Tom Clarke

What do we know about the nerve agents that could have been used in this attack and why are they so deadly?

Across the country, the extreme weather has been causing yet more chaos. In Cornwall, police urged drivers to stay at home after a seven year old girl was killed in an accident. The National Grid said there may not be enough gas to meet the demands of both domestic and industrial users, although it emphasised that…

The so-called ‘Beast from the East’ had much of the UK in its icy grasp this morning as overnight temperatures plummeted to minus 12 in some places. Large swathes of the country were affected by the snow, but it was the north that bore the brunt. The Met Office has issued a red weather warning…

At least four people have died in car crashes as heavy snow sweeps across the country. Forecasters are predicting up to 10 centimetres of snow for many places, with hundreds of schools closed down, trains disrupted and flights cancelled and flights disrupted. And there’s more snow on the way – plus for parts of the…

It appears that the drugs DO work. Scientists say that they have resolved one of the most hotly debated topics in medicine – whether anti-depressants are effective in treating depression. A huge study carried out over six years has found  that all 21 common anti-depressants are more effective than dummy pills. Doctors hope it will…

Ten thousand years ago, Britons would have been black, according to groundbreaking genome analysis. A team from London’s Natural History Museum carried out DNA tests on the Stone Age Cheddar Man, Britain’s oldest near-complete human skeleton. Scientists then used the data to complete a facial reconstruction – with surprising, for some, results.

One of the leading investigators into the global trade in illegal ivory and rhino horn has been killed at his home in Kenya. Seventy-five–year-old Esmond Bradley Martin, a former UN special envoy for rhino conservation, was credited with exposing the true scale of trade in endangered wildlife for medicines and trinkets.

What would happen if the water simply ran out? That’s the nightmarish reality facing four million people in Capetown, which may soon be forced to turn off its taps after drought and population growth brought reservoir levels dangerously low. Officials say supplies could dry up by mid April.

New figures show the mortality rate has fallen by 10% between 2010 and 2015. The high profile breast cancer campaign has meant more women are able to recognise the symptoms and get an early diagnosis. But some other cancers have seen no such improvement.

Car manufacturing giant Volkswagen has suspended its head of external relations after he admitted he had known about emissions tests on monkeys. Thomas Steg was suspended after details emerged of the tests where primates were exposed to fumes from a VW Beetle. The revelations follow a scandal in 2015 where VW was found to have…

New research suggests that more than 80,000 cases of cancer could be prevented if ALL woman over the age of 30 were offered screening for gene mutations. Woman carrying the ‘Braca’ gene are much more likely to develop breast or ovarian cancer. Researchers in London have found that screening the entire population for the gene…

We throw away mountains of plastic. More than three and a half million tonnes of it, chucked out by Britons every year, clogging up landfill and polluting the seas. Now one supermarket chain, Iceland, has promised to turn all its own brand goods plastic-free by 2023. And Europe wants to make all plastic packaging recyclable…

Theresa May has promised to tackle what she describes as a “scourge” of plastic waste. The Prime Minister visited a bird sanctuary as she outlined her 25-year plan for the environment. Critics say her plans need to be backed with legislation and take too long to do anything. But does her wider environment plan really…

Environmentally friendly farming will be the watchword once Brexit has happened. That was the message from Environment Secretary Michael Gove today as he set out plans to pay farmers for their stewardship of the countryside rather than how many acres they have. Mr Gove did admit, however, the current EU system of subsidy many farmers…

Storm Eleanor has swept across the country, bringing winds of up to 100 miles per hour and leaving thousands of homes in the UK and Ireland without power. Flooding, high tides and fallen trees have disrupted rail and road travel. Cumbria bore the brunt of some of the fiercest weather.