A new study claims that sleep-deprived workers face a higher risk of death and are costing the UK economy £40bn a year.
The BBC says the calculation is based on tired employees being less productive or absent from work altogether.
Data from 62,000 people was used by research firm Rand Europe who said that the loss equated to 1.86% of economic growth.
Rand Europe’s report called on employers to recognise and promote the importance of sleep, urging them to build nap rooms.
“The effects from a lack of sleep are massive. Sleep deprivation not only influences an individual’s health and well-being but has a significant impact on a nation’s economy,” said Marco Hafner, a research leader at Rand Europe.
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A metal detectorist came up with a truly historic find when he searched a ploughed field in Cambridgeshire, reports The Guardian.
He discovered a large gold torc which an expert thinks may have been worn to protect a pregnant woman.
The torc was made from 730 grams of almost pure gold more than 3,000 years ago, and is thought to be the best found in England in more than a century.
It was discovered within 50 miles of Must farm, a bronze age village close to Peterborough.
Neil Wilkin, the curator of bronze age Europe at the British Museum said: “It’s been a while since we’ve had anything as hefty as this.”
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£2.5m could be the amount needed to purchase a 16th century English prayer book which some experts reckon could have belonged to a young Henry V111, when it is auctioned at Sotheby’s.
And, reports The Guardian, 156 years ago the same auction house sold it for £84.
The Bute Hours – named after its 20th-century owner, the 5th Marquess of Bute – was made around 1500.
Mara Hoffman, senior specialist in western manuscripts at Sotheby’s, says the strong royalist bias of the images in the book indicates that it was made for a nobleman of the royal household and some experts have suggested it was made for the young prince Henry, who would become Henry VIII.
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The Daily Express tells us that 20 fundraisers took part in the first ever zip-wire across the River Thames and raised over £1 million for charity.
They were suspended 52 metres (170ft) above the capital in aid of the Evelina London Children’s Hospital, travelling 460m (1,500ft) from the roof of St Thomas’s Hospital on London’s South Bank across the river to Victoria Tower Gardens, next to the Houses of Parliament.
One of those who took part, Rosie Tapner, commented: “It was far more fun than I thought it would be, actually. It was an incredible experience.”
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A new £5 bank note which has been introduced in the UK has caused an upset in the vegetarian world.
The BBC says that the Rainbow Cafe in Cambridge is refusing to accept the coin because it contains animal products.
Owner Sharon Meijland said she had made a promise to customers that the cafe was an “ethical establishment” and that the £5 would not be accepted because polymer which contains tallow – a type of animal fat – was used for the notes.
She explained: “ Our whole business is based around not having anything like that on the premises.”
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Reference list:
The Express (www.express.co.uk)
The Guardian (www.guardian.co.uk)
BBC (www.bbc.co.uk)