockstar Games announced that physical copies of GTA 6, perhaps one of the most hotly-anticipated games in history, would contain a code for a digital download for the game rather than a disc.Nintendo has also shifted further towards digital distribution in recent years with the introduction of Game-Key Cards – physical cartridges that act as…

Following Farage’s difficulties, Labour is also now losing fewer of its 2024 voters to Reform. But the same is true of the Conservatives, whose loss of support to Reform in the polls during in this parliament has always been much greater than that suffered by Labour. Far from suffering from a Burnham bounce, Kemi Badenoch’s party has edged up to 20% in the polls for the first time since last spring.Burnham’s arrival has given Labour new hope. But despite having overtaken Reform in the polls, the new Labour leader still has to prove he can win back the working class…

Firefighters watch a blaze west of Madrid. Credit: UME-OCP/Cover Images/ReutersFuelled by an unprecedented heatwave, the powerful fires scorching France and Spain are breaking records or are on the verge of doing so — and there are still months to go in the fire season.“We have been telling society this is going to happen, that we are going to have larger, more catastrophic, more dangerous fires,” says Cristina Santín, who studies wildfires and is at the University of Oviedo in Mieres, Spain. “And now they are here.”Satellite data show that 91,000 hectares have burnt in France as of 29 July (see…

(FILES) FIFA president Gianni Infantino looks on during a meeting with the White House Task Force on the FIFA World Cup 2026 in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC on November 17, 2025. FIFA president Gianni Infantino has lost the “confidence” of the UEFA, European football’s governing body, it said in a statement on August 1, 2026, after his plan to allow private investment in the World Cup was withdrawn following a global backlash. (Photo by Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP) FIFA president Gianni Infantino has lost the “confidence” of European football’s governing body after his plan…