The best sporting news of the year is that no horses perished in the Grand National at Aintree on Saturday. In recent years the animal welfare lobby has put pressure on the organisers to make changes to the race, and the team took steps to try and put a stop to the unaccountable rise in horse fatalities over the last decade. It’s a race which combines a huge number of variables, demanding not only speed, ju ...

A national programme to restore our rivers, help wildlife and reduce flooding is underway at a number of pilot locations including one in East Sussex, where it's hoped fish species and wildlife populations will increase following the removal of weirs on the Ouse River. The projects are being undertaken by local river trusts in conjunction with the Environment Agency. They stem from the EU Water Framwork Dir ...

A beer named ‘Bottlenose’ is being launched today in Scotland’s Moray Firth in support of Whale and Dolphin Conservation. It's thought to be the first ever wildlife conservation beer and for every pint drunk, cash will be donated to help conserve and promote the work of the charity. Called Bottlenose Bitter after the Moray Firth’s resident population of dolphins, the beer has been created by the new Speysid ...

Last week 6,500 pairs of Nottingham lace knickers were made in Manchester and the factory is working at capacity. Eighteen months ago the retail guru Mary Portas started a range of kinky knickers made of authentic Nottingham lace, now known affectionately as Mary’s Bottom Line. They are lovingly made at a once defunct lingerie factory near Manchester by trainees who came off benefits to be trained up by the ...

Last Friday the Pentagon took another step towards gender equality by allowing women to serve in front-line combat positions. Major Mary Hegar, a helicopter pilot who joined an American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit to open combat jobs to women said the decision was ‘a huge leap forward’. The move could open some 237,000 positions to women and expand opportunites for career advancement but acceptance into t ...

The last few days have brought beautiful snow scenes to many parts of the country - here are some pictures and more good news to keep you warm. Millionaire lottery winner to buy new slippers.... A man who won a million pounds on the National Lottery could not think of anything he wanted other than a new pair of slippers. Grandfather John Baxter, 63, from Baldock, Herts, works at Luton airport and has no pla ...

Great News for Solar Power: Denmark is to reach its 2020 solar energy generation target of 200 MW capacity by the end of 2012, eight years ahead of schedule. Denmark aims to be completely self-sufficient in energy needs by 2050, currently 22% of the nations energy comes from renewables. Houses and public buildings can have a 'net meter' installed whereby they can store surplus production of solar energy in ...

......according to a new study by the British Council who report that Britain is enjoying a vastly improved reputation in the eyes of the world following the Olympics and the Golden Jubilee. Over half of those interviewed (from places including Brazil, India, Thailand, Russia and the USA) thought Danny Boyle's dazzling Opening Ceremony (see our review) reflected the best of modern and traditional Britain, w ...

It has emerged that 2012 was the best year ever, according to a leading article in The Spectator magazine. Whilst 'it may not feel like it, 2012 has been the greatest year in the history of the world', it says, pointing out that the lives of ordinary people around the world have never been so good: 'most developing countries are charging ahead, and people are being lifted out of poverty at the fastest rate ...

Cover Story: Two Henry Moore sculptures were returned to the Henry Moore Foundation after a scrap dealer saw them on Crimewatch and realised he had bought them from thieves who broke into the garden of the institute. The dealer had paid just over £200 to the two thieves, the scrap value. They were sentenced this week. (5/12) Good News for Farmers: New laws announced on Tuesday mean that the big supermarkets ...