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Mental health cuts are 'putting lives at risk'
The Government has betrayed a pledge on cuts to NHS funding for mental health services, putting lives at risk, experts and doctors have said.
NHS England and the health regulator Monitor have effectively cut funding for mental health services by 20% more than hospital trusts, experts from bodies including the Royal College of Psychiatrists, the Mental Health Foundation and Rethink Mental Illness, wrote in a letter to the Guardian.
Read: Mental health units 'heading for Mid Staffs scandal'
The cut "completely contravenes the Government's promise to put mental and physical healthcare on an equal footing", it says.
Calling on NHS England and Monitor to "resolve this issue swiftly," the letter says the move will cost more in the long run, due to more people reaching crisis point, extra admissions to A&E, and more people needing hospital care.
'One quarter' of tenants put up with leaking roof
Some 25% of private rent tenants have lived with a leaking roof because they fear the repercussions if they ask their landlord to fix it, research from a housing charity has found.
A poll from Shelter also revealed:
- More than two-fifths (41%) of renters said they have experienced mould in their homes in the past year.
- A further 16% have had electrical hazards.
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'One in 50' private tenants faced 'revenge eviction'
One in 50 tenants who rents from a private landlord in England was evicted or served with a notice in the last year because they complained about a problem in their home, research suggests.
Read: Brits 'stuck in the rent trap'
An estimated 213,000 people across England faced losing their rented accommodation because they approached their landlord, letting agent or local council about getting a problem fixed, according to a survey by housing charity Shelter.
The YouGov poll, which questioned more than 4,500 private renters, suggested many more renters were too scared of losing their home to complain at all.
Shelter said a family living in Norfolk had been handed an eviction notice three weeks after reporting damp and mould to their landlord.
Another family from Lancashire complained about a leaking roof, and were then told by their landlord it "wasn't worth his while", before being served with an eviction notice.
Payday firms must treat borrowers with 'sensitivity'
The City regulator said struggling borrowers should be treated "with sensitivity" by payday firms and said that it expects that around one quarter of lenders will decide they cannot meet its higher consumer protection standards and leave the market when it takes over next month.
"There will be no place in an FCA-regulated consumer credit market for payday lenders that only care about making a fast buck," said Martin Wheatley, Financial Conduct Authority chief executive.
Read: Inquiry into how payday lenders treat borrowers
The FCA will examine the culture of each payday firm and it will want to see how they communicate, how they propose to help people regain control of their debt, and how sympathetic they are to each borrower's situation.
It is expected to work with lenders to find ways for them to share more up-to-date information about borrowers, to prevent them from handing out loans which turn out to be unaffordable.
The top five websites Britain can't live without
The UK's favourite websites and what makes them so popular, according to new research.
Read the full storyVietnam 'scaling back search for missing jet'
Vietnam is scaling back the search in Vietnamese waters for a Malaysian Airlines jetliner missing for four days, a senior Vietnamese official said.
Read: Air chief denies saying jet detected near Malacca Strait
"We still have plans to search with a few flights today, while other activities are suspended," Deputy Transport Minister Pham Quy Tieu, who heads the Vietnam search, told reporters. Tieu said searches by ships were being suspended.
He said Vietnam had asked Malaysian authorities for information about reports that the plane, carrying 239 passengers and crew, had changed direction after its last known contact on Saturday but it had yet to receive any response.
Meanwhile, China will add two planes to the search, the country's civil aviation chief said.
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Cameron tells Israel peace deal would be a 'great prize'
Speaking ahead of his two-day visit to Israel today, David Cameron said that if the leaders of Israel and the Palestinian Authority could take the final "difficult steps" to a peace deal "the prize could be great".
– Prime Minister David CameronI want to encourage Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Abbas to build on the strong leadership they have shown so far and to take the final difficult steps towards peace.
The prize could be great: a stable, prosperous Middle East with a sovereign and viable Palestinian State living in peace alongside a secure Israel at the heart of it.
A secure future. A prosperous future. That's what we should all set our sights on.
Fire crews battle blaze at San Francisco apartments
Firefighters are battling a blaze at a high rise apartment building under construction in San Francisco.
The building set alight around 5pm local time and quickly spread because the building's fire suppression systems had not yet been installed, San Francisco Fire Department spokeswoman Mindy Talmadge said.
There were no initial reports of injuries, NBC News Bay Area reported. Firefighters confirmed that burning embers spread to the roof of a nearby building but were quickly extinguised.
Timeline of the 1984-85 miners' strike
- March 12 1984 - National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) chief Arthur Scargill unites various strikes into nationwide industrial action, without a ballot.
- June 18 - The battle of Orgreave - 5,000 riot police took on 5,000 protestors, who pelted officers with bricks and stones.
- September - Thousands of miners and police clash once more at Malty Colliery near Rotherham. Protestors have been out of work for six months and the lack of income was starting to take its toll.
- November - A growing number of miners decide to return to work as Christmas looms. Violence on the picket lines becomes more widespread.
- March 3 1985 - Delegates at an NUM conference decide 98 to 91 to end the strike.
Read: Calls for inquiry on 30th anniversary of miners' strike
Air chief denies saying jet detected near Malacca Strait
Malaysia's air force chief has denied a media report that the military last tracked a missing Malaysia Airlines jetliner over the Strait of Malacca, far from where it last made contact with civilian air traffic control when it disappeared four days ago.
Read: 'Have Hope' messages appear as search for jet widens
"I wish to state that I did not make any such statements," air force chief Rodzali Daud said in a statement today.
The Strait of Malacca, one of the world's busiest shipping channels, runs along Malaysia's west coast.
Read: Authorities identify second man using stolen passport
The airline said on Saturday that the flight, carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew, last had contact off the northeast Malaysian coastal town of Kota Bharu.
