No beaches in the region were awarded the prestigious Blue Flag

Seven beaches in the North West have been recognised in the Keep Britain Tidy’s annual Seaside Awards. The accolade recognises “fantastic coastal spots that are clean, safe and well-managed” in England, including locations not designated as a traditional bathing beach.

However no beaches in the region have been awarded a Blue Flag, an international award which recognises ‘excellence’ in environmental management; safety and services; cleanliness; and environmental education. Both awards are handed out by environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy.

This year a total of 128 sites in England have received either a Blue Flag award or the Seaside Award, including 126 beaches, one marina and one inland bathing water site. A total of 63 sites met the standards required for a Blue Flag award, 61 of which were beaches.

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Across England 106 sites were recognised with the Seaside Awards , including 41 which achieved the Blue Flag as well. Each location was assessed by one of the charity’s qualified judges, who visited the location unannounced during the bathing season to check everything in person, following an application submitted by the beach management team.

Both south and north beaches in Morecambe are among the North West beaches recognised in this year’s awards, along with St Annes Pier. Liverpool’s Albert and Salthouse docks remain the only Blue Flag holding marina in the country.

Full list of recipients of the seaside award in the North West

• St Annes Pier – Fylde Borough Council
• Morecambe South Beach – Lancaster City Council
• North Beach, Morecambe – Lancaster City Council
• Fleetwood Ferry Beach* – Wyre Borough Council
• Fleetwood Marine Beach – Wyre Borough Council
• Rossall Beach (non bathing water) – Wyre Borough Council
• Jubilee Beach, Cleveleys – Wyre Borough Council

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Emergency services attended Ivy Bridge House, on Blackshaw Lane, shortly after 12.05 am on Sunday, May 17, after a man in his 50s was found unresponsive outside the property.

The two men, aged 48 and 49, have been arrested on suspicion of murder in connection with the incident on Sunday, and are in custody for questioning.

Detective Inspector Craig Hurst of the Bolton CID team said: “The investigation is at a very early stage, and our enquiries are ongoing into what has led to the man’s death.

(Image: NQ)

“If anybody has any information that they think may assist us, particularly those who may have been in the area yesterday evening/ the early hours of this morning, please get in touch.”

Officers have been outside of the property all day, as a blue tent is where the usual entrance to the property stands.

Tape has shut off the entrance and back exit of Ivy Bridge House, and residents coming in and out were directed out of a nearby gate.

Police are still at the scene now, and will remain there as investigators carry out procedures to the incident.

(Image: NQ)

In a statement on social media, Cllr Ayyub Patel, who represents the Rumworth ward, said: “Police Presence – Ivybridge House, Blackshaw Lane, Deane

“Just to reassure everyone – there’s no need to be worried or alarmed.

“Police are currently dealing with a suspicious death, which is why there is an increased police presence around Ivybridge House today.  

(Image: NQ)

“This is a contained incident and there is no wider risk to the community.

“Any official updates will come directly from Greater Manchester Police.”

Anybody with information should contact the CID office at Bolton on 0161 856 5757 quoting log number 34 of 17.05.2026 or the independent charity Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.

Available for over a year

Today we look at two Labour leadership hopefuls setting out their visions for the UK ahead of a Labour leadership contest that hasn’t even begun.

Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham told the BBC he’d ‘save’ Labour, and Wes Streeting has confirmed that he would run in the event of a formal challenge to Keir Starmer.

Before Burnham can run for leader, and therefore PM, he’s got to win the Makersfield by-election first. Laura and Paddy answer Newscasters’ questions on the subject and look at a potential cautionary tale from a by-election in 1965.

You can now listen to Newscast on a smart speaker. If you want to listen, just say “Ask BBC Sounds to play Newscast”. It works on most smart speakers.

You can join our Newscast online community here: https://bbc.in/newscastdiscord
Get in touch with Newscast by emailing newscast@bbc.co.uk or send us a WhatsApp on +44 0330 123 9480.

New episodes released every day. If you’re in the UK, for more News and Current Affairs podcasts from the BBC, listen on BBC Sounds: https://bbc.in/4guXgXd

Newscast brings you daily analysis of the latest political news stories from the BBC. The presenters were Laura Kuenssberg and Paddy O’Connell. It was made by Chris Flynn and Kris Jalowiecki. The social producer was Joe Wilkinson. The technical producer was Michael Regaard. The assistant editor is Chris Gray. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.

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The Economy Minister said she has received “no indication” that any other party will attempt to block her Good Jobs Bill.

There is “plenty of time left” for Stormont to pass a Bill in the current mandate which would overhaul Northern Ireland’s employment laws, Caoimhe Archibald has insisted.

The Economy Minister said she has received “no indication” that any other party will attempt to block her Good Jobs Bill.

Ms Archibald first set out the proposals in the Bill in April 2025, describing it as the “biggest upgrade to our employment legislation since the Good Friday Agreement ”.

There are proposals in the proposed legislation relating to zero-hour contracts, improving family-related leave and strengthening trade unions’ rights.

However, more than a year later, the Bill has still not been published or debated by MLAs.

It is due to be considered by ministers in the powersharing Executive later this month before it can be given the green light to go to the Assembly.

However, some DUP politicians have already raised concerns about the Bill, while business groups have called for it to be paused, stating there is not enough time for it to be properly scrutinised before the end of the current Assembly mandate in March next year.

Ms Archibald told the BBC’s Sunday Politics show that the Bill has been drafted and is with her Executive colleagues.

She said: “From my perspective there is plenty of time left in the mandate to go to the Assembly, to be passed to the committee for its scrutiny and for it to ultimately pass before the end of the mandate.”

Asked why it had taken so long, the minister said: “It is a big Bill, there are a lot of elements to it, some really important advances in terms of workers’ rights, things in there like the right to carers’ leave, the right to neonatal care leave, the opportunity for people to access trade unions in the workplace.

“There are really important advances in this Bill, and it has taken its time to be drafted.

“When I announced the proposals that would be within the Bill, I said I would engage constructively with everybody involved in drafting the Bill ultimately, and I have done that.

“We have undertaken considerable engagement to get to the point where we are now at, over 100 engagements have been undertaken since (previous economy minister) Conor Murphy originally introduced this Bill; by him, by my officials and by myself to really listen to people and to try and shape something which works for both workers and employers, because ultimately we do have to try and get that balance right.”

Ms Archibald said she had been engaging with the business groups who have called for the Bill to be delayed.

She said: “What we have tried to do with this piece of legislation is to get the balance right. I think we have addressed the concerns they have set out.

“They haven’t actually seen the piece of legislation, that is why it is really important that we get it through the Executive, introduced into the Assembly so people can see the detail.

“Where there are concerns they will see hopefully where those have been addressed.”

The minister said she had been engaging with her Executive colleagues on the legislation.

She said: “I have had no indications at this point from any of the parties that they are not supporting it.

“There is plenty of time for this piece of legislation to be scrutinised.

“The Employment Rights Bill that was just recently introduced in Britain, its committee stage took seven weeks.

“There is no reason why this piece of legislation can’t be properly scrutinised, people give their views, and it can be fully debated in the Assembly and passed before the end of the mandate.

“It would not be typical for our scrutiny processes, but it shows that it can be done.”

Ms Archibald added: “My ministerial colleagues, as you would expect, are asking questions about the Bill and we are endeavouring to get those responses to them as quickly as possible to inform their decision making.”

She said: “One thing to say about this piece of legislation, it has really strong support amongst the public, it contains really important advances in terms of workers’ rights so I don’t see how it would be in the interests of any party to be blocking this piece of legislation in the Executive.

“The DUP have form in that regard in terms of frustrating the progress of some other important things.

“We do need political will, but I see absolutely no reason why this piece of legislation would be blocked, it is a positive, progressive piece of legislation, it is exactly what the Assembly should be debating, progressing and making sure that we do have it passed into law before the end of this mandate.”

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The victim offered Robert Smith a place to stay after he said he faced spending the night on the beach

A homeless man smashed a vase into the face of a friend who had offered him a place to stay for the night, a court has heard. Robert Smith then tried to drag the terrified woman into the shower to wash the blood off her face.

A judge told the 35-year-old defendant – who has more than 60 previous offences on his record – that over the years he must have cost “decent, hard-working people who pay their taxes” a fortune, and he told Smith that the time may have come for him to change his life and “pay back a little of what others have invested in you”. Smith replied “Yes sir”.

Samuel Jenkins, prosecuting, told Swansea Crown Court that on January 20 this year Smith was in the company of a family friend in Aberystwyth, and that after making comments about sleeping on the beach was offered a place to stay that night.

The court heard that pair talked and drank alcohol, and that at first there were no issues but then the defendant’s behaviour “inexplicably changed”.

The prosecutor said Smith began damaging possessions in the victim’s house before arming himself with a knife and screwdriver. He said the defendant then picked up a vase struck the woman to the head with it, causing the vase to smash on impact.

The court heard the complainant started bleeding heavily from a wound to the forehead and the defendant then tried to drag the “terrified” woman into the shower to wash the blood off.

The police were called and when officers arrived they found Smith asleep on the sofa with a knife and can of alcohol on the floor next to him. Smashed objects lay strewn around the room. For the latest court stories sign up to our crime newsletter

The defendant was roused and told officers “I have done nothing wrong” before becoming verbally aggressive towards them. Due to his behaviour he was taken to the ground and arrested.

The court heard the victim went to Aberystwyth’s Bronglais Hospital with a 3cm-4cm wound to her forehead which had to be cleaned and glued shut. In an impact statement read to the court by the prosecution barrister, the woman said the attack had exacerbated her already existing depression and anxiety, and said it has “profoundly effected” her day-to-day life.

Robert Smith, of no fixed abode, had previously pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm and to damaging property when he appeared in the dock for sentencing. He has 20 previous convictions for 61 offences including assaults by beating and criminal damage. At the time of the assault he was subject to a two-year community order for battery.

Dean Pulling, for Smith, said the defendant had been assessed as having “significant, multiple, and complex needs” including ADHD, depression, anxiety, and psychosis, and had suffered several traumatic deaths in the family as well as a serious brain injury which had required emergency surgery at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff.

He said Smith had previously held down jobs – including one with Network Rail – but said his difficulties were “exacerbated by his entrenched and chronic drug misuse” and he noted a pre-sentence report had concluded that the defendant was no longer suitable for intervention in the community.

Judge Geraint Walters said that over the years the defendant must have cost “decent, hard-working people who pay their taxes” a fortune, and told the defendant the time may have come for him to change his life and “pay back a little of what others have invested in you”. Smith replied “Yes sir”.

The judge told Smith that only he could make the necessary changes, and said if he did not he would turn around one day “to find life will have passed you by”.

With a 20 per cent discount for his guilty pleas Smith was sentenced to 12 months in prison. The judge revoked the community order the defendant was subject to and re-sentenced him to three months in prison for those matters to run consecutively making an overall sentence of 15 months. The defendant will serve up to half the sentence in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community.

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“I learned too how important it was to show the need for community and connection”

A Derry student has used his creativity skills to create a short film to highlight an incredibly important topic; adult loneliness.

Building A Village is a documentary on the importance of community and connection in 2026.

Made by North West Regional College journalism student Jonathan Cullen through his production banner Orbital Frame as well as North West Regional College, the 35-minute documentary short film highlights the last two years of community group Derry Meet Ups, now known as Clann&Co.

READ MORE: Derry Girls star to lead new sitcom Hopley Hall set in the Northern Irish countrysideREAD MORE: Derry foodbank “so grateful” to actress Jamie-Lee O’Donnell after winning over £30k on Celebrity Catchphrase

Clann&Co recently celebrated its second birthday and has created a space for strangers to come together, switch off and enjoy human connection.

Jonathan said: “When 25% of those living in the Foyle constituency are battling with loneliness and community funding has been cut by 64% across Northern Ireland, we explore why community spaces like this matter now more than ever.”

Through interviews with founder Cassie Jane, members and facilitators, the film tells the story of what happens when people choose connection and what’s possible when community is treated as something worth protecting.

On hiatus from working in the videogame industry, having covered the industry for nearly 17 years, Jonathan is in the final few weeks of a Higher National Diploma degree in journalism at NWRC and directed, wrote, produced and edited Building A Village.

Jonathan also stars as a subject in the film as he himself is a member of Derry Meet Ups/Clann&Co.

He said: “When I first got the word we were doing a documentary assignment at NWRC, the first three words that sprang to mind immediately, like neon lights, were Derry Meet Ups.

“Not just because of the important work it has done within Derry, but because of what it means to me personally as a card-carrying member.

“In the time I’ve been with Derry Meet Ups and now Clann&Co, I’ve seen first-hand the power of community, connection, friendship and more it has provided.

“Pitching this documentary, it initially started as a way to show the appreciation and love I have for the organisation.

“And while that’s still very much true now, along the way, I learned too how important it was to show the need for community and connection, how they intertwine and how valuable they are in 2026 at a time when community funding in Northern Ireland has been slashed dramatically to below £10 million and when the Foyle constituency is the loneliest in all of Northern Ireland.

“There has been an incredible reception to Building A Village since it premiered at The Playhouse at the end of March that I am still not only taken aback by, but unable to put into words weeks afterwards.

“I hope people not only love it as much as I have had making it, but people come away watching it realising why there is such a fundamental need for community and connection than ever before.”

Building A Village can be watched here

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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A drone strike targeted the United Arab Emirates’ Barakah nuclear power plant Sunday, setting an electrical generator ablaze on its perimeter and again straining the shaky ceasefire in the Iran war.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, which caused no radiological release nor injuries, authorities in the UAE’s capital, Abu Dhabi, said. However, suspicion immediately fell on Iran, which has been increasingly threatening the UAE over recent days as the country hosted Israeli Iron Dome missile defenses and troops during the war.

The attack comes as Iran still has a chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway where a fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas passed through before the war, disrupting global energy supplies. Meanwhile, America continues to block Iranian ports in response as negotiations to solidify the ceasefire have failed to advance.

U.S. President Donald Trump has suggested hostilities could resume, and Iranian state television has repeatedly aired segments with anchors holding Kalashnikov-style rifles in an effort to prepare the public for war. Meanwhile, fire exchanges between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon have been rising in recent days as well, threatening a separate ceasefire there.

Barakah plant provides a fifth of UAE’s energy

The $20 billion Barakah nuclear power plant was built by the UAE with the help of South Korea and went online in 2020. It’s the first and only nuclear power plant on the Arabian Peninsula and can provide a quarter of all the energy needs in the UAE, a federation of seven sheikhdoms. It’s also the first commercial nuclear power plant in the Arab world.

The UAE’s nuclear regulator said the fire didn’t impact the plant safety. “All units are operating as normal,” the organization wrote on X.

The UAE statement didn’t blame any party for the attack. The Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Sunday’s strike marked the first time the four-reactor Barakah plant has been targeted in the Iran war. The plant sits in the far western deserts of Abu Dhabi, near the border with Saudi Arabia. The UAE signed a strict deal with the U.S. over the power plant, known as a “123 agreement,” in which it agreed to give up domestic uranium enrichment and reprocessing of spent fuel to halt any proliferation fears. Its uranium comes from abroad.

Nuclear power plants increasingly targeted in war

Nuclear power plants increasingly have found themselves targeted in wars in recent years, first during Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. During the Iran war, Tehran repeatedly claimed its Bushehr nuclear power plant came under attack, though there was no direct damage to its Russian-run reactor nor any radiological release.

There have been several instances of attacks around the Strait of Hormuz and Persian Gulf countries over the past several weeks. Talks between Iran and the U.S. are at a standstill as the shaky ceasefire threatens to collapse and tip the Middle East back into open warfare, prolonging the worldwide energy crisis sparked by the conflict.

On Iranian state TV, presenters on at least two channels appeared armed during live programs.

In one program, Hossein Hosseini received basic firearms training from a member of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, whose face was covered with a mask. After being shown how to prepare the weapon, Hosseini mimed firing a shot at the flag of the UAE.

On another channel, female presenter Mobina Nasiri said a weapon had been sent to her from a gathering in Tehran’s Vanak Square so she could appear armed on camera. She said: “From this platform, I declare that I am ready to sacrifice my life for this country.”

___

Magdy reported from Cairo. Associated Press writer Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report.

The ex-Manchester United and England striker says he is seeing a surgeon about potential surgery

Wayne Rooney has revealed he has sustained a hand injury which may need surgical intervention. The England legend revealed details of the injury during an appearance on the BBC‘s live coverage prior to the 2026 FA Cup final, featuring on the broadcast sporting a wrist brace.

Rooney was amongst several guest pundits ahead of the final between Manchester City and Chelsea. He reminisced about some of his own FA Cup experiences from previous years while also discussing the hand injury – incurred during a separate BBC segment this week while filming with England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford for his podcast The Wayne Rooney Show, the Mirror reports.

“I went in goal and then it was a great save off Jordan and then I’ve messed my hand up,” Rooney said. When presenter Jason Mohammad pressed for further details, the former striker added: “I’m with a surgeon. I’ve been in the hospital and I’m back on Monday.”

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Mohammad offered his best wishes to Rooney before shaking his uninjured hand. Rooney devoted this week to interviewing Pickford for a feature on the BBC programme, with the duo running through some goalkeeping exercises at Everton’s training facility. While trying to stop Pickford’s spot-kick, Rooney dived and damaged his left hand.

Rooney’s session with the Everton shot-stopper also involved him participating in various training drills, all completed with evident enjoyment. The duo were briefly club-mates on Merseyside, with Rooney returning to the club in 2017 just days after Pickford signed from Sunderland. JOIN US ON FACEBOOK! Latest news, analysis and much more on Mirror Football’s Facebook page.

Former England international Rooney has taken to punditry with ease, having also ventured into management following his retirement from playing. His spells in the dugout proved less fruitful, and he has been without a club since departing Plymouth midway through the 2024/25 season.

During his playing career, Rooney claimed numerous Premier League titles, yet his FA Cup haul amounts to just a single triumph. That victory came in 2016, when he led Manchester United to an extra-time win against Crystal Palace.

In one interview segment, Rooney and Pickford looked back on an encounter that predated their time as club team-mates. The two first crossed paths while on international duty with England, with the goalkeeper admitting he was awestruck by the occasion.

“I watched you growing up and when I was watching you in the Euros and getting in an England squad, everyone looked up to you,” Pickford said. “So even then [on the bus] I was texting saying: ‘I’m opposite Wazza.’ I was shaking.

“I was on the bench and it was a great experience. My dream was to play for England. We know there’s only that small percentage of kids growing up get that opportunity.”