News

New research from the charity Mind shows that media coverage of mental health problems improves understanding and promotes help seeking, as the charity launches Mind Media Awards 2017. News reports, documentaries, celebrity interviews, soap and drama storylines about mental health have a huge impact on encouraging people to talk, show new findings released by Mind today. More than a third (35%) of people who have seen a storyline involving a character with mental health problems say it inspired them to...

Britain's super-rich are paying less in taxes than their cleaners, according to official figures. The latest release from the Office for National Statistics shows the poorest ten per cent of households fork out 42 per cent of their income in taxes – including VAT and council tax. Conversely, the richest ten per cent pay 34.3 per cent - according to analysis by the Equality Trust. Today’s figures also show that average income for the richest fifth of households is £84,700...

President Trump wants to send a manned space flight to Mars during his time in office - which is about a decade faster than most estimates say is possible. In cringe-worthy video call to the International Space Station the President asked astronaut Peggy Whitson when she thinks a manned trip to Mars would be possible. Whitson said the current estimates of such a trip being possible in the 2030s seems right to her, but that doesn't sit right with Trump. "We want to...

Theresa May has made it very clear how she wants this election to be framed - all about her (two favourite new buzzwords) "strong and stable" stewardship of the UK's Brexit from the EU. - Which is why we now need her snap election that May previously warned we should not have as it's destabilising - only it isn't now. Not if it's making her Brexit negotiating more "strong and stable." Many in this country and in the EU are sceptical about May's reason for calling an 8...

Nestle has announced it is going to move production of the iconic Blue Riband chocolate biscuit to Poland - just to ship it back to Britain. Some 300 jobs in Yorkshire, the North East and Scotland are now in jeopardy after the confectionery giant proposed cuts to their UK bases, despite raking in £21 billion from sales at a quarterly increase of 0.4 per cent. Blue Riband has been made in Britain since 1936 and is primarily consumed by the...

Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales has announced he is planning to set up an online news site to combat the problem of "fake news". Wikitribune will offer factual and neutral articles by using professional journalists and volunteers. The site will eschew traditional advertising revenue in favour of regular donations such as the ones used to support its online encyclopedia. A demo version of the site, seen by the BBC, declared "the news is broken and we can fix it". Mr Wales...

State of the Nation   Theresa May sparked a sense of surprise across the country last week as she called a snap general election to be held on 8 June. Many have since drawn comparisons between the British zeitgeist with a Bristolian lady's reaction to the news which quickly went viral online. The announcement followed several statements by the prime minster that she would not be seeking a general election. However, in terms of shock factor, the news of a...

Four RAF Typhoon pilots using the world's most advanced fighter helmet set off for Eastern Europe yesterday as tensions with Russia mounted. The £250,000 Striker II helmet boasts in-built digital night vision that identifies enemy targets by red and yellow colour codes. The Luke Skywalker-style head gear allows pilots to tell friend and foe apart in an instant. The state-of-the-art helmets are being used by Typhoon pilots who set off from RAF Coninsby today to bolster air support in Romania....

This dramatic footage shows a huge gorse fire that raged out of control for eight hours - injuring FIVE firefighters. A huge swathe of the countryside has now been blackened following the blaze at Woodbury Common. which spread across 100 acres of heathland and could be seen for miles. More than 100 firefighters battled the fire which broke out at 2pm on Sunday. One had burns to his face and needed hospital treatment while four others suffered from smoke inhalation....