Saturday, 2 September 2017

Mental health issues are costing Britain £70bn a year, the west's leading economic thinktank said on Monday, as it urged the government to help those with depression, stress and anxiety into work. The Paris-based Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development said mental health was the cause of 40% of the 370,000 new claims for disability benefit each year – the highest recorded among the 34 nations that belong to the so-called "rich man's club". An OECD study found that the bill to the UK from a failure to cope adequately with mental health issues was 4.5% of GDP each year, caused by productivity losses, higher benefit payments and the increased cost to the NHS. It added that around one million claimants on employment and support allowance (ESA), and as many on jobseeker's allowance (JSA) and other working-age benefits, had a mental disorder such as anxiety and depression that was hurting their prospects of finding work.
And it warned that those with mental health problems could be further disadvantaged by the welfare cuts unless the Government did more to help their work prospects.
"Some of the recent UK welfare reforms designed to tackle stubbornly high disability benefit caseloads go in the right direction. However, further improvements are needed to ensure that reforms live up to their promise to bring people into work. If welfare cuts are to be made, they need to be matched by increased efforts to address the barriers to finding and remaining in work," said the report. "The new Work Programme is struggling to place ESA and JSA claimants with mental health problems into work", the OECD said. "People with a mental illness continue to fare badly compared to their counterparts without such illness: their unemployment rate is more than double the overall rate; and the risk of falling below the poverty threshold is almost double the overall risk. Indeed, the risk of poverty among people with mental health problems is the highest in a comparison of 10 OECD countries including seven other European countries, Australia and the US."
Noting that prevention was better than cure, the OECD listed a series of recommendations for the UK, including a stronger focus of mental health in the workplace; an increase in resources for employment service providers to ensure more people with mental issues found jobs; better integrations of health and employment services: and increased access to psychological therapies for those with a common mental disorder. Norman Lamb, Care and Support Minister said: "People with mental health conditions can and do work and the vast majority want to. That's why last summer, working with the Department for Work and Pensions, we jointly commissioned a report to look at how we can better support people with mental health problems to get back to and stay in work. This could not only help them, but helps to build a stronger economy and reduce the strain on the benefits system.
"Progress has already been made — the expanding Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programme has already helped over 80,000 people to move off sick pay and benefits. We are vigorously pursuing solutions and are working across Government to drive improvements. The OECD has recognised the successes we have had, but we want to go further."
Drug addiction  refers to the compulsive and repeated use of increasing amounts of drugs with the appearance of withdrawal symptoms when drug use ceases. While the specific causes of drug addiction are not known, genetic, psychological and environmental factors are thought to play a significant role. Rather than a single cause of drug addiction, it is likely multiple factors lead to drug addiction in any given person.  Some drug addicts also identify drug use and ignorance as a cause of drug addiction. Often, if a person is dealing with pain-management issues, the drug they receive, like oxycodone, can be very addictive. The ignorance of the drug's addiction potential, along with the physical pain of the condition, becomes a cause of drug addiction.  While biological causes of drug addiction have been suggested, many people still believe psychological factors comprise the bulk of what causes drug addiction. Some of the psychological causes of drug addiction appear to stem from trauma, often when the drug addict is young. Sexual or physical abuse, neglect, or chaos in the home can all lead to psychological stress, which people attempt to "self-medicate" (decrease the stress's pain through drug use). This self-medication becomes a cause of drug addiction.  A person's environment can be part of what causes drug addiction. Drug addiction is more common in environments where drug abuse is seen or where it's seen as permissible. Children who grow up in homes with drug addicts often become drug addicts themselves.
Because most drug use starts in adolescence (read: teenage drug abuse). Those with inattentive, abusive or neglectful parents are more prone to drug abuse. One cause of drug addiction can be the combination of drug experimentation with the lack of parental oversight.
Other environmental factors that can be causes of drug abuse include:
  • Participation in a sport where performance-enhancing drugs are encouraged
  • A peer group that uses or promotes drug use
  • People of lower socioeconomic status are at greater risk of drug addiction
  • Gender and ethnicity contribute to addiction of some drugs. Drug addiction tends to run in families, indicating genetics may have a role in causing drug addiction. In fact, in studies of twins it appears half of someone's risk of becoming addicted to drugs is genetic.2Genetic causes of drug addiction appear to involve multiple gene sequences and science has not yet been able to pinpoint all the genes involved. However, it is known some genes, like those involved in brain receptors of nicotine, contribute to the cause of drug addiction.
Britons arrested during dawn raids in Magaluf which resulted in huge cocaine and cash seizures were hauled to court today.
Several women were among those led into the court building in the Majorcan capital Palma for their first appearance before an investigating magistrate.
Civil Guards aided by officers from Britain's National Crime Agency arrested more than a dozen suspects on Thursday in Magaluf and Palma. Of the 14 people held by heavily-armed detectives, who wore balaclavas and were supported by a police helicopter, around 10 are thought to be British.
The operation, called Operation Tatum, led to the seizure of 3.5 kilos of cocaine worth around £150,000 as well as speed, cannabis resin, and more than £100,000 in cash.
Around two kilos of cocaine were found in the boot of a car parked in a garage in Palma and more of the class-A drug was found inside a shoebox. Police, who have described the suspects as members of a 'criminal organisation' selling drugs in Magaluf party strip Punta Ballena where most holidaymakers in the summer are British and Irish, were due to reveal more details at a press conference today.
Local reports said the gang was selling around eight kilos of cocaine a month and smuggling drugs into Majorca on speedboats they used to go to Barcelona and back in the same day.
Several people working as club and bar reps in Punta Ballena, whose job involves enticing customers in for drinks, are thought to be among those arrested. They are expected to be remaned in custody after their hearings, held in private, pending an ongoing judicial investigation. Further arrests have not been ruled out.
Operation Tatum was linked to a major drugs bust last summer in Majorca called Operation Daju, which resulted in the arrest of five Brits and seizure of 4.8 kilos of cocaine.
The suspects held then included Nelson Delgado, 29.
The Portuguese-born DJ, who moved to the UK as a child, had sex in his cell at Aylesbury Young Offenders Institution with prison officer Kelly-Anne McDade. At the time he was serving an indeterminate sentence for aggravated burglary and assault after attacking a couple in their own home.
McDade, 31, when their child was born in February 2009, had to resign after she was caught on CCTV opening Delgado's cell door when all cell doors should have been locked for the night in August 2008.
She was jailed for 30 months at Aylesbury Crown Court in November 2009.
Delgado later moved to Spain and was jailed for two and two months in August 2015 for a 2013 Halloween Night knife attack on three men at a bar in Magaluf's party strip Punta Ballena. His brother Fabio was also arrested along with a club rep called Ryan Carl Fleming, then 25.
They were remanded in custody after appearing before a judge in a closed hearing pending an ongoing criminal probe. The names of the other Brits detained at the time never emerged.

It was not immediately clear today whether or not they are still in prison awaiting trial and how the judicial investigation against them has proceeded. 
Dozens of white doves were released into the sky as a show of respect for those who died in the Grenfell Tower fire in June.
The official opening ceremony on Sunday morning began with a multi-faith prayer, and a release of doves as a ‘small act of remembrance’ to mark the devastating fire. The white birds were released from the hands of survivors and local residents, as well as the leader of Kensington and Chelsea council Elizabeth Campbell, local MP Emma Dent Coad, and Mayor of London Sadiq Khan.
Ms Dent Coad addressed the ‘Grenfell generation’, telling them: ‘Today is a day to set aside our burden of sadness. 




A shocking video has emerged of a grinning reveller grinding against a female police officer at Notting Hill Carnival which some social media users have slammed as being 'sexual assault'. Kevin McGregor said: 'It looks to me like she's laughing? If she was unhappy she would have pulled out her nightstick or pepper sprayed him.' 
A spokesman for the Met Police told MailOnline: 'The female officer has been spoken to and enquiries are ongoing.
In the short video from the Carnival in west London last weekend, the man has pinned the officer between his arms and the railing behind her.
The female officer struggles to move her arms to keep her hat steady on her head as the dancer gyrates and thrusts his body against hers. The footage provides further suggestions of violence and disrespect towards police officers at the Carnival, which led some from the Met to call for the Carnival to be banned and instead turned into a ticket-only event in Hyde Park.
Ken Marsh, chairman of the Metropolitan Police Federation, said 31 police officers were attacked during the two-day event, with some slashed with broken bottles, spat at and bitten while others had acid thrown at them.
In one of the worst confrontations, three PCs had bloody spit sprayed in their faces by a man claiming to be HIV positive.

Four people were stabbed, more than 300 arrested and dozens of weapons seized during Europe's biggest street party. 
A mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter has been arrested for allegedly robbing a bank in New York of more than $45,000 in cash.
Sergio DaSilva, 31, was cuffed at his home in Queens - less than one block away from the robbed Citibank - on Thursday.
Police say they were able to identify DaSilva as the thief based on fingerprints left at the scene due to a prior 2008 arrest. The robbery occurred at a Citibank on Steinway Street at August 24 around 9.00am. 
An image released by cops the day after the robbery showed a man standing behind the counter, dressed in dark colors, with his mouth covered underneath a hooded sweatshirt. 
'Give me all the money. I will shoot everybody,' he told the three bank tellers, indicating he had a gun in his pocket. The MMA veteran - sometimes called 'The Savage' - is then said to have made off with $45,964 in cash before fleeing on foot.
NYPD officers charged DaSilva with robbery. Details of his 2008 arrest are sealed, reported the new York post. The fighter took to Facebook on Friday morning to thank his fans for 'all the love and support I have received'.
'As much as I would love to speak more about the allegations my legal team has rightfully advised me against discussing any details until the case is over,' he wrote.
'I'm ready to cooperate and clear up my name.'

Da Silva has a 6-9 record as a professional fighter, including a 0-2 mark in Bellator. He lost his most recent fight at Bellator 180 in June to Matt Rizzo via submission in the third round.
Lord Bramall and Lady Brittan have received a reported £100,000 in compensation from Scotland Yard over its doomed VIP sex abuse probe.
The Metropolitan Police raided their homes during the 16-month Operation Midland inquiry.
Both D-Day veteran and former head of the Army Lord Bramall, and the late ex-home secretary Lord Brittan's wife have since been compensated.
The force faced a storm of criticism over the £2.5million investigation into claims made by a single accuser, known only as 'Nick', of a high-level paedophile ring linked to Westminster. . t closed without a single arrest and, after a scathing review found there were 'numerous errors', the Independent Police Complaints Commission opened an investigation into a detective chief inspector and two junior detectives over allegations they may have misled a district judge in order to obtain search warrants.
A spokeswoman for the Met said: 'We can confirm the Met has reached a settlement with Lord Bramall and Lady Brittan.'
But she declined to confirm the amount of the award and said she had no information on any settlement with former Conservative MP Harvey Proctor, who has been a fierce critic of the force since the probe collapsed and he was cleared.
The Daily Telegraph said the figure paid out was £100,000 and the settlements included confidentiality clauses.
Former Met Police Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe apologised to those named during the probe, while Lord Bramall spoke of his anger that his wife died before he had been cleared.
And Lady Brittan hit out after it emerged police decided her husband had no case to answer but failed to tell him before he died of cancer.   
A man has been arrested at a shopping centre in east London this evening after one man was stabbed and another injured as customers reported seeing 'blood all over the floor'.
Police were called to what was described by one witness as a 'mass brawl' at the shopping complex where one stunned customer shared a photo on social media of officers and onlookers surrounding what appears to be a man lying motionless on the floor, as passersby held hands to their mouths in distress.
Hollie Rose said on Twitter: 'Imagine getting locked in a store in Westfield only to come out to find blood all over the floor and police everywhere, brilliant. Justin Dealey added: 'Thought I would come to Westfield Stratford for a change. Within minutes I've seen a mass brawl in the shopping centre.' 
The Met Police said they were called at around 6.15pm to reports of a fight near Stratford station before they arrested a male on suspicion of grievous bodily harm.
A spokesman added: 'A male was taken to hospital by London Ambulance Service suffering a stab injury - condition awaits. 'A second male was found with head injuries - his condition is not thought to be serious. A male was arrested nearby on suspicion of GBH and possession of an offensive weapon. Enquiries into the circumstances continue.' 
MailOnline have contacted Westfield for comment.
One shopper, who only wanted to be identified as John, was on his way to meet his children and partner who were buying stationery for the new school year when he saw the man being arrested. John, in his 40s, who works in the financial sector in the City of London, told MailOnline: 'I arrived after work, got off the tube, and arrived to see loads of police at the front of Westfield.
'I watched someone getting arrested and then went inside the centre and saw someone lying on the ground.
'There was a menacing, aggressive atmosphere. There were armed police there but I think that's quite reassuring.'
John added that the violence was not uncommon at the centre, and said it was a 'failure on the part of the management' that tonight's events occurred. 
He added: 'It's not a particularly nice place. It's good for shopping but there's a lot of kids, gangs of youths, hanging about.'

The news comes just a few weeks after a scare when the shopping centre was evacuated in 'manic scenes' after a fire alarm sounded just hours before the athletics World Championships began at the nearby London Stadium. 

Friday, 1 September 2017

Construction workers in China were shocked to discover a centuries-old coffin containing a well-preserved male corpse. 
The man is thought to have died sometime during the Ming (1368 to 1644 AD) or Qing (1644 to 1912) dynasties. 
It was unearthed in Zhizhu village, Anhua County in China's Hunan province. The body was dressed in fine fabrics and laid to rest what is thought to be his favourite fan. 
Limestone and fine wood was used to build his coffin. 
China's State Administration of Cultural Heritage say they believe the man was a noble or at least came from a rich background. According to officials, the burial site was accidentally unearthed by an excavator. 
The body was well preserved. It has since been removed from the site and will be studied. 
Construction at the work site has since been halted and the cultural heritage administration may even ask the firm to suspend works indefinitely. 

Officials have not commented on whether they have traced any of the man's living descendants, despite being able to identify his family name as well as the location he was buried. 
The next million years or so, between 19 and 24 'death stars' will come within 3.26 light years of the sun.
This is close enough to deflect comets away from there original paths and towards Earth - increasing the chance that one will wipe out life on our planet.
This is according to a new paper that has looked at how often stars stray into the Oort cloud - a spherical shell of billions of icy objects that exist in the outer reaches of our solar system.
A particularly close encounter of one star, dubbed Gliese 710, in 1.3 million years' time, stands out.
It is predicted to pass within just 2.3 trillion km or about 16,000 Earth–sun distances, well within the Oort Cloud. 'Certainly anything coming within that distance you should worry about,' said Coryn Bailer-Jones, of the Max Planck Institute for in Heidelberg and the paper's author told the Guardian.  
If this occurs, the strong gravitational force of the star, which has a mass 60 per cent that of our sun, could cause a shower of comets to switch course and target our planet.
Although some will drift into space and others will be absorbed by the sun and other planets, astronomers have warned a significant impact with Earth is entirely possible.
A further 490 to 600 stars will pass the sun within a distance of 16.3 light years within the next million years, the paper claims. 
The latest calculations of 'death stars' comes from movements of more than 300,000 stars surveyed by ESA's Gaia satellite. 
As the solar system moves through the Galaxy, and as other stars move on their own paths, close encounters are inevitable – though 'close' still means many trillions of miles.
A star, depending on its mass and speed, would need to get within about 37 trillion miles (60 trillion kilometres) before it starts to have an effect on the solar system's distant reservoir of comets, the Oort Cloud, which is thought to extend out to 15 trillion kilometres from the sun, 100,000 times the sun–Earth distance. For comparison, the outermost planet Neptune orbits at an average distance of about 2.7 billion miles (4.5 billion kilometres), or 30 sun–Earth distances. 
Understanding the past and future motions of stars is a key goal of Gaia as it collects precise data on stellar positions and motions over its five-year mission. 
After 14 months, the first catalogue of more than a billion stars was recently released, which included the distances and the motions across the sky for more than two million stars.
By combining the new results with existing information, astronomers began a detailed, large-scale search for stars passing close to our sun.
So far, the motions relative to the sun of more than 300,000 stars have been traced through the Galaxy and their closest approach determined for up to five million years in the past and future.
Between 490 and 600 stars will pass the sun within a distance of 16.3 light-years (5 parsecs, or less.
Between 19 and 24 stars will pass at 3.26 light-years (1 parsec) or less. 
Esa highlighted Gliese 710 as the most notable, but says there's no need to worry about a pending apocalypse.
Gliese 710 isn't scheduled to have its near miss with our solar system for another 1.35 million years.
Part of the Sepens Cauda constellation, Gliese 710 currently sits some 64 light-years away.

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