Around 1,200lbs of fish corpses were dragged out of a canal last week in what has been described as a “level one fish kill”. A local fishing club blamed the Canal and River Trust for irresponsibly clearing the canal without considering the repercussions of their actions. The haul of dead fish weighed the equivalent of more than a whole polar bear. Steve Sharp, spoke on behalf of the fishing club and said: “Sadly overnight on Sunday 1st October there was...

This is the shocking moment a broad daylight mass brawl involving 20 people erupted in the street outside a magistrates court building. Dramatic phone footage shows punches and kicks being traded between the group - with one elderly man even wading into the fight to use his walking stick as a weapon. The melee is believed to have started after a victim and his relatives were let out at the same time as the defendants following a case at Birmingham...

People who feel their work is integral to their lives and identity may actually find it difficult to sustain productivity over long periods of time, new research from Kings Business School suggests. According to Dr Michael Clinton, who studied the working lives of 193 Church of England ministers, people who view their career as an intense calling are less able to successfully disengage from work in the evenings which limits their energy levels the following morning. One would assume that these people...

Millions of British workers would shy away from discussing mental health issues with colleagues amid a fear they could jeopardise their career, it has emerged. Researchers uncovered the worrying statistic following a study carried out among 2,000 employees which showed 38 per cent wouldn’t feel safe being open about their mental health at work. The study revealed around one in five have witnessed phrases linked to mental health being used in a derogatory way at work. It also emerged nearly...

They say you should never judge a book by its cover, but really, who are we kidding when we see Ryan Gosling in a spruce three-piece suit on the red carpet. That's a handsome cover and I don't care who knows it. However, you don't have to be Ryan Gosling to look like a dapper gent. We're not ashamed to admit that a man's score out of 10 definitely goes up a few points if he's wearing just the right...

Kenneth Clarke put the boot into Boris Johnson in the first House of Commons debate since fierce cabinet divisions have left the PM having to admonish Johnson for undermining her leadership on Brexit. Clarke recently insisted that Boris Johnson would have been sacked by now if the Tories had a majority instead of a minority government propped up by the DUP. Today he called Johnson “the present Foreign Secretary” as he again, and mocked Johnson for the mess he had...

Last month King Salman of Saudi Arabia lifted the de facto ban on female drivers by decreeing that local authorities will not be able to reject female applications for driving licences – they have 30 days to provide licences after an application has been made. This ought to be seen as a great triumph for women’s rights, and yet on sombre reflection it is merely an unelected old man telling women that they can now drive, which is in itself a...

Films about enigmatic real life characters often go to large efforts to find and discover their chosen figure. In Loving Vincent this search is a bit more literal. Vincent van Gogh (Robert Gulaczyk) was an ardent letter writer during his life and after his death Joseph Roulin (Chris O’Dowd), a local postman, was left with an undelivered letter from Vincent to his brother. Unable to post it himself, he entrusts his son, Armand Roulin (Douglas Booth), with the job. After...

By Michael McNulty Marianna Palka’s fourth feature, Bitch, is a flawed, but strangely captivating film.  A fantastical tale of a woman living on the brink of breakdown who is one day pushed over into a full scale meltdown of canine proportions. Jill (Marianna Palka), mother of four and wife of philandering, never present father, Bill (Jason Ritter), exists in a state of high anxiety, her mind scratching at the doggy door of collapse.  Their kids are an obnoxious bunch blind...