Hundreds gather in Piccadilly Gardens for anti-lockdown protest described as "two fingers up" to those who died

direct to your inbox On Christmas Eve last year, as had become annual tradition, a Manchester Evening News reporter was at the airport to record and capture the poignant moments as families and loved ones were reunited for the holiday season. Their warm hugs, passionate kisses and carefree abandon with personal space might now seem like a foreign concept.

Ariana Grande is proving the people of Manchester are very much in her heart this holiday season.

direct to your inboxFormer Piccadilly Radio presenter and popular Manchester DJ Umberto Saoncella has died, close friends have reported.The broadcaster made his name with the 'Umberto Breakfast show' which aired on the radio station, and after it moved to Piccadilly Gold in 1998.Close friends said in a Facebook post that the DJ had passed away on December 17 after losing his battle with an 'awful illness.'"After a few weeks in hospital he came home to spend his last days with his partner Bob and

straight to your inboxPep Guardiola used the Manchester weather to suggest that Manchester City's goalscoring issues are not over. The defending Carabao Cup champions put four past Arsenal to reach the semi-finals of the competition, with Gabriel Jesus, Riyad Mahrez, Phil Foden and Aymeric Laporte all netting at the Emirates.

this link, enter your email address, and select 'MySalford News'. That's all there is to it.Police officers eventually caught up with the teenager in Manchester on September 16.The force helicopter spotted a Seat car being driven 'erratically' at around 9.45pm that evening.

Salford bus stop on a main road. The Lamborghini Huracan - worth more than £160,000 - was left in a bus stop box in Chorley Road, Swinton.

straight to your inbox every day for freeAlex Telles believes it is Bruno Fernandes' decisiveness on the pitch that makes him Manchester United's "main player" at the moment. Telles and Fernandes are two of the newer additions at United under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and have added quality in their positions since arriving at Old Trafford.

direct to your inboxJeremy Corbyn's brother led an anti-lockdown march in the city centre today.Piers Corbyn was one of around 500 people who marched through Manchester in another protest against lockdown regulations.The protesters marched through the city centre, starting in Piccadilly Gardens at around midday.

direct to your inboxHundreds of homes in north and east Manchester have been hit by a power cut.The black-out began at around 4.15pm.Electricity North West said 522 customers have been left with no power.The situation could continue until around 7pm.Engineers are on their way to work on a fix.

direct to your inboxTwo sisters have been slapped with a £150 fine EACH after feeding a McDonald's hash brown to pigeons in Piccadilly Gardens.Jacqueline Falconer, 53, and her sister Nicola, 48, were Christmas shopping in Manchester city centre on Wednesday morning (December 9).They said they left Primark to get breakfast from McDonald's - and got their sausage and egg McMuffin meals to take away, due to Covid-19 restrictions.The sisters, from Worsley, Salford, sat on a step in Piccadilly

Salford to help others who have also suffered life-altering disabilities. “By the time they did the amputation, I didn’t really get much notice,” she told the Manchester Evening News .

direct to your inboxAround 400 new homes, including affordable housing inside a historic landmark, are proposed as part of the continued transformation of Ancoats and New Islington.A ‘mobility hub’ with shared car and cycle parking, as well as new commercial and green spaces, also form part of proposals by Manchester council and housing providers.Ancoats, hailed as the world's first industrial suburb on the eastern fringes of Manchester city centre, has undergone major regeneration since the

direct to your inboxPiccadilly remains the busiest railway station in the north west, with more than 32 million passengers passing through last year.And with Manchester city centre's phenomenal growth expected to continue in the coming decades, it is only likely to get busier.That is why the city's leaders say they are determined to get the redesign of Piccadilly right, first time.The next stage in that process is responding to the government's refinements to the design of HS2, the high-speed

direct to your inboxA rally in Manchester today (Saturday) called on the government to implement a 'zero Covid strategy' by introducing stricter measures to save lives.The small gathering in Piccadilly Gardens is said to have mirrored events held across the country.Support for the call is said to have been garnered from doctors, scientists, students and trade unions - with organisers criticising what they called the hovernment's 'reckless return to regional tier measures'.They said it would be

straight to your inbox every day for freeDavid Moyes knows exactly the type of pressure Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is under. Moyes is one of Solskjaer's predecessors in the Manchester United hotseat.

direct to your inboxPlans have been revealed to regenerate one of Manchester's best-known former cotton mills.Brunswick Mill was built on Bradford Road in Ancoats around 1840 and was one of the largest of its kind.At that time, historic Lancashire was at the heart of the cotton industry and the powerhouse behind the nation's industrial revolution.The mill once held some 276 carding machines, the textile process by which fibres are untwisted and separated into a uniform fabric.The imposing

Love Island villa last summer but Molly-Mae Hague has revealed the second lockdown has taken its toll on her romance with Tommy Fury.The reality star and influencer opened up about her relationship woes in a candid YouTube video as she told fans that the Greater Manchester area, where she lives with her boxer boyfriend, will be in Tier 3 when lockdown is lifted.Molly, 21, admitted she’s found the restrictions “really hard” as she chatted to the camera while walking down the street.She said,

in Wigan.  There are 637 homes without power in the Astley and Tyldesley areas, Electricity North West has confirmed. The shortage is affecting the M29 area of the borough and it is not yet known when power will return to normal. Engineers are on their way to the scene to investigate and the Electricity North West will issue updates once they have them, the provider said.

Middleton, arrived on Monday morning to find smashed windows and missing donations.