Don’t raise your family in Britain, say expats: UK voted worst place in developed world to bring up children

Britain is the worst country in which to raise children, while Australia is the best, a study has found.

The survey of expatriates living in six different countries found there was a better standard of living Down Under, and a better quality of family life.

A massive 78 per cent of children who moved there from countries such as the UK spent more time outdoors than they did before, and the majority ate more healthily.

Gloucestershire’s cheese rolling cancelled for health and safety fears

A centuries-old cheese rolling contest has fallen victim to health and safety — but not because of the broken bones and dozens of other injuries sustained each year.

Organisers of Gloucestershire’s annual competition have cancelled the event due to be held on May 31 because of concerns raised by the police and local authority over traffic and crowd control.

Victims of Medieval Massacre Site were Vikings

Fifty-one decapitated skeletons found in a burial pit in Dorset, England were those of Scandinavian Vikings, scientists say.

The site was discovered in June 2009 during building work on the ‘Olympic Highway’ by Dorset County Council; a relief road built to ease transport congestion for the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Archaeologists, led by David Score of Oxford Archaeology, unearthed at least 51 decapitated individuals. Many of the executed men suffered multiple wounds, inflicted by a sharp-bladed weapon, to the skull and jaw as well as the upper spine — indicating that their execution was by decapitation.

Scottish MP demands return of the Lewis Chessmen

A Scottish Member of Parliament is demanding that the entire collection of Lewis Chessmen be permanently kept in Scotland. He is upset that the British Museum, which houses some of these medieval figures, is now saying that the chessmen were created in Norway instead of northern Scotland.

Western Isles SNP MP Angus MacNeil said “The British Museum’s treatment of this link raises real questions about where the chessmen should be displayed permanently.

Ancient Norse Settlements Hit Cold Spell

A long cooling period may have led to famine in Greenland and Iceland more than 1,000 years ago.

Digging into Shakespeare’s later life at New Place, Stratford-upon-Avon

A ground-breaking investigation into Shakespeare’s later life is due to start in Stratford-upon-Avon on 26 March 2010, as archaeologists prepare to excavate the remains of Shakespeare’s house in Stratford-upon-Avon, and the public are invited to come along and watch as the latest story about the world’s most famous writer unfolds…

Archaeological find Roman baths unearthed in Tarragona

It seems the baths fell into disuse as the Roman city became busy and eventually became a habitat area, and a first dating points to the late start of V or VI century.

Pharmacist refuses to issue pill because of her religion

A pharmacist refused to issue contraceptive pills prescribed by a doctor because it was against her religion.

Police to be equipped with mobile fingerprint scanners

Every police force in England and Wales will be equipped with mobile fingerprint scanners to check the identity of suspects in the street.

Up to 3,000 devices, the size of a mobile phone, will enable officers on patrol to cross-reference prints with national records.

British winter was the coldest for 31 years

After suffering snow, sleet, rain and consistently freezing temperatures, the knowledge that the Met Office has officially recognised winter 2009-10 as the coldest in 31 years brings with it a certain grim satisfaction.

Provisional figures from the forecaster show the UK winter ‑ which in forecasting terms lasts from the start of December until the end of February ‑ has been the harshest, in temperature terms, since 1978-79.