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By Oliver Ward @oli_ward_1 A British led enquiry released information on Thursday that Putin "probably" sanctioned the killing of Alexander Litvinenko in 2006. This cannot come as a surprise to many given the ostentatious contempt Putin has shown for the west in recent years. However in as modern world of espionage, full of NSA surveillence and phone monitoring you can´t help but feel that a spy being poisioned with a radioactive teapot feels a little like a regression to old style...

By Callum Towler  Sometimes I watch PMQ’s as if it’s a dystopian pantomime, like if all the robots in Isaac Asimov's I, Robot defeated the people, but upheld democracy once a week in parliament just for a laugh. Witnessing David Cameron duck, dive and quip his way through the weekly questions is to watch a well-oiled machine programmed to dodge bullets. Rarely ever does he respond candidly. Instead, in the space where thoughtful answers should be, we’re treated to nothing...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor You can swim, march and fight your way to the UK border and then “live” in the jungle, but if you are the Amazon (see what I did there?) you can step right in and plunder our riches. Tax was issue of the day, well until Cameron decided to be racist/ignorant/heartless/inflammatory (mix and match which ones you think work best). Corbyn was wondering, along with everyone else in the UK, except the Chancellor, why Google...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor Today, 28th January, is young carers day, a time to raise awareness and praise the selfless work of children as young as five who look after a loved one. In every classroom in the UK, it is thought there are two young carers, spending the majority of their time looking after a parent or close family member. Instead of enjoying their childhood like their class mates, they tend to others. 13,000 of these people care...

New job data has revealed almost a half a million female and ethnic minority jobseekers in the finance and IT sectors will not be considered for roles this year purely because of the name on their CV. The research revealed that even though employment in finance and IT is on the increase, the proportion of women and minorities working there has fallen. There are also inherent barriers to progression for those already in-situ: women with supervisory responsibility in the finance sector are...

Britain's imperial legacy is complex and widely disputed but one curious side effect is the number of independent countries that still have the Queen as head of state. Australia, Canada, New Zealand and a bevy of small nations are part of her domain, despite Britain having little or no authority over them. This Australia Day the premiers of all but one of the country's states called for a republic. The prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, is a known republican, as is...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor In the African state of Cameroon Muslims and Christians are protecting each other against savage attacks by Boko Haram, who are relentless in their brutal attacks. For over three years Boko Haram have been killing innocent people in the country, hoping to create an Islamic state. The terrorist group has staged 315 raids in the border region since 2013 and carried out 32 suicide bombings. Yesterday in Yaounde suspected Boko Haram insurgents blew themselves up in a market killing...

With over 900 franchise brands and 44,000 operations, it's fair to say the UK high street is buzzing with franchise activity. Often unbeknown to the public. Most of us recognise McDonald’s as a global franchise, but Dominos, Costa and many more sing from the same hymn sheet. In the past ten years the franchise sector's contribution to the economy has grown by 46 per cent, bringing in £15.1 billion last year. For Brits who want more independence over their career it is...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor A Huge NHS contract valued at £750 million, which collapsed only eight months later, had been signed off, even though there were major doubts about its chances of success. An investigation has been launched into why the contract, arranged by the strategic projects team – often referred to as the NHS’s privatisation arm – was given the go ahead. The contract was supposed to combine mental health services hospital and community care for adults and...