Other UK News In Brief

Five Arrested Under Computer Misuse Act

Detectives from the Metropolitan Police Service's Police Central e-Crime Unit (PCeU) have arrested five people in connection with offences under the Computer Misuse Act. The five males aged, 15, 16, 19, 20 and 26, are being held after a series of coordinated arrests at residential addresses in the West Midlands, Northants, Herts, Surrey and London. The arrests are in relation to recent and ongoing 'distributed denial of service' attacks (DDoS) by an online group calling themselves 'Anonymous'. They are part of an ongoing police investigation in to Anonymous which began last year following criminal allegations of DDoS attacks by the group against several companies. This investigation is being carried out in conjunction with international law enforcement agencies in Europe and the US. All five have been taken to local police stations where they remain in custody.

Changing Climate, Changing Infrastructure

The first batch in a series of reports produced by organisations which maintain national infrastructure was set out by Defra today highlighting potential risks and solutions. Reports from seven organisations including Network Rail, National Grid and the Highways Agency were carried out at the request of Defra under the Climate Change Act to ensure that organisations with a crucial role in running the country’s infrastructure are preparing for the threats and opportunities which climate change will pose. Speaking at a visit to sea defences which protect the arterial South West railway line at Dawlish in Devon, Environment Minister Lord Henley said: “It is crucial that major organisations with key roles in keeping the country running are alive to the risks that a changing climate will have on their business, because they need to start planning for how they’re going to adapt. Defra commissioned these reports so that we could understand how prepared the providers of key services are, and focus their minds on taking action. Business as usual is not an option, and planning now will prevent a lot of expense down the line when the projections of climate change become a reality. Businesses of all sizes need to assess how climate change could affect them.” In total 91 organisations will be asked to submit reports to Defra over the next year. Over the next 12 months Defra will be publishing the remaining reports from sectors including water utilities, rail companies, major airports, harbour authorities and economic regulators.

Marriage Is Good For Physical And Mental Health





The ‘smug marrieds’ may have good reason to feel pleased with themselves as experts confirm that long-term committed relationships are good for mental and physical health and this benefit increases over time.

 In an editorial published by student BMJ, David and John Gallacher from Cardiff University say that on average married people live longer. They say that women in committed relationships have better mental health, while men in committed relationships have better physical health, and they conclude that “on balance it probably is worth making the effort.”

Men’s physical health probably improves because of their partner’s positive influence on their lifestyle and “the mental bonus for women may be due to a greater emphasis on the importance of the relationship”, they write.

 But the journey of true love does not always run smoothly, maintain the authors, pointing to evidence that relationships in adolescence are associated with increased adolescent depressive symptoms.

 And not all relationships are good for you, they add, referring to evidence that single people have better mental health than those in strained relationships.

 They also confirm that breaking up is hard to do, saying “exiting a relationship is distressing” and divorce can have a devastating impact on individuals. Having numerous partners is also linked with a risk of earlier death.
 They conclude that while relationship failures can harm health this is not a reason to avoid them. A good relationship will improve both physical and mental health and perhaps the thing to do is to try to avoid a bad relationship rather than not getting into a relationship at all.

(BMcN/GK)