Published today (19 February), the largest study of its kind measuring the subjective wellbeing of 2,263 looked after children and young people across 16 local authority areas has revealed that 83% feel being in care has improved their lives, and that the longer children and young people have spent in care, the more likely they are to have moderate to high levels of wellbeing. However, whilst the majority of young people are positive about their experiences of care, the findings...

Inspired by the new talent of Tokyo’s vibrant food scene, Tokyo-based photographer Andrea Fazzari will release Tokyo New Wave next month. This luxe collection is filled with portraits, recipes and profiles on 31 chefs shaping the future of eating out in Tokyo. Here, the predominant focus is a generation of young chefs redefining what it means to be a chef in Tokyo: well-travelled, embracing social media open to the world and its influences, but still distinctly Japanese in style, tradition...

Over the years, as it has accumulated two sequels and as Robert Rodriguez’ career has grown and diversified, El Mariachi’s backstory has arguably become better known and more important than the film itself. I had seen Desperado and Once Upon A Time In Mexico, but until watching it to research this piece, I had never seen El Mariachi before, but I was very much aware of the legend of how it was made, with Rodriguez literally selling his blood in...

The London Viva! Vegan Festival comes to Shoreditch in March, with a stellar line up of talks, cookery demonstrations, delicious vegan food on offer. With over 70 stalls spread across Shoreditch’s spectacular town hall, this festival promises to be an exciting family day out. Organised by Bristol-based vegan charity, Viva!, this is the second annual event in London and it is expected to attract over 3,000 attendees. Entry to the event is £5 and throughout the day free advice and...

In sacking Henry Bolton and choosing Gerard Batten as their new interim leader, UKIP members have sounded the death knell for their party. Known for his extreme anti-Muslim views, UKIP founder member and London MEP Batten inherits an organisation (for the next 90 days at least) that is in debt to the tune of hundreds of thousands of pounds, lurching ever further to the right and into political irrelevancy. Nick Lowles, chief executive of HOPE not hate, said: “Gerard Batten...

By Robert Seiler As if Europe did not have enough corrupt, charismatic politicians who expertly undermine democratic norms to their own benefit behind a charming facade, Italy’s Silvio Berlusconi is currently enjoying a political renaissance that is bad news for Italians but also for the whole of the European Union – Britain included. Italians may have known better, but the rest of the EU thought it was rid of the “bunga bunga” premier when the crushing global debt crisis forced him from office in 2011. A conviction for tax fraud in 2013 and ouster from parliament later that year, together with a ban...

Large parts of Britain shook this on Saturday as the country experienced its biggest earthquake in 10 YEARS. A two-second tremor was felt by people across England and Wales as scientists confirmed a reading of between 4.4 and 4.9 on the Richter scale. Thousands described their experience on social media after the mini-quake happened at 2.31pm. Reports suggest it was felt in south Wales, south-west England, the West Midlands and North West. Scientists at the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) described...

A doting dad was branded a sex offender after hotel staff mistook his daughter for an underage girl he had groomed. Shocked Karl Pollard, 46, was taking Stephanie, 14, to visit his cancer-stricken mum. The pair checked into the budget hotel near her home in Macclesfield, Chester last week. But when Karl went up to the room to freshen up, he was hounded by cops who accused him of grooming the young teen. Karl said: “I couldn’t believe it. “It...

This is the moment a man found a SHARK in his back garden after it fell from the sky while he made a cup of tea. James Hill, 26, was in the kitchen when dad Colin, 59, alerted him to the two-foot long small-spotted catshark. Perplexed Colin, an environmental scientist lecturer at Greenwich University, asked: "What’s the British shark commonly found in the UK - the shark that is two foot long and has a slopey nose? "Because there's one...