Back in 2013 researchers at the Institute of Personality and Social Research at the University of California Berkeley examined how motorists in California behave when approaching intersections with pedestrians. They found that there was a huge boost in a driver’s likelihood to commit infractions in more expensive cars, with the cars in the beater-car category always stopping for pedestrians. The study came to mind thanks to new MoneySuperMarket research out today that shows drivers with a personalised number plates are...

When it comes to dealing with the aftermath of a divorce, it’s not just the emotional heartbreak that you’ll have to digest. In fact, a divorce is rarely over as soon as you’ve got the legal documentation for your relationship breakdown! The arrangements for children shared will need to be organised, as well as the split of finances after your separation. However, you may have struggled to find the best place to start, especially when considering that these family law...

  A man cheated death when a rogue plank of wood flew off a van and smashed through his windscreen - just centimetres from his chest. David Smart's life was saved by his own steering wheel, which blocked the path of the piece of timber but was bent in the process. However, he still suffered serious injuries and is tomorrow (Fri) having surgery to amputate the top part of his index finger, say relatives. A shocking photo posted on Facebook...

A terror suspect who attacked police outside Buckingham Palace with a four foot long samurai sword had left a suicide note to his sister, a court heard Mohiussunnath Chowdhury (correct), 26, told her "by the time you read this Insha'Allah I will be with Allah," it was said. He added: "The Queen and her soldiers will all be in the hellfire they go to war with Muslims around the world and kill them without any mercy." He had driven his...

Strategic Equity Capital - Quality small cap focus - Strategic Equity Capital (SEC’s) managers believe the current portfolio consists of very high quality smaller companies. The high cash balances that built up in 2016, on the back of events such as the e2v technologies takeover, have, largely, been redeployed. Cash drag and the fund’s focus have held back returns over the past year (see page 12). However, investment activity (detailed on page 10) has generated encouraging initial returns. Longer term, the detailed...

A secondary school teacher has been jailed after he sent naked selfies of himself to a schoolgirl - with his genitals covered by smiley-face EMOJIS. Pervy Christopher Wood, 33, sent the explicit pictures of himself to the teenage pupil on Snapchat, who then responded by sending a topless snap of herself. A court heard he had a "sexual interest" in schoolgirls and also made internet searches for '"student, teacher and sex" before he joined the school in 2015. The Chemistry...

A $1 million prize has been announced for anyone who can solve an allegedly "simple" chess puzzle. Researchers have thrown down the gauntlet to computer programmers to find a solution to a chess puzzle -- but it could take thousands of years to solve. Computer scientist Professor Ian Gent and his colleagues at the University of St Andrews are now challenging computer programmers to solve it for $1 million (£776,478). They believe any programme capable of solving it would be...

  A teacher has been fired after being caught on CCTV slapping a pupil 40 TIMES in the face - because he failed to answer the register. Disturbing footage shows Ritesh Gupta, eight, weeping as teacher Retica V John hands out the brutal punishment in front of his stunned classmates. She struck him up to 40 times in just two minutes before dragging him towards a blackboard and hitting his head against it. The attack at St. John Vianney School...

Amorously known as ‘ladies’ finger’, you may be forgiven for believing that okra’s pet namesake is derived from a squalid woman who’d been rummaging around in the dirt of the vegetable patch - on discovering okra - in desperate search of something less assiduously unpleasant. I, for one, loathe okra. It’s less a matter of taste (which is has very little) but of emetic texture. When I recently voiced such angst on Twitter, the responses that followed were surprisingly less...