Dear readers — today’s main story is about the Great Southern Bazaar — an extraordinary event organised to support the southern states in the American Civil War. A university researcher in Liverpool has unearthed new information about the high society women who organised the event — but her work raises an intriguing question: were their hearts really in it? That’s after our mini-briefing, which has some interesting council news from the Wirral and a couple of great things to do in the next few days.

Open newsroom: A quick request before we get into today’s edition — if you have any friends or contacts in the Iranian community in Liverpool, or any insight into the death of Malak Adabzadeh, please hit reply to this newsletter or email mollie@livpost.co.uk. Here’s the latest on the mystery of her death, as reported by the BBC this morning:

Members of a city's Iranian community who knew a woman who was found dead at a house have been asked to contact police “as a matter of urgency”. Irani…