Ghana’s illegal gold mining industry causes environmental destruction
Reuters Water from a polluted river in Ghana was so thick and discoloured that an artist was able to use it as paint to depict the environmental devastation caused by the illegal gold mining that has spread like wildfire in the resource-rich West African state. Mercury is increasingly being used to extract gold by miners […]
New Leighton Hospital to be UK’s most digitally advanced, bosses say
Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Trust Original plans to redevelop Leighton Hospital in Crewe were unveiled almost four years ago Plans are set to be unveiled for a new hospital that bosses say will be the most digitally advanced in the UK. The new Leighton Hospital in Crewe will be the size of about 15 football […]
Norwich car crash couple make ‘healing’ return to Iceland
Zak Nelson Elliot Griffiths and Zak Nelson enjoyed Iceland as tourists second time round A couple who got engaged in intensive care after surviving a head-on crash while on holiday in Iceland said they have “made peace” with the country during a return trip. Zak Nelson and Elliot Griffiths, from Norwich, had been in Iceland […]
Scrapping tax relief could ‘break-up’ Welsh family farms
Any decisions to scrap inheritance tax relief for farmers could lead to the “break-up” of Welsh family farms, a union has warned. The BBC has learned that the UK government is planning to increase the amount of money it raises through the tax at its Budget later this month. Land used for farming is currently […]
Civil servants must work differently, says new boss Chris Wormald
Alamy Civil servants have been told they will have to “do things differently” by their new boss, the cabinet secretary, on his first day in the job. Sir Chris Wormald has promised a “rewiring of the way the government works”, in a message to half a million civil servants. Sir Chris, who previously ran the […]
How will weight-loss drugs change our relationship with food?
BBC We are now in the era of weight-loss drugs. Decisions on how these drugs will be used look likely to shape our future health and even what our society might look like. And, as researchers are finding, they are already toppling the belief that obesity is simply a moral failing of the weak-willed. Weight-loss […]
Do ‘much, much more’ on age verification, social media apps told
Getty Ofcom has warned social media companies they will be punished if they fail to take significant extra steps to address the problem of children pretending to be adults online. A newly released survey, conducted by the UK media regulator, indicates 22% of eight to 17 year olds lie that they are 18 or over […]
Gavin and Stacey finale tops ratings
BBC/Toffee International Ltd./Tom Jackson The Gavin and Stacey finale attracted an average of 12.3 million TV viewers – the largest Christmas Day audience in more than a decade, overnight data shows. The new Wallace and Gromit film also attracted a large audience on BBC One, with more than 9 million viewers tuning in to watch […]
Cornish naval air base has new commanding officer
A naval air base in Cornwall has had a new commanding officer (CO) appointed, the Royal Navy has said. Capt James Hall took over on Monday as the head of RNAS Culdrose, near Helston, from previous commander Capt Stuart Irwin, it said. Capt Hall, who started his career in 2001, has served at Culdrose twice […]
Waves of air strikes hit cities in Yemen
Air strikes have been reported in two cities in Yemen. Witnesses and governing Houthi rebels said an airport and military base were targeted in the capital Sanaa, while a power station in the western port city of Hudaydah was also hit, the AFP news agency reported. Houthi TV blamed the strikes on Israel, which has […]