Jada, a pupil at Thornleigh Salesian College, earned seven grade 9s, one grade 8, and a Level 2 Distinction in dance.

She told The Bolton News about her efforts.

She said: “I worked really hard for these results, revising for countless hours whilst balancing my dance training and rehearsals.

“I’m incredibly grateful to my teachers for all of their support throughout my GCSEs, as well as my family and friends for their wholehearted encouragement.

“I couldn’t have done it without them.”

Alongside her academic studies, Jada competed in dance events and performed internationally, including at Disneyland Paris just before her GCSE mock exams.

She said: “Some of my best memories from school are rooted in dance — I’m really grateful for the experiences Thornleigh has given me.”

She wants to go into finance (Image: UGC)

Jada now plans to study mathematics, economics, and philosophy at college, with the goal of studying philosophy and economics at the London School of Economics.

She hopes to pursue a career in finance.

Nationally, GCSE results in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland remained broadly stable compared to last year, with a slight increase in the proportion of top grades.

Around 22 per cent of entries achieved a grade seven or above, while more than two-thirds secured at least a grade four pass.

A small improvement in maths attainment was also recorded, though significant regional differences persist.

London had the highest proportion of top grades, while northern regions continued to lag behind.

Girls outperformed boys overall, the figures had shown.

Thornleigh is a co-educational, Roman Catholic secondary school and sixth form located in Astley Bridge.

Educating pupils aged 11–18, it is rooted in the Salesian values of Saint John Bosco, emphasising high-quality pastoral care, community compassion, and inclusive personal development alongside academic study.

The village features in the Domesday Book in 1086

While cities such as Cambridge and Peterborough are home to thousands of people, there are some villages where only hundreds live. One of the smaller villages in Cambridgeshire is Harlton, which is home to around 300 people.

The village was mentioned in the Domesday Book. In 1086, it had a recorded population of 20 households.

The village is home to one pub named The Hare and Hounds. The pub dates back to 1879, but it is believed the building may have been used as an ale house for a number of years before 1879.

This pub is special because it is owned by the community. In 2017, the local community pulled together in a campaign called ‘Help The Hare and Hounds’. A total of 160 people invested in shares in the pub as a Community Interest Company so they could take over ownership. The pub is now managed by tenants who were chosen by the CIC.

As well as the community-owned pub, Harlton is also home to the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This is the oldest building in the village. The church was built in the late 14th century and has been the place of worship for more than 650 years. The ties between the church and village are “strong”, according to Harlton Parish Council, and the church has hosted many events where the community has come together.

The streets are narrow and quiet, and feature timber-framed and thatched cottages, adding to the feel of a traditional village. Homes in Harlton have an average cost of around £493,000, with some homes costing up to £694,000.

An Australian woman bitten by a shark at a popular Sydney beach earlier this year says she has been given a “second chance at life” and will be making the most of it.

Leah Stewart, 35, was mauled by a shark during a morning swim at Coogee Beach in June, suffering multiple bites to her arms and legs, amid a spate of attacks in Australia.

The mother-of-one was placed in an induced coma and had several surgeries, including having one of her arms amputated.

In an online post on Monday, she thanked her supporters who have raised more than AU$550,000 (US$394,000; £289,000) for her, saying her recovery has been “incredibly difficult” but she is making “remarkable” progress.

“After what has been an incredibly difficult few months, I’m so happy that I’ve progressed enough to build some independence, and I can finally see some light after all of this,” Stewart wrote, in her first comments since the attack.

“I want you to know that I feel like I’ve been given a second chance at life, and I’m not going to waste it.”

Stewart said she had been “overwhelmed” by the support from family, friends and “even strangers”, adding that the “you’ve inspired me to get better, not bitter”.

An online fundraiser for her would now be closed, she wrote, with the money raised giving her the chance to recover at home as well as “options for further medical treatment down the road”.

“I still have a long way to go, but my recovery has been remarkable, and a huge part of that is because of the absolute army of love, support, prayers and encouragement surrounding my family and I from all over the world.”

There have been a spate of shark attacks in Australia this year, with four attacks over a two-day period in January, including one on a 12-year-old boy who later died from his injuries.

In May, a man was killed by a shark in Queensland while spearfishing and in Western Australia, a father-of-two died after he was attacked by a 4m (13ft) shark.

Three years after the tragic passing of Sandra Bullock‘s longtime partner Bryan Randall from the degenerative condition ALS, the beloved Hollywood star has finally begun to open up about Randall’s ‘traumatic’ diagnosis and her journey through grief.

It is a welcome shift for Bullock, who, up until her appearance on pal Jason Bateman’s Smartless podcast this week, had been on an almost total disappearing act for the last two years. 

The Oscar-winning actress, 62, and mother of two had practically dropped off the radar after Randall’s death, only recently making public appearances to promote her upcoming film Practical Magic 2.

Indeed, the sequel to the 1998 cult classic film – which will mark Bullock’s first leading feature role in four years – has arrived at a time when Bullock finally feels ready to open up about Randall’s death, sources told the Daily Mail.

‘Sandra is finally doing better, which is why she made Practical Magic 2,’ the first insider said.

‘She felt it was time to talk about Bryan, like it is okay now. She doesn’t mind opening up about him, as she wants to honor him in the best way with sweet memories,’ they said. 

It was August 2023 when Randall, a former model and photographer, succumbed to the fast-progressing nervous system disease at 57, his family revealed in a statement at the time.

For Bullock, the three years she spent caring for her long-term partner, who was diagnosed with ALS amid the Covid-19 pandemic, were marked by ‘pretty dark’ periods of isolation, she shared. 

‘Sandra really closed herself off when Bryan got sick, she was all about him and her kids. Her personality changed too, the laughs stopped coming. She was a much more serious person,’ the source continued.

The couple, who met in 2015 when Bullock hired him to photograph her son Louis’ birthday party, had already been together for five years and raised her two adopted children together at the time of his diagnosis.

But Randall’s desire to keep his deteriorating health private left Bullock feeling ‘isolated,’ between organizing his medical care and parenting her kids during the pandemic.

‘During Covid, Sandra was really scared. She was always isolated and lonely during that period and the couple of years that followed,’ a second insider told the Daily Mail.

Bullock confided in her sister, Vermont-based pastry chef Gesine Bullock-Prado, and her sister’s husband, storyboard illustrator Ray Prado, who she said were the only people who ‘knew for a while’ about Randall’s diagnosis.

Eventually, Bullock said she also informed Hollywood pal Jennifer Aniston, along with Bateman and his wife Amanda Anka, about her partner’s condition. 

Randall, a former model and photographer, met Bullock in 2015 when he was hired to photograph her son’s birthday party. The source said her children referred to Randall as ‘dad’

Pictured in 2018: Bullock said she felt ‘isolated’ as Randall was diagnosed with ALS during the Covid-19 pandemic 

Despite being ‘very close’ to her sister, however, the source acknowledged that Bullock was still ‘pretty isolated’ during that time.

It likely didn’t help matters that Randall had become an important ‘father figure’ to Bullock’s two adopted kids, son Louis, 16, and daughter Laila, 12.

The actress became a first-time mom in January 2010 when she adopted three-month-old Louis, and again in December 2015 when she adopted two-year-old Laila. 

Bullock was previously married to motorcycle builder Jesse James in 2005, though their marriage ended in a highly publicized divorce in 2010 after it was revealed James had cheated.

Randall marked Bullock’s first serious, public relationship since the devastating divorce, as she shared on the podcast that her daughter saw Randall as ‘a father figure.’ He also has an adult daughter named Skylar from a previous relationship.

‘Bryan was an extremely nice person,’ the second source added.

While Bullock and Randall were never legally married, the Daily Mail exclusively revealed the pair exchanged ‘vows’ on the beach in the Bahamas back in 2017.

Three years after his death, some fans may now be left wondering how Bullock will be able to move on from the tragic loss of her life partner, who she previously described as the ‘love of [her] life’ in 2021. 

Bullock is set to make her long-awaited return to the big screen with the September release of Practical Magic 2, her first feature film role in four years (pictured in April 2026)

The source said Bullock is ‘finally doing better’ and ‘felt it was time’ to talk about Randall’s death (pictured April 2026)

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But it appears that part of Bullock’s healing journey includes returning to work, as she’s set to make her return to the big screen this September with Practical Magic 2.

The Daily Mail previously reported that Bullock, who hadn’t starred in a movie since the 2022 adventure-comedy The Lost City, would make her long-awaited return to acting ‘in her own time and on her own terms,’ especially if there was a project she couldn’t pass up.

Back in April, Bullock surprised fans when she made her debut on Instagram, sharing behind-the-scenes photos and videos from the Practical Magic 2 set. She has also slowly begun to re-enter the public eye, attending events like CinemaCon with Kidman last April and appearing on Bateman’s podcast. 

While the first insider suggested that Bullock may feel a little ‘awkward’ diving back into Hollywood after her years-long hiatus, the star’s return to the spotlight is a welcomed change for fans.

‘She has to do press again, which she has not done in a while, so that is awkward for her,’ they said. ‘That is why she started her Instagram page. Everyone was like, “You have to do it.”‘

The Daily Mail has contacted representatives for Bullock for comment.

The incident has drawn commentary about videos of children driving dangerously circulating on social media platforms

Social media companies are “endangering” society by failing to remove content depicting dangerous and illegal activity, a government minister in the Republic has said.

There has been increased attention on social media regulation in the week after five teenagers died when the car in which they were travelling the wrong way down the M9 motorway collided head-on with another vehicle, seriously injuring three women and a boy in the same family.

There was further tragedy on Sunday in England when two men and three teenagers died when their car travelling the wrong way down the A66 crashed and killed two police officers.

The two brave policemen, PC Matthew Blades, 37, and PC Tom Clough, 38, were killed when their patrol car was hit. Now Cleveland Police have released the names and ages of those who died in the VW Passat.

They are: Michael Robert Cahill, 23, Theo Rae, 17, Cole Robert Worthy, 16, Jacob Matusiak, 23, and 18-year-old Makai Saddington. A police spokesman said: “Family Liaison Officers are continuing to work with the families all of those who sadly lost their lives in the collision. “

The M9 incident in the Republic has drawn commentary about videos of children driving dangerously circulating on social media platforms. The Republic’s Enterprise Minister Peter Burke said social media companies have a “very significant responsibility” to ensure that they are moderating dangerous content.

Mr Burke told RTÉ’s This Week: “We’ve seen how many people have been let go from social media companies over the last number of months, and yet this content keeps appearing.

“This moderated content is not properly taken down on time – which is not good enough. I’ve always been very clear on this: Irrespective of what money the State ever takes in terms of tax receipts from any company or social media companies, that our children are most precious and most important in any society and they always come first.

“And Government will never, ever, ever be behind in taking action on our social media companies when they endanger our society like they are doing in this case.”

After the M9 crash, funerals were held for teenagers Joe Carthy, Alex McCarthy and Kamil Pustkowski on Friday, while services for Jeremy O’Brien and Jack Kennedy will be held on Monday and Tuesday. A child and three women from the same family, who were in the other car, were taken to hospital for treatment of serious injuries.

Ella Hendricken and Niamh and Alma Kinsella were travelling with the child to the airport for a holiday. A vigil in support of the family took place in Carlow on Friday, while an online fundraiser had raised 730,000 euro by lunchtime on Sunday.

For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here and sign up to our daily newsletter here.

The pledge covers more than 500 essential items and forms part of the retailer’s latest strategy to win back shoppers in the highly competitive UK grocery market.

The Bradford-based supermarket chain, which operates around 500 stores and 1,700 convenience outlets, has seen its market share decline in recent years.

In the 12 weeks to August, Morrisons held an 8.5% market share, according to Worldpanel, placing it behind Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Aldi, and Lidl.

Morrisons has since launched its new “unbeatable prices” promise, ensuring that customers will not pay more for selected items than they would at any of its five main competitors.

Alex Paver, customer and marketing director at Morrisons, said: “Customers shouldn’t have to choose between great prices and great quality – and at Morrisons, they don’t have to.

“Our unbeatable price commitment means customers can trust that the prices on these products simply won’t be beaten by Asda, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Aldi or Lidl.

“And uniquely at Morrisons, that unbeatable value comes alongside the quality, freshness and expert service we’re famous for – from bread baked fresh in store to food prepared by our skilled Market Street colleagues.”

The price promise covers a range of fresh produce, including bananas, tomatoes, and carrots, as well as everyday staples like bread, butter, and chicken fillets.

It also applies to fresh food prepared at Morrisons’ Market Street counters, including products from its in-store fishmongers and bakeries.

The move comes two years after Morrisons launched a price match scheme against Aldi and Lidl in an effort to stem customer losses to the German discounters.

It also follows recent financial disclosures revealing that the retailer cut nearly 5,000 jobs last year as part of wider efforts to stabilise the business and improve performance.

What supermarket do you shop at? Let us know in the comments.

Speaking about whether she believed their discussion could impact people around the world, she said: “It’s a private matter, but nobody should ever feel that they can’t intrinsically be themselves, but also nobody should be made to feel that they have to declare anything about themselves, sexuality, religion, their age, nothing.

Fast-fashion giant Shein says it plans to raise up to HK13.86bn (£1.3bn; $1.77bn) when its shares start trading on the Hong Kong stock market on 1 September.

In a filing on Monday, external, Shein said it will offer nearly 280 million shares for between HK$47.60 and HK$49.50.

At the top of the range, it would value the firm at almost $27bn (£19.8bn). But that is much lower than the $100bn valuation it reached in a round of private fundraising in 2022, reflecting weaker sales growth and higher costs.

The long-awaited move comes after failed attempts to list in the US and London due to regulatory challenges amid scrutiny of Shein, which has its headquarters in Singapore but was founded in China.

The initial public offering (IPO) is being backed by Wall Street investment giants Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and JP Morgan.

In July, Shein said it had swung to a quarterly loss as its sales slowed after US President Donald Trump removed an import duty exemption on small packages.

The company said it lost $99m in the first three months of the year, compared with a net income of $395m a year earlier.

It also came as uncertainty remains over the tit-for-tat US-China tariffs wars, which is currently paused.

“In response to the increased duties and taxes, we are pursuing a wide range of options, including increasing our prices in the US market to offset a portion of the increased costs,” Shein said at the time.

The company also said the Iran war had hit demand, increased costs and caused delays of deliveries in some markets.

The first-quarter figures also partly reflected a paper loss of $328m due to an accounting change for special investor shares. The shares can be turned into ordinary stock later, and their value can change before a listing.

Since it was founded in 2008, Shein has risen to become one of the world’s biggest fast-fashion retailers, with customers in more than 150 countries.

The e-commerce giant is known for selling ultra-cheap clothes, backed by a vast network of factories in China that are able to quickly manufacture new products based on the latest trends.

Its revenue has far outstripped rivals like H&M and Zara.

As of the end of March 2026 Shein had 281 million active customers – a rise of more than 16% on a year earlier – who placed a total of more than one billion orders.

But Shein’s fast-fashion business has faced concerns over its environmental impact, and allegations of forced labour in supply chains. Shein has previously told the BBC it has a “zero tolerance for forced labour”.

Its attempt to go public on the London Stock Exchange collapsed after the company came under scrutiny over its refusal to answer questions about its supply chain practices.

GameCentral dives into FromSoftware’s Switch 2 exclusive, where fast-paced Dark Souls combat collides with a knockout tournament.

FromSoftware’s pantheon of classics are primarily thought of as single-player experiences, but the majority have at least some form of multiplayer. Across Dark Souls and Elden Ring, you can summon others to assist you with bosses, engage in competitive fights, or scatter messages across the open world. They are optional features, but these shared elements offer a collaborative struggle which makes their punishing worlds less overwhelming.

Over recent years, FromSoftware has pushed this sense of jolly co-operation to the forefront. Last year, the studio released Elden Ring Nightreign, a flawed roguelike co-op remix of the original. It was an interesting experiment, but as a project not directed by CEO Hidetaka Miyazaki, it didn’t carry quite the same level of prestige as the studio’s best. 

The Duskbloods might share DNA with Nightreign, but the expectation is different. This is a new IP, with Miyazaki in the driving seat, and the studio’s first Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive. FromSoftware titles often have some secrecy to them, but aside from it being geared around multiplayer, The Duskbloods has been almost a complete mystery since it was announced – until the Network Test over the weekend. 

It’s presumably only a small slice of the overall game, to stress test the servers, but this early taste shows off the core gameplay loop. At first glance, The Duskbloods is a familiar brew. The combat fundamentals of past FromSoftware games – a mix of light, strong, long range, and character-specific attacks – are intact, and the burning gothic landscapes of the only map you can play, named Lowanro City, harkens back to Bloodborne’s Yharnam. 

A key difference is the fluidity, and flexibility, in your movement. You can jump as normal with a mere tap, or hold down for a supersized launch into the air, which can be extended with three extra mini-jumps. It’s as if you’re permanently riding on Torrent in Elden Ring, only on two feet instead of four. However, with a complete lack of fall damage (and respawns), you’re bounding around these environments in a more cartoonish, haphazard way compared to the studio’s prior titles. 

It’s a design choice to remove friction on a semi-large multiplayer map. At its core, The Duskbloods is a competitive – yet occasionally collaborative – knockout competition across multiple phases. Your primary goal is to collect Virtue, which you can gather in various ways; whether by killing enemy players, taking down bosses, wiping out low-level scrubs, or finding offerings from pillars and corpses by exploring the map. 

If you collect more Virtue than your opponents, you’ll be saved from the ‘culling’ at the end of each phase. Matches start with eight players, but by the final fourth phase, only three remain, who all fight to the death in a small battle arena to determine the winner. 

The overarching structure is simple, but the depth within these parameters is what makes The Duskbloods compelling. You can make a pact with a ‘kin’, which essentially adds a permanent summon to your ranks – ranging from a singing prisoner to a whip-slinging brute. Additionally, while you’re in competition, you can team-up with your fellow players temporarily; whether to take down a difficult ‘trespasser’ boss or to form an alliance, whereby you share your Virtue rewards with another player and are unable to harm them until the final phase. 

There are other layers nestled beneath the surface. You’re trying to level up your Bloodsworn character at the same time as collecting Virtue, to boost your HP and attack power, and to earn more advanced skills for an extra edge. There are Sigils too, which if equipped, will give you a small mini-mission – like taking down a specific player or forming an alliance – that banks more Virtue if successfully completed. 

It’s an ambitious mix of ideas which strives to make competitive fights (almost) optional. Sure, you can wage war against every enemy player you encounter, but your journey to the next phase might be better assured if you join others to take down a boss, or if you avoid other players altogether and farm experience points by heading to one of the points of interest – like the clock tower or nearby cave – to find a particular enhancement. 

At a base level, it’s a fun adaptation of FromSoftware’s bread and butter gameplay and storytelling into a multiplayer setting, with some excellent characters to mess around with. A vampire swordsman named Albert is the default starter, who packs blood sword attacks and a submachine gun. Our personal favourites were Senator Samir Patres, who can assume the form of a dinosaur and charge foes, and Zork, a Bioshock-esque diver who can barrel across the landscape with a jetpack. 

Between its accelerated speed and zany abilities, The Duskbloods has the energy of a chaotic mod laced over FromSoftware’s stunning art direction and world design. In truth, after several hours in the Network Test, we’re still not sure how we feel about it. It’s undeniably enjoyable, but whether it has any staying power will take much longer than these few days to determine.

A Network Test was never going to provide the full picture, but we are intrigued by the missing details. Miyazaki has promised comprehensive amounts of story tied to the hub area you inhabit between matches, along with character customisation, additional maps, and a new fourth phase where you team up to kill a new boss, instead of each other. If it can meaningfully integrate story progression around its concept, or provide some other cogent incentive, The Duskbloods could be an enticing and fresh proposition in the multiplayer arena. 

If any studio were to innovate when it comes to narratives in multiplayer games, FromSoftware is the safest bet  – but right now The Duskbloods is still too vague a proposition to truly quantify. It’s frantic, unashamedly silly, and unlikely to win over anyone who hasn’t chimed with the studio’s previous PvP work, but it’s a long time since From has made an actively bad game and this doesn’t look likely to break that chain.

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