In an email following his sacking, dated 17 September, 2025, Lord Mandelson wrote: “My chief concern is leaving the US and arriving in the UK with the maximum dignity and minimum media intrusion which I think is to the advantage of all concerned, not least because I remain a crown/civil servant and expect to be treated as such. How is the FCDO assisting in this?”

A Woman of Substance is making its Channel 4 debut tonight with the period drama set to air over the next month.

Channel 4 is preparing to debut A Woman of Substance, a television adaptation of a best-selling novel frequently ranked amongst the “best-selling books of all time”.

Featuring Vera star Brenda Blethyn and Outlander’s Jessica Reynolds, the duo portray the older and younger incarnations of the determined Emma Harte in A Woman of Substance.

The eight-episode Channel 4 drama chronicles how Emma, an impoverished Yorkshire housemaid in the 1900s, pursues vengeance following betrayal and subsequently builds a worldwide business empire.

However, her challenges persist into her late seventies as Emma confronts fresh personal troubles and unforeseen adversaries.

With A Woman of Substance broadcasting every Wednesday and Thursday evening over the coming weeks, viewers are eager to discover the origins behind the narrative.

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Is A Woman of Substance based on a true story?

A Woman of Substance draws from author Barbara Taylor Bradford OBE’s debut novel sharing the same title, initially released in 1979.

This marked the opening instalment of a successful seven-book sequence and swiftly achieved international bestseller status, with sales exceeding 30 million copies globally.

Bradford’s creation was subsequently adapted into a mini-series, also by Channel 4, back in 1985.

Therefore, A Woman of Substance isn’t rooted in actual events but, despite Emma Harte being fictitious, Bradford has previously commented on how her literary heroines are similar to herself in possessing a “backbone of steel”.

Much like her fictional creations, she hailed from Yorkshire, departed education at 15 and climbed the ladder from journalist to bestselling novelist.

In 2020, Bradford was considering penning a prequel to the A Woman of Substance series and therefore revisited her earlier works in preparation.

She subsequently told The Guardian: “All I could think at the end was these women are all working hard.”

She continued: “They’re all driven, ambitious and disciplined. I’ve written about myself in every book.”

She also discussed her husband Robert Bradford, to whom she was wed for 55 years, before his passing in 2019 at the age of 92.

Bradford confessed: “All I wanted to do was go and lie in his plot next to him for quite a few weeks,”.

However, she reflected: “But I guess if you’re a practical, down-to-earth Yorkshirewoman … we’re rather stoical, and I’m strong. I’ve always had a backbone of steel.”

She added: “I’ve gone through all sorts of things and come out the other end.”

A Woman of Substance continues every Wednesday and Thursday at 9pm on Channel 4.

Police were called to Church Bank in Bolton town centre, just off Churchgate, at around 4.45pm today, March 11.

A reported “altercation” between two men took place there, with one being arrested on suspicion of assault.

Another man “received treatment” for his injuries, with police saying he is to be taken to hospital to be assessed.

Offers are conducting further enquiries.

A spokesperson for Greater Manchester Police said: “At around 4.45pm today (11 March), officers responded to reports of an altercation between two men on Church Bank, Bolton.

Police and paramedics on scene (Image: Newsquest)

“Officers attended and a man was subsequently arrested on suspicion of assault.

“One man has received treatment for his injuries and will be further assessed at hospital. Enquiries are ongoing.”

A police van and an ambulance were seen at the junction of Church Bank, Church Gate and Silverwell Street at 5.30pm today.

Cops raided addresses in Stretford, Wythenshawe, Yorkshire and Frodsham in Cheshire

Police investigating a series of burglaries uncovered a ‘chop shop’ and seized several suspected stolen cars during raids across the north west this morning.

Cops raided addresses in Stretford, Wythenshawe and Yorkshire, During a warrant executed in Frodsham in Cheshire officers found a ‘chop shop’, where stolen cars are broken down and sold as parts.

It following an investigation into a series of at least 12 burglaries in Gorton and Levenshulme during which cars were taken. Some eight vehicles suspected to have been stolen were seized during this morning’s raids and assessments are being carried out to establish if they are in a condition fit to be returned to their owners.

During the raid in Frodsham, police say a ‘chop shop’ was uncovered.

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Two men, both 26, and one man, 36, have been arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to commit burglary ‘as part of initial enquiries’, according to Greater Manchester Police. The suspects remain in custody for questioning.

When he was installed as chief constable in 2021, Sir Stephen Watson vowed that every burglary would be investigated, which wasn’t the case under the previous regime. The force says that there have been about 500 fewer burglary victims each month across Greater Manchester since May 2021 ‘thanks to the ongoing efforts and work of neighbourhood teams’.

Following this morning’s raids, Detective Inspector Natalie McDonald, from GMP’s City of Manchester division, said: “Burglaries are crimes which can leave people feeling scared in their own home and is something that we have zero tolerance for.

“After identifying a trend from a series of burglaries committed across January, we proactively began an in-depth investigation, which resulted in today’s activity and results.

“Every single day across the entirety of Greater Manchester, officers work to tackle burglaries whenever they occur – from providing bespoke preventative advice to arresting those responsible.

“If you have been the victim of a burglary, please do get in touch with your local team, who will be best-placed to provide advice, assistance, and do their best to get you the justice you deserve.”

On Wednesday Keir Starmer was once again confronted with difficult questions about his decision to appoint Peter Mandelson as US ambassador, despite his ties to the notorious paedophile

Even war in the Middle East can’t silence the drumbeat of anger around Jeffrey Epstein and his web of influence.

On Wednesday Keir Starmer was once again confronted with difficult questions about his decision to appoint Peter Mandelson as US ambassador, despite his ties to the notorious paedophile.

This fateful mistake has cast a cloud over the Prime Minister, whose leadership was left teetering on the very brink last month. The first batch of Mandelson files contains no dramatic revelations – bar the extraordinary demands by Lord Mandelson for a £500,000 payout from the taxpayer.

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READ MORE: Peter Mandelson files eight revelations – from astonishing request to Farage riskREAD MORE: Keir Starmer blasts Kemi Badenoch for ‘mother of all U-turns’ over Middle East conflict

But it offers no exoneration for Mr Starmer either. The 147-page dossier lays out in black and white how the Prime Minister was warned about Lord Mandelson’s friendship with Epstein. A due diligence report by the Cabinet Office explicitly mentions claims that Lord Mandelson remained friends with Epstein after his conviction for soliciting prostitution from a minor. It also notes reports that Lord Mandelson stayed at Epstein’s Manhattan townhouse while he was in jail.

There is private frustration in Downing Street that Scotland Yard has blocked the release of a crucial exchange between Morgan McSweeney, the PM’s then-chief of staff, and Lord Mandelson. No10 insiders believe the questions posed by Mr McSweeney will demonstrate that Lord Mandelson lied outright. The peer is said to believe he answered accurately.

All involved believe the police probe must be allowed to proceed, but there is some frustration that this exchange has been held back. Yesterday’s document dump is only the tip of the iceberg of the vast tranche of documents, WhatsApps and emails relating to the appointment the Government has been compelled to publish by Parliament.

What comes next could be more explosive, including Lord Mandelson’s communications with top ministers and officials. Diplomats are concerned about the risk of stray comments offending Donald Trump or other world leaders, even after the files have passed through vetting by Parliament’s intelligence watchdog.

But the central questions remain – what did Mr Starmer know and when? It may be true that he didn’t know the full extent of their friendship, and Lord Mandelson may have lied to him.

But even if Mr Starmer never read newspaper reports about Mandelson and Epstein, officials spelled out to him that there were serious risks and he appointed him anyway. Perhaps he weighed these risks against the benefits of Mandelson’s undoubted political skills, which were deployed successfully with Mr Trump.

Perhaps he was badly advised by Mr McSweeney, who quit last month over the row. Time will tell whether these files clear the PM or not. But the buck will stop with him in the end.

PARIS (AP) — Gasoline prices are rising largely because of the Iran war’s impact on the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial passageway for oil and gas from the Persian Gulf. The waterway off Iran’s coast, now effectively closed, is so vital for the global economy that governments are working on blueprints to speedily reopen it to shipping when the shooting stops.

In Europe, French President Emmanuel Macron is leading an international effort to unblock the energy choke point, so that oil, gas and goods could flow freely again “when circumstances permit.” He envisions countries using warships to escort tankers and container vessels through the strait when fighting is less intense, whenever that may be.

Former naval officers who have served in the Hormuz passage say vessels would be sitting ducks, with little room for maneuver in the strait’s narrow shipping lanes, if foreign naval forces attempted to reopen the waterway before a cessation of hostilities.

“In today’s context, sending warships or civilian vessels into the Strait of Hormuz would be suicidal,” French navy retired Vice Adm. Pascal Ausseur said in an interview with The Associated Press.

A ceasefire agreement with Iran “would make the situation shift from suicidal to dangerous. At that point, military ships could be deployed. And then escort operations could begin,” he said.

Here’s a look at how Hormuz might be made navigable again:

Battle-hardened in the Red Sea

French, American, British and other naval crews already have valuable experience of fighting off missiles and drones in the region. They have escorted and defended cargo vessels through attacks in the Red Sea carried out by Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.

French frigates used machine guns, cannons and sophisticated air-defense missiles to fend off Houthi strikes. French frigate Alsace downed three ballistic missiles in the Red Sea in 2024 as it was escorting a container ship. The ship’s commander at the time, Capt. Jérôme Henry, told the AP that being on the receiving end of the potentially deadly strikes was unnerving and exhausting. The sea battles also took a toll on U.S. Navy ships and personnel.

“There were repeated attacks, either by drones or missiles,” Henry said in an interview. “The crew didn’t get much sleep.”

French retired Vice Adm. Michel Olhagaray, a former head of France’s center for higher military studies, says that “all navies learned a great deal” about working together and escorting ships from their Red Sea missions and have also drawn on Ukraine’s experiences against Russian barrages of missiles and drones during Moscow’s war.

“It would allow us to deploy to that region with fairly refined know-how and a high level of cooperation — and that is extremely important,” said Olhagaray, who commanded a French frigate that patrolled the Strait of Hormuz during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s.

Higher risks

Iran is militarily far better equipped than its Houthi proxies in Yemen, which caused considerable damage and disruption in the Red Sea between November 2023 and January 2025. Armed by Iran, the rebels targeted more than 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones, sinking two and killing four sailors, and greatly reduced trade flows.

Iran can reach all of the Strait of Hormuz and its approaches with anti-ship cruise missiles that it developed off Chinese-made weapons, according to mapping by the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency. It can also target vessels with longer-range missiles, drones, fast attack craft and naval mines, which it used during the Iran-Iraq war. U.S. strikes on mine-laying Iranian vessels in this latest conflict underscore the gravity of that danger.

With war raging, the Hormuz passage is “very, very dangerous” and the risks for shipping are “much greater” than in the Red Sea against the Houthis, Olhagaray said.

“The means to counter this threat must be far more substantial and far more effective,” he said. “Before the heat can decrease … most of the offensive installations on land in Iran would have to be eliminated. There would need to be constant monitoring, patrols, extremely close surveillance, and a very high level of intelligence to be able to say that it would be possible to allow tankers to transit, even with military escorts.”

“That will not happen at all — not at all — in the near future.”

Reassuring insurers

Experts say another challenge will be reassuring shipping insurers and companies that navigating in Hormuz waters is feasible again. Insurance premiums for shipping in the strait have soared to levels that France’s transport minister described as “insane,” causing “a big problem” for shippers.

“Maritime traffic is a business. That business has to make money. If insurance costs are so high that you can’t make a profit by sailing through a given area, then you don’t sail through that area,” said Ausseur, now a director of the Mediterranean Foundation for Strategic Studies, a think tank.

Insurance rates for oil tankers that want to transit through Hormuz are many times higher than they were before the war and are approaching levels that have been charged for ships carrying grain from Ukraine during the ongoing war with Russia, said Marcus Baker, global head of marine, cargo and logistics for insurance broker and risk adviser Marsh Risk.

Potential naval escorts for commercial ships “would be helpful,” Baker said.

“That’s been done before in conflicts past, so that’s not something unusual and that will obviously give a degree of confidence to the insurers that the vessels are going to have a greater degree of safety,” he said.

___

Mae Anderson in New York, and Sylvie Corbet in Paris, contributed to this report.

Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of day two of the 2026 Cheltenham Festival, which will have to go some to match the quality of racing on day one. 

The day’s championship race is the Queen Mother Champion Chase, with Willie Mullins-trained Majborough firm favourite. He has the engine to run away from rivals Il Etait Temps and L’Eau du Sud but needs to prove he can execute over hill and dale at Cheltenham. Majborough was well-placed to win last year’s Arkle when he made a shuddering jumping error at the second-last, with Jango Baie flying up the hill to win.

The addition of cheekpieces this season is believed to have settled Majborough’s jumping, and as we saw in the Arkle yesterday, very often the best jumper rather than the speediest horse wins these two-mile chases. They go at a frightening gallop, and jumping is tested to the maximum, making the race a graveyard for favourites in recent years. In five of the last six renewals there has been a beaten odds-on favourite, with Altior the last odds-on shot to prevail.

The day starts with the two-and-a-half-mile Turners Novices’ Hurdle, where the Irish will look to avenge Britain’s 1-2-3-4 in yesterday’s Supreme. Talk the Talk and El Cairos were very disappointing, and over the longer trip Sober, King Rasko Grey, Sortudo and Ballyfad will want to improve on their efforts. They will need to beat favourite No Drama This End, the Challow Hurdle winner about whom Paul Nicholls has been very bullish all season. Much like Majborough, there is a bad omen to lay to rest. Prior to The New Lion last year, the previous 21 winners of the Challow who ran in this race at Cheltenham failed to win; nine finished second or third. Nicholls has also never trained the winner of this race.

Also on the card is the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase, where Romeo Coolio takes a significant step up in trip. We also have the ever-competitive Coral Cup (now the BetMGM Cup Handicap Hurdle), the Grand Annual and the Champion Bumper, a race dominated by Willie Mullins.

Police and CSI remain on Dent Street in Shildon after a man in his 50s died having been attacked on Tuesday (March 10) afternoon.

The victim, who has not yet been named, was initially taken to hospital with serious injuries, from which he later sadly died. A 49-year-old man was last night arrested on suspicion of murder. He remains in custody.

Meanwhile the street remains taped off by police with white-suited forensic officers seen working at the scene. Crime scene investigators (CSI) arrived around 11.20am and were pictured taking photographs of the area.

One neighbour, who did not want to be named, told The Northern Echo how he went to leave his home and “opened the gate to find the street had been cordoned off”.

He said: “I tried asking the police what had happened but they would not tell me anything.”

Another added: “When I got back from work around 6pm I noticed the cordon but did not know what it was for.

“It was only when I read the news this morning that I found out what had happened.”

“I don’t normally see police around here so to find out someone has died is a big shock,” one man said.

While some residents said the area has had problems with anti-social behaviour, it is usually fairly quiet.

One said: “You get anti-social behaviour and problems at the bus station with kids throwing rocks at cars.

Officers guarding the scene on Dent Street (Image: SARAH CALDECOTT)

“But for this to have happened has shocked me. You don’t usually get a lot of trouble like that round here.”

Police are expected to remain in the area for some time, and say they are treating the attack as an isolated incident.

Detective Chief Inspector Sharon Alderson, who is leading the investigation, previously said: “We understand that this incident will have caused shock to the community, and our thoughts are with the victim’s loved ones during this difficult time.

“While there will be an increased police presence in the area as we carry out our enquiries, I can reassure the community of Shildon that we believe this to be an isolated incident.

“I’d like to thank residents for their support and co-operation while our investigation is carried out.

“A team of officers are currently working to establish the circumstances surrounding the incident and we are keen to hear from anyone who witnessed the incident who has not yet spoken to us.”

CSI photographing evidence on Dent Street (Image: NORTHERN ECHO)

On Tuesday residents told how the incident unfolded, and police descended on the street..

CSI on Dent Street (Image: SARAH CALDECOTT)

Susan Weston came home from the doctors and found her street full of police. The 56-year-old said: “What I saw out the front was just awful. There was blood. I didn’t want to look.

Both ends of Dent Street were cordoned off by police (Image: NORTHERN ECHO)

“Seeing that out the front of my house, I felt sick. I felt shaky.”

Another man said: “You couldn’t move around here for police.

“The air ambulance came over and people were running up and down getting things like gauze. Someone was lifted into the ambulance.”

Anyone with any information is asked to call Durham Constabulary on 101, quoting incident reference 209 of March 10, or contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or online at crimestoppers-uk.org. 

He appeared via video-link to confirm his name and that he understood the charges

An inmate has appeared in court charged with the murder of Soham killer Ian Huntley in prison. Anthony Russell, 43, appeared by video-link for a hearing at Newton Aycliffe Magistrates’ Court, County Durham, on Wednesday afternoon (March 11).

Wearing a grey sweatshirt and sitting at a table, he spoke only to confirm his name. He said he understood that he will appear at Newcastle Crown Court on Thursday. Russell is charged with a single offence of murdering the 52-year-old.

District Judge Steven Hood told him: “The offence of murder can only be heard in the crown court. Therefore I am sending this matter to Newcastle Crown Court and you will appear at Newcastle Crown Court tomorrow morning.

“The reason for that is because in matters such as murder, the magistrates’ court cannot consider anything other than a remand in custody, and the law states that a person must appear within 48 hours before a crown court.”

Huntley was reportedly attacked with a metal bar in a workshop at maximum security HMP Frankland on February 26. He was taken to the Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle, where he died on Saturday morning (March 7).

The former school caretaker was serving a life sentence for the murders of 10-year-olds Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman in 2002. Huntley killed the best friends after they left a family barbecue to buy sweets in Soham, Cambridgeshire, on August 4.

He dumped their bodies in a ditch 10 miles away. They were not found for 13 days, despite a search involving hundreds of police officers.

At the time, Huntley lived with Maxine Carr who was a teaching assistant at Holly and Jessica’s primary school. He denied murdering the girls but was convicted after a trial at the Old Bailey in 2003.

He was jailed for life with a recommended minimum term of 40 years. Carr gave Huntley a false alibi and was jailed for 21 months for perverting the course of justice. She is now living under a new identity.

Emergency services were called to Merrington Road at 1.05am on Tuesday, March 3, with dramatic pictures showing the scale of the blaze.

Police and firefighters attended with crews using a hose reel to extinguish the flames. Video from the scene shows the fire being tackled by firefighters, with plumes of smoke being sent into the sky.

One week on, Durham Police has confirmed the investigation into the suspected arson attack remains ongoing.

In an earlier statement, the force said: “Police were called just after 1.05am today to a garage fire at the allotments in Merrington Road, Ferryhill.

“The fire is believed to be suspicious and an investigation is ongoing.”

Dramatic pictures show a huge fire at a garage in Ferryhill (Image: SHAHBAZ ALI KHAN)

A County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service (CDDFRS) spokesperson added: “We were called at 12.35am today (March 3) to a garage fire on Merrington Road in Ferryhill.

“Two fire engines from Durham and Spennymoor Fire Stations attended and crews wearing breathing apparatus tackled the fire with two hose reels.

“Crews left the scene at 1.42am.”