Libraries are suffering at the hands of budget, curriculum and digital demands. But we must not underestimate this vital resource ‘Libraries need to be accessible to all children – not made redundant on the whim of those who mistakenly think they are outdated and irrelevant.’ Iremember my school library: it had two floors with spiral staircases, individual study cubicles and Read More

The system would be triggered when on-board cameras detect that a person is stood on or near a suitable landing area. 14:18, UK,Thursday 31 March 2016 Amazon’s delivery drones could use their propellers to tell people to get out of the way. A new patent filed by the online retailer describes how propeller speeds could be tweaked to produce sounds Read More

Nigel Farage unveils party’s manifesto for Scottish elections, promising to raise drink-driving limit and provide free town centre parking Nigel Farage unveils Ukip’s manifesto for the Scottish election at the B&B club in Edinburgh on Thursday. Photograph: Andrew Milligan/PA Ukip has launched its Scottish manifesto by pledging to allow smoking in pubs, raise the drink-driving limit, and provide 30 minutes Read More

Judge locks up girls, who were just 13 and 14 when they mounted ‘gratuitous, degrading’ attack on vulnerable alcoholic, for at least 15 years Angela Wrightson was subjected to a nine-hour ordeal before she was killed by the two girls, who were 13 and 14 at the time. Photograph: Cleveland police/PA Two teenagers who were in care and described as Read More

A company founded by an ex-CIA operative says it has created software that could predict the future. Predata ‘scrapes’ data from sites like Facebook, Wikipedia and YouTube and compares chatter to past patterns. It can then provide predictions of political unrest and terror attacks, according to founder James Shinn. The team said their system spotted a “clear spike” in the Read More

Many people get stressed before exams, but there are ways to increase your confidence and minimise your nerves A bit of stress before exams can be good, but if you’re overwhelmed by anxiety your university should be able to help you. Photograph: Alamy Some students will feel a growing sense of dread as exam season approaches – while others may Read More

“Food and drinks should carry labels showing how long it would take to walk or run off the calories, a leading health expert suggests,” the Daily Mail reports. In an opinion piece in the British Medical Journal, Shirley Cramer, chief executive of theRoyal Society for Public Health, argues that the current “traffic light” food labelling system is not promoting positive changes in Read More

The dollar slumped against the yen again on Thursday in the wake of minutes from the last U.S. Federal Reserve meeting and expectations the Bank of Japan was unlikely to intervene, while global growth concerns weighed on equities. Investors were set to monitor an appearance by Janet Yellen at 5:30 p.m. EDT (2130 GMT) in a conversation with former Federal Read More

A former trader at Barclays, one of five on trial on charges of conspiracy to manipulate financial benchmark interest rates, alleged that top bosses at the bank approved and condoned the practice, a London court heard on Thursday. Britain’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO), the agency in charge of prosecuting complex financial crime, has charged Barclays’ former rate submitter Jonathan Mathew, Read More

“Daily fresh fruit lowers heart death risk as much as statins,” The Daily Telegraph reports. A study of over a half a million Chinese people found that a diet rich in fresh fruit was linked to a reduced risk of cardiovascular diseases. But don’t ditch the statins in favour of an “apple a day”, if they have been recommended for Read More