News

Companies with high levels of staff satisfaction perform better financially, according to new research from the University of East Anglia (UEA). The study examined the effect of staff satisfaction on corporate performance using employees’ online reviews of where they work. Writing in the journal Economic Letters, the researchers from Norwich Business School say that firms rated highly by their current employees in terms of satisfaction achieve greater financial performance compared to firms characterised by low levels of employee satisfaction. They...

The Centre of Brexit studies is set to visit the UK’s ten biggest Leave voting constituencies to find out their thoughts and feelings on the Brexit process nearly 18 months on from the landmark referendum. Researchers from Birmingham City University’s Centre for Brexit Studies will be spending three weeks on the road to visit a range of different communities across the country and find out their views on Brexit and how the government is carrying out the process of leaving the...

A cash-strapped NHS Trust has told surgeons and theatre staff to bring their own MUGS and drinks to work - in a bid to cut costs. Health chiefs have even withdrawn polystyrene cups from water dispensers which has sparked outrage from workers claiming even patients are going thirsty. The move comes as Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust aims to cut £5.5 million from its £29 million deficit. Theatre staff at Alexandra Hospital, Kidderminster Hospital, and Worcestershire Royal Hospital, have now...

A planet the same size of Earth and with a similar surface temperature may be "the closest known comfortable abode for possible life," according to new research. The newly discovered world, named Ross 128b, was found orbiting a red dwarf 11 light-years away from Earth - but it's getting nearer. Astronomers working with the European Southern Observatory's High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Searcher (HARPS) at the La Silla Observatory in Chile has found that the red dwarf star Ross 128...

The majority of the Australian public have voted for new legislation for gay marriage, the 'Yes' vote winning 61.6%. The Australian Senate will now be asked  to support a bill to permit same-sex couples to get married on Thursday. The proposed bill will be debated in both houses of parliament but Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull remains insisted the historic law could be passed by both houses by the end of this year. "The Australian people have spoken in their millions,"...

Following legal action by HOPE not hate, Nigel Farage has withdrawn claims that Britain's largest anti-racism organisation pursued "violent and undemocratic means". The result is a major victory for HOPE not hate, which took Mr Farage to court for the unacceptable comments he made on LBC radio on 20 December last year, responding to a Twitter exchange with Jo Cox's widower, Brendan Cox. Mr Farage made his comments on the Nick Ferrari At Breakfast programme on LBC radio following the...

The 17-year-old boy may have been plotting an ISIS-inspired terror attack at a JUSTIN BIEBER concert, the court heard. The lad searched for details of the venue's security just days before the Canadian popstar was due to play at the city's Principality Stadium, jurors were told. He also conducted more than 2,000 searches over a year including "Cardiff terrorist attack", "how to create a terror attack" and "how to pledge allegiance to ISIS". The defendant may have also been looking...

Royle Family actor Ralf Little outed Jeremy Hunt for lying to the public over a boast that he has overseen the "biggest expansion of mental health provision in Europe". Health Secretary Hunt bragged on the Andrew Marr Show that other countries are looking at we're doing in terms of mental health provision, in particular on anxiety and depression where he claims Britain is now considered a "world leader". But the statements have since been disputed by renowned actor Ralf Little, who...

Proposals to reduce the effects of global warming by imitating volcanic eruptions could have a devastating effect on global regions prone to either tumultuous storms or prolonged drought, new research has shown. Geoengineering – the intentional manipulation of the climate to counter the effect of global warming by injecting aerosols artificially into the atmosphere – has been mooted as a potential way to deal with climate change. However new research led by climate experts from the University of Exeter suggests...