People urged to 'avoid travel' as rail strikes set to cause chaos this weekend

Construction work has started on a new ward at Forth Valley Royal Hospital that will reduce waiting times for patients who need hip or knee surgery.

Passengers are set to face more train chaos over the weekend as rail staff are set to strike for 48 hours. TransPennine Express services will be cut on Saturday and Sunday (June 4 and 5) on major lines.

Johnny Depp leaves a surprise performance at Royal Albert Hall in London, England on Tuesday night (May 31).

MPs in Oldham have written to health chiefs raising concerns that it took five days to notify them about a major IT failure that led to a ‘critical incident’ being declared at four hospitals.

IT experts are being 'brought in from abroad' to solve more than a week of chaos at four of Greater Manchester's biggest hospitals hamstrung by technical glitches, according to staff on the ground. The help is being flown in from the US, the Manchester Evening News understands.

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is reminding working parents in Scotland not to miss out on the chance to get up to £2,000 a year to pay for regulated childcare, including holiday clubs and other out-of-school activities, during the summer holidays.

Doctors and nurses across four of the region’s major hospitals say they are ‘losing patients in hospitals’ as a huge IT failure tips over into more than a week of chaos. ‘Waiting times are rising’, staff are doing ‘longer shifts’, and staff are ‘unable to track their patients as they move through the hospitals’ because the electronic systems continue to crash.

Hospital bosses are warning the public to avoid the Royal Oldham Hospital's emergency department unless urgent and life-threatening. The hospital has today declared a critical incident after almost a week of IT failures across four Greater Manchester hospitals which have caused 'severe delays' to patient care, according to staff.

Theatre-goers are being warned to plan ahead with disruption expected this weekend. Road closures are due to come into force across the city centre tomorrow ahead of Sunday's Great Manchester Run.

A major IT system issue is causing ‘severe delays for patients’ at four hospitals in Greater Manchester, the Manchester Evening News understands. The problems could persist into the weekend before a fix is found, according to sources.

The delivery of social security benefits in Scotland has been praised in a new report, but “substantial” risks remain.

The Royal Mint has revealed a new rainbow-coloured 50p coin to mark the 50th anniversary of the UK Pride movement and said this will be the first time the LGBTQ+ community has been recognised on an official coin.

Prince William and Kate Middleton appeared to break with royal protocol as they greeted emotional adoring fans during a visit in Scotland. It comes as experts say the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are attempting to dispense with 'stuffy' formality and become more approachable following their disastrous Caribbean tour earlier this year. Royals have been told to avoid taking or posing for selfies whilst out on official duties it has been previously reported.

Jarvis Cocker says it’s still a “mystery” who he wrote Pulp hit ‘Common People’ about, but is determined to find out.In the iconic 1995 song’s opening lines, Cocker sings of a woman who “came from Greece [and] had a thirst for knowledge,” studying sculpture at London’s St. Martin’s College.Despite the song’s success – it was named NME‘s Best Song Of The ’90s – Cocker has revealed that he has no memory of the identity of the person who inspired the song.Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s This Cultural Life (via The Mirror), Cocker addressed claims that the inspiration was Danae Stratou, a Greek woman who attended St Martin’s at the same time as Jarvis, but confirmed that “it wasn’t her because she had blonde hair and the girl had dark hair.”Of the origin of the song, Cocker said: “We went to the pub and she just came out with that she wanted to live in Hackney with common people.“In 2011 we played at St Martin’s and someone showed me a picture on their phone and said, ‘Is that the girl you wrote the song about?’ I went, ‘Yeah, I think it is’” he remembered.“Unfortunately, I didn’t ask them for the picture and I can’t remember who showed it to me so it’s still a mystery.”Back in 2015, Deborah Bone, the inspiration behind Pulp‘s 1995 hit ‘Disco 2000’, died at the age of 51.