News

Local News

• Bury’s first Christmas parade to light up The Rock with live music and radio broadcast

  The Rock Shopping Centre is launching its first-ever Christmas Lights Switch-On Parade this November, with Roch Valley Radio broadcasting live from the event.

• Crown Oil Arena sleep out raises thousands to help end homelessness in Rochdale

  Volunteers brave the cold at football stadium to raise over £5,600 for vulnerable people in the borough

• The seven Bee Network bus changes affecting five boroughs and 150,000 passengers announced

  Andy Burnham announced seven major changes to the Bee Network this afternoon, promising more frequent services, new night buses, and cheaper travel for tens of thousands.

• New mosque plans set to transform Rochdale landmark

  A new and improved Mosque could soon be built in the heart of Rochdale as part of a ‘legacy project’ for the community.

• Families left heartbroken as churchyard rules force removal of grave tributes

  Families in Littleborough have voiced anger and distress after being told treasured items left on graves at St Barnabas Church must be removed by Sunday 7 September.

• 350 homes and park and ride plans for 60 acres of green belt just yards from hard shoulder of M66

  Plans have been submitted for a huge new housing estate, aemployment area and park and ride on green belt land next to the M66.

• Huge flood defence scheme progresses

  Work is progressing on a massive £46m flood defence scheme that could protect hundreds of homes and businesses in Rochdale.

• Huge 91m mast to be built later this month as part of Scout Moor II wind farm

  A 91m-high meteorological mast will be built on moorland north of Manchester later this month as part of a controversial wind farm scheme.

• Assistance dog charity appeals for Rochdale volunteers as new training hub opens

  A national hearing dog charity is launching a new training base in Rochdale and is calling on local dog lovers to help raise life-changing puppies

• Every Picture tells a story and every story develops its own narrative

  Never let the truth get in the way of selective understanding.

• The group defending the moorland from wind turbines

  Scout Moor wind farm has dominated the skyline north of Manchester for two decades, now there is a plan to build 17 bigger, more powerful wind turbines on the cards.

• Killer jailed for £12 Tesco row murder dies at Buckley Hall prison

  A man jailed for taking part in the horrific killing of a homeless man has died while serving his sentence at Rochdale’s Buckley Hall prison.

• More from Local News
• Feed
• X

Greater Manchester

• The seven Bee Network bus changes affecting five boroughs and 150,000 passengers announced

  Andy Burnham announced seven major changes to the Bee Network this afternoon, promising more frequent services, new night buses, and cheaper travel for tens of thousands.

• Akinwale Arobieke, man banned from touching muscles, dies aged 64 in Liverpool

  Akinwale Arobieke, the North West man who became an urban legend after being banned from touching people’s muscles, has died at the age of 64.

• We asked 64 people in every Greater Manchester borough what they think about Nigel Farage’s immigration policy

  It’s an early August Friday night and the sun is out. Altrincham should be noisy with drinkers celebrating the start of the weekend.

• Manchester Pride 2026 tickets now on sale as record-breaking 2025 event draws to a close

  Tickets for next year’s Manchester Pride are officially on sale, following a spectacular 2025 celebration that featured 124 live performances and tens of thousands of attendees across the August bank holiday weekend.

• England flags are going up everywhere but some could get you fined or arrested

  A wave of England flags on lamp posts and painted roundabouts has prompted confusion over what’s legal, and what isn’t

• Drivers warned of delays on M60 over next two weekends

  Drivers across Greater Manchester can expect delays on one of the busiest sections of the M60 in the coming weeks.

• 🟥 RECAP: Glaston-BURY live updates, photos, interviews and more

  Thousands of music lovers descended on Bury during Bank Holiday Monday, 25 August 2025, for Glaston-Bury, the annual one day music festival in aid of Bury Hospice and other local causes. Since it began in 2008, the event has raised over £300,000 and has become one of the town’s biggest highlights of the year.

• The group defending the moorland from wind turbines

  Scout Moor wind farm has dominated the skyline north of Manchester for two decades, now there is a plan to build 17 bigger, more powerful wind turbines on the cards.

• More from Greater Manchester
• Feed

Local Entertainment

• Global street artists to transform Rochdale town centre into outdoor gallery this September

  Some of the world’s most celebrated mural artists are coming to Rochdale this September for a brand new international arts festival that promises to bring colour, culture and creativity to the borough.

• Bury singer Elliot James Reay to support Benson Boone on US tour

  A rising music star from Bury will make his biggest international debut yet as he joins pop sensation Benson Boone on the first leg of his “American Heart World Tour” across the United States.

• Glaston-BURY pauses for emotional cheer as festival honours those who have died

  Earlier today, Monday 25 August, crowds at Glaston-BURY paused for a moving tribute as Christopher ‘Bucko’ Buckley took to the stage and called on festivalgoers to cheer in honour of those who have died.

• Festival fun in Bolton as celebrity chefs wow crowds at 20th Food and Drink Festival

  Bolton town centre has been transformed into a hub of flavours, family fun and live entertainment as the Food and Drink Festival marks its 20th year this weekend.

• 🟥 RECAP: Glaston-BURY live updates, photos, interviews and more

  Thousands of music lovers descended on Bury during Bank Holiday Monday, 25 August 2025, for Glaston-Bury, the annual one day music festival in aid of Bury Hospice and other local causes. Since it began in 2008, the event has raised over £300,000 and has become one of the town’s biggest highlights of the year.

• Funeral music chart reveals surprising choices

  ‘Time to Say Goodbye’ holds top spot as Brits swap solemn hymns for football anthems and club classics

• How do you show up for Pride? Manchester gears up for Manchester Pride 2025

  Manchester Pride is back with a bang for 2025, promising an inclusive, joyful, and empowering weekend packed with music, drag, community action and queer culture.

• Manchester Pride 2025: Dates, tickets, parade route and full event lineup revealed

  One of the UK’s biggest LGBTQ+ festivals returns over the August bank holiday weekend, with a four-day celebration of love, activism and entertainment.

• More from Local Entertainment
• Feed

Local Sports

• Abbey Hey 0-1 Ramsbottom United

  Oscar Radcliffe’s strike just after the half-hour mark proved to be the difference in a hard-fought 1-0 victory for the Rams away at Abbey Hey on Tuesday night.

• Ramsbottom United 4-1 FC Isle of Man

  Being a Ramsbottom United supporter has been something of a white-knuckle ride in recent years. In mid-week the home side had been knocked out of the world's oldest football competition, the FA cup, despite holding a two-nil lead in the third minute of injury time.

• Rams v Silsden

  Football under floodlights is always special and so it was in Ramsbottom on Tuesday evening with he home side earning the replay in Yorkshire with a late equaliser.

• Rams v St Helens 9, August 2025

  Ramsbottom United have made a promising start to the season but St Helens won at the Riverside last season.

• Golcar United 1-2 Ramsbottom United

  Goals from Matt Dudley and Luke Sephton sent Ramsbottom through to the Preliminary Round of the Emirates FA Cup with a 2-1 win at Golcar United on Saturday afternoon.

• Cheadle Town v Ramsbottom United

  Second half goals from Harvey Hayhurst and Matt Dudley secured the three points after the Rams fell behind to an early Ben Lowe strike at Cheadle Town on Tuesday evening.

• Ramsbottom United v Atherton LR

  A debut double from Jacob Holland-Wilkinson helped get the Rams new season off to a winning start at the HWRS on Saturday afternoon.

• Lager Cricket Festival to support local family battling motor neurone disease

  A cricket club in Bury is rallying around one of its own this bank holiday, hosting its first ever ‘Lager Cricket Festival’ to raise funds for a local man living with motor neurone disease.

• More from Local Sports
• Feed

UK

• The empty flats that developers say sum up Britain's housing crisis

  There are 1,210 completed homes which cannot be occupied because of delays in the work of the government's building safety regulator, Sky News can reveal.

• Starmer to hold first cabinet meeting since No 10 shakeup - as he declares start of 'phase two'

  Sir Keir Starmer will chair his first cabinet meeting of the parliamentary term today, after a major shake-up to his Downing Street team ahead of a defining period for the government.

• Reform took advantage of the PM's holiday - and it's clear he's now changed strategy

  Immigration was the first thing on the government's agenda to kick off the first week back from recess, and they wanted you to know it.

• Police ask for help with unsolved murder more than 50 years ago

  Police are asking for help with an unsolved case, 52 years after the murder of a schoolboy in Belfast.

• The BTO Kid: 'I spent months in a coma - AI has given me a musical voice'

  "AI has changed my life, absolutely," Lucas Horne tells Sky News. "When I play my music, I'm happy because the words I know mean a lot to me can now be heard by everyone else."

• Premier League flexes its financial muscle in record-breaking transfer window

  The transfer window was a show of strength in a record-breaking summer across the Premier League.

• Who are the Green Party's leadership hopefuls?

  The Green Party will unveil its new leadership today.

• Is there really a best time of the day to buy petrol? | This week's Money newsletter

  Sky News has launched a free Money newsletter - bringing the kind of content you enjoy in the Money blog directly to your inbox.

• More from UK

Entertainment

• The BTO Kid: 'I spent months in a coma - AI has given me a musical voice'

  "AI has changed my life, absolutely," Lucas Horne tells Sky News. "When I play my music, I'm happy because the words I know mean a lot to me can now be heard by everyone else."

• Hollywood star Rupert Everett spotted working behind bar of village pub

  Hollywood star Rupert Everett has been working behind the bar of his village pub in a bid to keep the doors open.

• Burning Man: Dead body found 'in a pool of blood' at festival

  A man has been found dead "in a pool of blood" at the Burning Man festival in Nevada, officials say.

• Coldplay reschedule Wembley Stadium shows over Tube strikes

  Coldplay have rescheduled the final two dates of their 10-show run at Wembley Stadium because of strike action on the London Underground.

• Tennis player gives boy new cap after US Open snatching

  Tennis player Kamil Majchrzak tracked down a fan whose cap was snatched away from him at the US Open - so he could give him a new one.

• More from Entertainment

Sport

• Liverpool transfers: How Reds funded their record-breaking window

  In a summer which saw Premier League clubs spend unprecedented sums, it was Liverpool who led the way with British-record-breaking deals.

• Marc Guehi transfer news: Crystal Palace defender's £35m move to Liverpool off after Eagles fail to find replacement

  Marc Guehi's Deadline Day transfer to Liverpool is off after Crystal Palace failed to find a replacement for the centre-back.

• Ryder Cup 2025: Luke Donald hopes continuity in Team Europe can help tackle 'different animal' of away contest at Bethpage Black

  Luke Donald believes naming most of Team Europe's last winning Ryder Cup team for this year's contest can help them tackle the "different animal" of an away Ryder Cup.

• Ryder Cup 2025: Who is playing for Team Europe? Luke Donald's full line-up for Bethpage Black and how they qualified

  Who features for Team Europe at the 2025 Ryder Cup? We look at Luke Donald's confirmed line-up facing Team USA at Bethpage Black this September.

• Liverpool 1-0 Arsenal: Gary Neville questions Gunners' mentality in big games after Premier League defeat at Anfield

  Gary Neville has questioned Arsenal's mentality and whether they have the belief to win big away games after they were beaten 1-0 by Liverpool at Anfield.

• More from Sport

Strange

• Guinness World Records turns 70 - and highlights some unclaimed records

  Guinness World Records (GWR) is celebrating its 70th anniversary by highlighting unclaimed titles you might fancy going for.

• What are Labubus and how did they get so popular?

  Troll-like Labubu dolls have taken over the consumer world. Their creator, Pop Mart, has reported a near 400% net profit so far this year, while some have spent thousands on the toys second-hand.

• Toothpaste made with hair naturally repairs tooth enamel, scientists discover

  Toothpaste made with hair could repair damaged teeth and stop the early stages of decay, a new study has found.

• Thousands of hot dogs spill across busy highway

  A truckload of hot dogs has spilled across a busy road in Pennsylvania.

• Death cap mushroom trial: How murder plot unfolded - and how killer tried to cover her tracks

  More details from the trial of an Australian woman convicted of murdering her parents-in-law and an aunt after serving them poisonous mushrooms for lunch have been revealed - including why her husband rejected an invitation.

• More from Strange

Videos

• Starmer to hold first cabinet meeting since No 10 shakeup - as he declares start of 'phase two'

  Sir Keir Starmer will chair his first cabinet meeting of the parliamentary term today, after a major shake-up to his Downing Street team ahead of a defining period for the government.

• Bank shares take fright as budget tax hike is floated

  Shares in UK banks have fallen sharply on the back of a report which urges the chancellor to place their profits in her sights in the coming budget.

• The Russia-Ukraine war has reshaped global trade and forged new alliances

  The vast majority of policymakers in Westminster, let alone elsewhere around the UK, have never heard of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, the geopolitical grouping currently holding its summit at Tianjin, but hear me out on why we should all be paying considerable attention to it.

• Afghanistan earthquake kills hundreds and destroys villages - all we know so far

  More than 800 people have been killed and at least 2,800 others injured after an earthquake hit eastern Afghanistan, according to Taliban state officials.

• The empty flats that developers say sum up Britain's housing crisis

  There are 1,210 completed homes which cannot be occupied because of delays in the work of the government's building safety regulator, Sky News can reveal.

• Summer 2025 was warmest on record - and repeat is now 70 times more likely, Met Office says

  The UK has just sizzled through its hottest summer on record, a phenomenon made 70 times more likely by climate change, the Met Office said today.

• Death cap mushroom trial: How murder plot unfolded - and how killer tried to cover her tracks

  More details from the trial of an Australian woman convicted of murdering her parents-in-law and an aunt after serving them poisonous mushrooms for lunch have been revealed - including why her husband rejected an invitation.

• Thames Water creditors offer £1bn ‘sweetener’ in rescue deal

  Thames Water’s largest group of creditors is to offer an additional £1bn-plus sweetener in a bid to persuade Ofwat and the government to pursue a rescue deal with them that would head off the nationalisation of Britain’s biggest water utility.

• More from Videos

Politics

• The empty flats that developers say sum up Britain's housing crisis

  There are 1,210 completed homes which cannot be occupied because of delays in the work of the government's building safety regulator, Sky News can reveal.

• Starmer to hold first cabinet meeting since No 10 shakeup - as he declares start of 'phase two'

  Sir Keir Starmer will chair his first cabinet meeting of the parliamentary term today, after a major shake-up to his Downing Street team ahead of a defining period for the government.

• Reform took advantage of the PM's holiday - and it's clear he's now changed strategy

  Immigration was the first thing on the government's agenda to kick off the first week back from recess, and they wanted you to know it.

• Who are the Green Party's leadership hopefuls?

  The Green Party will unveil its new leadership today.

• Sir Keir Starmer's 'Mr Fixit' is likely to be a recipe for conflict

  After a torrid time before the summer break, Sir Keir Starmer has reshuffled his inner circle again on the first day back. 

• More from Politics

Technology

• The BTO Kid: 'I spent months in a coma - AI has given me a musical voice'

  "AI has changed my life, absolutely," Lucas Horne tells Sky News. "When I play my music, I'm happy because the words I know mean a lot to me can now be heard by everyone else."

• Summer 2025 was warmest on record - and repeat is now 70 times more likely, Met Office says

  The UK has just sizzled through its hottest summer on record, a phenomenon made 70 times more likely by climate change, the Met Office said today.

• Every mobile phone to receive emergency alert: When it will happen - and what it will say

  Mobile phones across the UK will be sent an emergency alert as the government tests the system nationwide.

• Australia's social media ban can be enforced 'effectively', official report finds

  Australia's incoming ban of under-16s on social media can be "privately, effectively and efficiently" enforced, an official report has found. 

• South Australia to become first place in the world to ban soy sauce fish-shaped containers

  South Australia will become the first place in the world to ban soy sauce fish-shaped containers as part of a wider cutdown on single-use plastic.

• More from Technology

World

• Belgium announces it will recognise Palestinian state

  The Belgian government has said it will officially recognise the State of Palestine at the UN General Assembly this month.

• More than 1,000 feared dead in Sudan landslide, rebel group says

  More than 1,000 people are feared dead after a landslide in a village in western Sudan, the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM) has said.

• Afghanistan earthquake: A catastrophe compounded by Trump's aid cuts

  Earthquakes represent a constant danger in Afghanistan - a country which sits across three geological fault lines.

• Afghanistan earthquake kills hundreds and destroys villages - all we know so far

  More than 800 people have been killed and at least 2,800 others injured after an earthquake hit eastern Afghanistan, according to Taliban state officials.

• Russia responds to GPS jamming accusations - but such instances are expected to escalate

  Bulgarian authorities have said they suspect Russia of jamming the GPS system of the jet carrying the EU Commission president on Sunday.

• Chinese, Russian and Indian leaders seek to show unity and push for new world order in Beijing meeting

  Chinese, Russian and Indian leaders hope their meeting in Beijing this week projects unity and helps usher in a new world order.

• Russia suspected of 'blatant interference' after GPS of EU Commission president's plane jammed over Bulgaria

  A plane carrying European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen suffered GPS jamming as a result of suspected Russian interference, an EU spokesperson has confirmed to Sky News.

• Historic al Nuri mosque reopens eight years after it was destroyed by IS

  The historic al Nuri mosque has been reopened in the heart of Mosul's Old City in Iraq, eight years after it was destroyed by Islamic State (IS) militants.

• More from World

Business

• The empty flats that developers say sum up Britain's housing crisis

  There are 1,210 completed homes which cannot be occupied because of delays in the work of the government's building safety regulator, Sky News can reveal.

• Thames Water creditors offer £1bn 'sweetener' in rescue deal

  Thames Water’s largest group of creditors is to offer an additional £1bn-plus sweetener in a bid to persuade Ofwat and the government to pursue a rescue deal with them that would head off the nationalisation of Britain's biggest water utility.

• The Russia-Ukraine war has reshaped global trade and forged new alliances

  The vast majority of policymakers in Westminster, let alone elsewhere around the UK, have never heard of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, the geopolitical grouping currently holding its summit at Tianjin, but hear me out on why we should all be paying considerable attention to it.

• McLaren F1 arm valued at over £3bn in stake sale

  The McLaren Formula One team is to be valued at over £3bn in a deal that will reap a stellar return for the investors which helped bail out its parent company during the pandemic.

• 'I'm a child psychiatrist - here's the biggest source of stress for children (and my advice for parents)'

  If you've ever spent your morning commute daydreaming about starting afresh with your career, this feature is for you. Each Monday, the Money blog speaks to someone from a different profession to discover what it's really like. This week we chat to consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist at Berkshire Healthcare NHS Trust, Dr Guy Northover...

• Aberdeen in exclusive talks to sell investment tips site Finimize

  Aberdeen is in exclusive talks to sell Finimize, the investment insights platform it bought just four years ago, as its new chief executive unwinds another chunk of his predecessor's legacy.

• South Australia to become first place in the world to ban soy sauce fish-shaped containers

  South Australia will become the first place in the world to ban soy sauce fish-shaped containers as part of a wider cutdown on single-use plastic.

• City veteran Kheraj in contention to chair banking giant HSBC

  Naguib Kheraj, the City veteran, has been shortlisted to become the next chairman of HSBC Holdings, Europe's biggest bank.

• More from Business

Rochdale Council Leaders Column

No stories to show.

• More from Rochdale Council Leaders Column
• Feed