New scheme to help black-owned businesses in Greater Manchester to launch next month

direct to your inbox More than 5,500 people have died in Greater Manchester's hospitals alone after contracting coronavirus. And tragically, this number continues to rise everyday.

direct to your inboxAlmost a third of all adults in Greater Manchester have now received a coronavirus vaccine jab.And for the first time, new data reveals the take up figures for every postcode area in our region.It shows the five neighbourhoods where more than half of residents have now been vaccinated - one in Trafford, the highest rate, two in Bury, one in Stockport and one in Rochdale.The statistics, compiled by the Manchester Evening News, are from the latest available NHS data.They show

Bolton MP has said he is "not concerned" about the high rate of Covid-19 infections in the borough, stating hospital admissions and virus-related deaths were "down dramatically".

Manchester Evening News understands.

direct to your inboxCoronavirus has brought heartache to thousands of families across Greater Manchester.More than 5,200 people have died in our region's hospitals alone. And tragically, this number is continuing to rise.

Big Grillie Style, the arrival of Burgerize to Manchester, and a new partnership between Crazy Pedro's and Eat New York. Michelin-star restaurant Mana has turned itself into a burger takeaway during lockdown, and Fat Hippo has made its way over from the north east to join the city centre just this week.

direct to your inboxThe NHS has confirmed the deaths of 18 more patients in hospitals in Greater Manchester who had tested positive for coronavirus.Nationally, a further 309 hospital deaths were reported on Thursday.Of those, 42 were in hospitals in the north west region.Six further deaths have been recorded at Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, with five more at Stockport NHS Foundation Trust.Three further deaths were recorded at Bolton NHS Foundation Trust and at Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh

hereBury's rate increased by a single case.Oldham and Wigan also has a higher rate than yesterday, but cases are still down when the figures are compared with the previous week.The national average in England is 137.4 cases per 100,000 of the population.Manchester and Trafford recorded the highest week-on-week fall in cases.Bolton has the highest infection rate in Greater Manchester - at 236.1 cases per 100,000.Trafford - on 137.8 cases - has the lowest.Of the 315 local areas in England, 16 (5

direct to your inboxAldi are looking to hire nearly 100 apprentices across Greater Manchester this year.The supermarket giant has hired over 2,000 apprentices, the majority of which have gone on to secure permanent roles, since launching its Apprentice Programme in 2012.In 2021, Aldi plans to recruit 96 store apprentices in Greater Manchester and applications are open now.Apprentices will receive full training and gain real qualifications while launching their careers and working towards

direct to your inbox Andy Burnham has hired external consultants to review Greater Manchester Police’s response to last year’s damning inspection report.

Bolton and it will be taking orders from today (Wednesday).

direct to your inboxGreater Manchester Police have been forced to step in after a 'criminal' Weetabix combination went viral on Twitter.The tweet in question was posted by the popular cereal brand this morning, and quickly caught the attention of cops.And when you see what Weetabix were suggesting, it's clear to see why.Instead of the uncontested cereal and milk combination, it was suggested that customers try their Weetabix with something new.Baked Beans."Why should bread have all the fun, when

direct to your inboxNew details have emerged about the new jobs and housing masterplan which will replace the scrapped Greater Manchester Spatial Framework.Council leaders of nine of the city-region’s boroughs, along with mayor Andy Burnham, will meet to consider the next steps for ‘Places For Everyone’ this week.

direct to your inboxIt was a tragic twist of fate.Artist George Mayer-Marton had carefully packed his possessions and life's work to save them from the Nazis by emigrating to England.The Hungarian had made his reputation and home in Vienna - but his Jewish heritage and artistic brilliance made him vulnerable.The German invasion of Austria in March 1938 was the trigger for him to leave that year.

Radcliffe has been approved by the government.The proposal for the new facility - submitted by Star Academies and backed by Bury council - is one of four new free schools to have been given the green light across Greater Manchester.A further ten of the region's schools are set be rebuilt as part of a £1 billion scheme to boost education.The town has been without a high school since Radcliffe Riverside shut in 2014, meaning hundreds of youngsters have been forced to attend schools in other areas

direct to your inboxTens of thousands of the lowest paid people in Greater Manchester have been rejected after applying for financial support to self-isolate due to Covid-19.So far 22,598 applications for support under the Test and Trace Support Payment scheme have been received by Greater Manchester’s 10 councils.In total 13,390 - or 59% - of those applications have been rejected.Reasons for refusal varied and included no loss of income for self-employed people who were already receiving

direct to your inboxA pilot scheme to use rapid coronavirus testing at courts is being held in Manchester.Tests are being offered to those without symptoms attending cases at Manchester's Civil Justice Centre for the next four weeks.Those set to be offered tests include judges, court staff, lawyers and other workers based at the city centre site.The lateral flow tests are voluntary and give results faster than other methods of testing.Results are expected to be provided within about 30 minutes,