A note from a man found dead in a burned-out car is being analysed by hand-writing experts amid claims he was murdered by the RUSSIAN secret police. Police say human remains found in the vehicle were those of Latvian national Mikus Alps, 33, who had been reported missing earlier that day. Bone fragments and a shotgun were also found inside the car but it is still not known how he died and further tests are due to be carried out....

SQN Asset Finance Income Fund (SQN) has provided an update on Suniva, in which it notes that the White House has now announced protective measures, which it says are aiming to ensure the long-term viability of the US solar cell manufacturing industry. It says that this action is intended to restore a fair and competitive market and recognizes the vital function enterprises like Suniva contribute to US energy independence and national security. It also says that, not only is this...

The ball bearing is stunning in its simplicity and yet it's one of the greatest technological innovations of all time. However, it's arguable that, if it wasn't for the popularity of the bicycle, bearings as we now know them might not have come to be. In fact, many of the manufacturing innovations that the earliest car manufacturers took for granted were first developed for bicycles in the 19th century. From rollers and wheels to bicycles Although bearings in some form...

A curious oddity in more ways than one, Downsizing heralds writer/director Alexander Payne’s return to original storytelling, his script here being the first since his debut feature, Citizen Ruth, to not be adapted from a novel. Like Ruth, Downsizing is a gutsy contemplation of American society, but one that’s unlikely to inspire the sort of profound musings that are prominent in his more perceptive works: it isn’t as eccentric as Election or Sideways, nor as sharp as Nebraska & About...

It is commonly believed the only thing that scares an elephant is the sight of a mouse. But scientists have now proved that it is the buzzing sound of bees that gives them the jitters. And this is true of both African and Asian elephants. Scientists from Oxford University played back the sound of disturbed Asian honey bees to elephants in Sri Lanka to see if their reaction was the same to their African counterparts. They found the elephants retreated...

There's a lot to be said about sensationalism and misreporting in today's media market, but the Express took the biscuit today on what was evidently a slow news day for Hugh Whittow's troops. First came the news that Britain was apparently set to turn its guns towards Brussels as Brexit negotiations heat up. According to the right-wing rag Theresa May needs to "impose BRITISH MILITARY" to get best Brexit deal, in a blatant exaggeration of William Hague's words. The UK’s...

Suspicions that the demise of Britain's public services is an act of deliberate capitalist vandalism have surfaced following a winter of discontent for the health service. Almost 15 per cent of England's A&E patients waited more than four hours to be seen last month - the joint-worst figure on record - as senior doctors warn of patients dying in corridors. Many hospitals are without even a single free bed, with one consultant saying that he could not even make any...

By Baxter Willis, head of WM Reply's Engage team, specialists in helping businesses harness technology to engage with their most valuable asset: the workforce. Working with a broad spectrum of different companies in a wide variety of different workspaces – both digital and physical – you see and hear a lot of things. You also start to spot some common traits that connect offices in different countries, industries and stages on a growth curve. One thing that soon becomes obvious is...

LET US SPEAK LESS OF FAMOUS MEN Darkest Hour is the second film of the past twelve months about Winston Churchill, and the second about the evacuation at Dunkirk. As it continues a cinema run and Gary Oldman looks forward to his inevitable Oscar nomination, many will gladly accept the comfort of a film that ticks every anodyne biopic box. The film’s drama was occasionally engaging, sometimes silly, and sometimes boring. The subject was lionised. I learned a little and...