Manchester council to proceed with controversial plans to axe its school catering service

straight to your inboxAymeric Laporte and Nathan Ake added to Manchester City's problems at Chelsea that meant Pep Guardiola failed to name a full matchday squad. Eric Garcia became the sixth Blue to test positive for Covid-19 when results from Saturday's tests came back, but because he was already injured and hadn't travelled with the first team squad it was deemed safe for the Premier League match to go ahead.

straight to your inboxManchester City goalkeeper Ederson Moraes appears to be a doubt for Sunday's match against Chelsea and the Manchester Derby on Wednesday.Pep Guardiola 's men face Manchester United at Old Trafford during the week in a Carabao Cup semi-final clash, and they could be without their number one. Ederson has said he is self-isolating, putting him at risk of missing the clash with Manchester United in just four days' time.

direct to your inboxThe streets were empty as Greater Manchester said goodbye to 2020 and ushered in a new year - but many were determined to keep alive at least one tradition.Our video from Werneth Low shows how many parts of Greater Manchester were ablaze with colour as people set off fireworks at midnight to celebrate the arrival of 2021.Around 200 socially distanced people gathered on the popular spot to watch the moment our region said goodbye to 2020 and ushered in the New Year.Car horns

direct to your inboxIt has been a year like no other.However Great Mancunians have still made headlines across the world, for all sorts of reasons.Here we look at those who have put the region on the map in 2020, a year we will never forget.2020 has undoubtedly belonged to Manchester United and England star Marcus Rashford.However it is his incredible work off the pitch which has made the headlines, even more than his impressive goal-scoring feats on it.The Withington-born and Wythenshawe raised

direct to your inbox"It's absolutely gut-wrenching."Hair salon owner Jane Nixon describes how she felt as Matt Hancock announced that Greater Manchester would be moving into Tier 4.And it's a feeling thousands of business owners across the region will be familiar with.A change in restrictions, businesses finally being allowed to open then being forced to shut again just a few weeks later.

direct to your inboxDoctors and paramedics say they are bracing themselves for a new tide of Covid patients to hit Greater Manchester's hospitals within weeks. Speaking as plans for the region's move to Tier 4 were announced and the return to school for secondary pupils was delayed, Dr Carole Gavin, a consultant in Greater Manchester, said concerns were growing as hospitals in the south battle to find beds as infection rates - largely found to be caused by the new mutant strain - rise.

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direct to your inboxThe coronavirus pandemic has exposed the crisis in the "broken" social care system – and it would be "immoral" not to fix it, Andy Burnham has warned.The mayor of Greater Manchester said the only way to cope with an ageing population would be to more closely integrate social care with the NHS.

straight to your inboxThere have been a couple of heartwarming come-back stories in the Manchester City defence so far this season but before we discuss John Stones we have to talk about Joao Cancelo.What a turnaround he has had in 2020.

straight to your inbox every day for freePaul Scholes says Manchester United's position in the table shows they have the ability to be title challengers this season.Their recent form has prompted plenty of talk about whether United can launch a challenge that was unexpected at the start of the season. Some of United's players have been bullish about their chances and Scholes can see why.

Ariana Grande has brought some Christmas cheer to hundreds of young hospital patients in Manchester.The pop star has surprised hundreds of children at Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital and Manchester Royal Infirmary (MRI) with an Amazon voucher each worth £100.Speaking to the Manchester Evening News, the father of one of the patents said his daughter was “absolutely delighted” with the kind gesture, describing the ‘7 Rings’ singer as “a wonderful human being”.“She said, ‘look dad, I’ve got a

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

Ariana Grande had an early Christmas present for young people in Manchester spending the festive season in hospital. It’s been reported that Ariana has gifted every child being treated at Manchester’s Royal Infirmary and the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital with a £100 voucher that they can use on Amazon.

direct to your inboxTwo men from Greater Manchester who won £20,000 on the hit BBC show Race Across the World have donated their prize money to charity.Emon Choudhury, 36, from Stockport, beat four other teams to win the race alongside his nephew Jamiul Choudhury, 25, from Oldham.The pair beat the odds to complete an epic 54-day journey from Mexico City to the south of Argentina for the second series of the BBC2 show.On their travels, the men were visibly moved by the number of homeless children

with the Woodland Trust planting over 130,000 trees on land around Winter Hill last year.Pete Stringer, GI planning and technical manager at City of Trees, added: "The new planting proposals will help deliver on the government’s commitment to increase tree planting to 30,000 hectares per year, across the UK, by 2025 as well as Greater Manchester’s goals to be carbon neutral by 2038.“We hope this year’s planting programme will be the first of a longer partnership between City of Trees and Bolton

straight to your inboxManchester City have given a Christmas present to every primary school kid in East Manchester and every child in in care across the whole city.Staff, players and coaches have paid for, wrapped and delivered more than 5,500 gifts.And with the coronavirus pandemic meaning the traditional Christmas visits to hospitals are off the cards, stars including Phil Foden and Kevin De Bruyne have been video calling patients on children's wards at Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital,

straight to your inbox every day for freeEdinson Cavani could miss Manchester United's first visit of Leeds United in nearly 11 years due to a groin injury.Cavani, 33, has missed the last three matches since he was forced off at half-time in United's win at West Ham on December 5.The Uruguayan has resumed light training this week but faces a three-match domestic suspension over a Football Association misconduct charge that alleges he 'brought the game into disrepute' over an Instagram post.After

straight to your inboxPep Guardiola thinks it would be unfair on the rest of his Manchester City players to put Sergio Aguero into the squad before he is fully fit.The Argentine striker returned to the matchday selection against Marseille last week and came off the bench, scoring with one of his first touches.

direct to your inboxCoronavirus has brought heartache to thousands of families across Greater Manchester.More than 3,800 people have died in our region's hospitals alone. And tragically, this number is continuing to rise.Behind the Covid-19 death statistics that we publish each day are human beings who all had stories to tell.

direct to your inboxTwenty-six more people have died from coronavirus in Greater Manchester's hospitals.The region's hospital death toll has risen to 3,900, the latest NHS figures show.Nine more Covid-related deaths were recorded by Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust in its 24 hour data.The trust runs the Manchester Royal Infirmary (MRI), Wythenshawe Hospital, the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital and Saint Mary's hospital.Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust confirmed five new deaths.