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Human remains dug up from an ancient grave in Oxfordshire add to a growing body of evidence that Britain's fifth-century transition from Roman to Anglo-Saxon was cultural rather than bloody. The traditional historical narrative is one of brutal conquest, with invaders from the North wiping out and replacing the pre-existing population. But a new study, published in the Journal of Archaeological Science, hints at a more peaceful process. Dr Andrew Millard, from Durham University, is one of the study's authors. 'The main controversy over the years has centred on how many Anglo-Saxons came across the North Sea,' he says. 'Was...

David Cameron is backing a ban on smoking in cars carrying children, but will miss today's crunch vote. The Prime Minister is to visit flooded communities across the South West as MPs vote on plans to make it a criminal offence to light up in a car in England, punishable by a £60 fine or points on a motorist’s licence. Three years ago the Prime Minister said he was 'not sure whether it is possible to legislate in that area' and called for a 'change in attitudes'. But today the PM's official spokesman said Mr Cameron now supports a ban....

Archaeologists from around the UK have been examining a hoard of treasures unearthed in a 4,000-year-old tomb on Dartmoor. Prehistoric jewellery, animal pelts and beads made of amber were among the finds about two years ago in the burial chamber. The chamber, known as a cist, was found on Whitehorse Hill, near Chagford.

The Environment Agency put water voles, greater water parsnips, silver diving beetles and large marsh grasshoppers ahead of people in the flood-ravaged Somerset Levels, The Mail on Sunday can reveal. A 250-page agency document issued in 2008 shows that years of neglecting vital dredging which used to let water drain away much faster is part of a deliberate policy to increase flooding in the areas now worst affected.The policy was revealed as agency director of operations David Jordan angered residents yesterday by calling the flood defenses a “success story”. He said: “We need to recognize that 1.3 million other properties...

Smugglers stuffed 13 ‘incredibly rare’ iguanas into socks and tried to take them through Heathrow Airport. The endangered lizards were found by customs officers in a suitcase at Terminal Five when they stopped two Romanian women who arrived from the Bahamas. They were trying to take the San Salvador rock iguanas, which are native to the Bahamas and under threat of extinction, on to Dusseldorf in Germany. Each was wrapped in a sock and 12 survived the journey, while one died. Rare iguanas stuffed in socks seized at Heathrow Airport The iguanas were smuggled inside one suitcase (Picture: PA) Grant...

Thomas Monson issued court summons to answer allegations of fraud - 2/4/14 The Prophet of the LDS Church, Thomas S. Monson has been ordered to attend court and face allegations of fraud. A court in London, England has issued Thomas Spencer Monson with 2 summons (see below) containing allegations of seven offences in contravention of Section 1 Fraud Act 2006. Mr. Monson is required to attend the court, Westminster Magistrates’ Court, on 14th March 2014. The court will then almost certainly refer the case to Southwark Crown Court for further proceedings. Failure of Mr. Monson to attend the Court on...

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle states that in England 1014 AD, on the eve of St. Michael’s day (September 28, 1014) “came the great sea-flood, which spread wide over this land, and ran so far up as it never did before, overwhelming many towns, and an innumerable multitude of people.” This is clearly a reference to a tsunami similar to the one that struck Indonesia in December 2004 which killed over 250,000 people. What could have caused this tsunami? Could a meteor or comet impact in the Atlantic Ocean have been the cause? Researcher Dallas Abbott of the Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory...

Multitudes are coming into the voice of courage now for they shall be used to scurge(exhaust) the false lions and destroy the wolves of plight and now more than ever before your courage shall bring you breakthrough just as JOB for his was a test of courage to remove all fear and doubt for I AM in you and I surround you in an eternal manner to bring you to fruition and as The Vine I watch and My Father prunes so all our fruit bears forth . So realize that this season of harvest is not just for others...

This year voters in Scotland will decide whether to remain within the United Kingdom. Scottish sovereignty rides on two things: any eventual negotiations between London and Edinburgh and the gradually evolving position of the Scottish National Party, the primary backer of the independence bid. And if it happens, the resulting military reform is going to be a mess. If the vote is yay, the most optimistic date for negotiations is March 2016, but it isn’t out of the question that sticking points could push this back. Defense could be one of those points. In its white paper on a newly...

It is being dubbed the “gentle succession” – as the Queen gradually begins to relinquish some of her traditional duties as monarch. As she approaches her 88th birthday in April after almost 62 years on the throne, she has agreed to hand over part of her workload in a historic “job-share” arrangement with Prince Charles. In a royal first, he will be taking on more head of state-style responsibilities as the Palace starts to make tentative plans for his eventual succession. Courtiers yesterday described the softly-softly move as “wise” – and “just plain common sense”. The first sign of the...

The unearthing of Eadgyth, the Anglo-Saxon princess, was an emotional moment for historian Michael Wood. She was the Diana of the dark ages – charismatic, with the common touch ___ For anyone interested in the kings and queens of England it was a touching moment last year to see the heavy tomb cover lifted in Magdeburg Cathedral. The inscription said the occupant was Eadgyth, queen of the Germans, the Anglo-Saxon granddaughter of Alfred the Great, sister of Athelstan the first king of a united England. But was it really her? Now the results of the scientific examination are through: isotopes...

Archaeologists dug up an unmarked grave in a quiet English churchyard in search of remains of King Alfred the Great, a ninth century monarch credited with fending off the Vikings. The exhumation was apparently triggered by fears that interest over the recent discovery of the skeleton of Richard III could lead grave robbers to dig the area for his bones. Alfred the Great is known to generations of schoolchildren through a popular legend that tells of his scolding by a peasant woman for letting her cakes burn while he watched over them. He was at the time preoccupied with the...

Eadgyth was the granddaughter of Alfred the Great and the half-sister of Athelstan, the first acknowledged King of England. She was sent to marry Otto, King of Saxony, in AD 929, and bore him at least two children, before her death, at around the age of 36, in AD 946. Buried in the monastery of St Maurice in Magdeburg, historical records state that her bones were moved on at least three occasions before being interred in an elaborate tomb in Magdeburg Cathedral in 1510. It was long assumed that this tomb was empty, so, when German archaeologists opened it in...

Tests have shown that a pelvic bone found in a museum box is likely to have been either that of Alfred - the only English king to have the moniker "Great" - or his son King Edward the Elder. The bone was found among remains dug up at a medieval abbey in Winchester, southwest England, the capital of Alfred's kingdom. The remains were initially discovered in an excavation some 15 years ago but were not tested at the time, and were stored in a box at Winchester Museum until archaeologists came upon them after a failed bid to find Alfred...

Archaeologists believe they have found the birthplace of British civilisation, and it is underneath a £15-a-night caravan park in Norfolk, England. Discoveries at the site include one million-year-old artefacts and fossilised animal remains, which are the oldest ever found in the UK. Scientists now believe that it was the first, or one of the first settlement sites of early humans in Britain. Although researchers are yet to uncover any human remains from our predecessors, it is believed the site currently lying beneath Manor Caravan Park in Happisburgh, Norfolk, was a settlement created by early human relatives, such as Homo erectus....

David Cameron and Boris Johnson rode to Michael Gove’s defence over his call to banish the ‘left-wing myths’ of the First World War depicted on shows like Blackadder. Downing Street said the Education Secretary was right to blame German militarism for the outbreak of the war, while the London Mayor joined him in condemning the Left. But Mr Gove found himself exposed to a counter attack as Nick Clegg and a Cambridge academic he has condemned, embarked on a new round of hostilities.

One child had a BMI measurement of 35, which for a six-foot man would mean weighing 19st. Britain's obesity epidemic, which sees NHS hospitals dealing with 1,000 cases every day, is a reversal of the traditional problem when children were undernourished. Increasingly social workers find youngsters being fed a high-fat, sugary diet, which can be just as bad for their health. The phenomenon is known as "killing with kindness" because the child craves the unhealthy food and a loving parent feels unable to say no. Professionals say they have to make complex decisions in care proceedings and a family's gross...

As part of my “You Be the Judge” series, I periodically share stories that presumably create moral quandaries for libertarians and other advocates of limited government and individual liberty. It’s not easy being libertarian! Though I’ve been lax in this regard since my last iteration in the series was about drug legalization back in April. Time to atone for this oversight. Today’s thorny topic deals with the reasons that government must provide before taking children from their parents. We had an example of this type of quandary earlier in the year, which actually resulted in parents fleeing to Cuba. Our...

Marks & Spencer has told Muslim staff they can refuse to serve shoppers buying alcohol or pork, it has been revealed. The chain has granted checkout workers in more than 700 stores permission to politely decline to serve customers for religious reasons. Instead, shoppers are being asked to wait to pay for certain items at a different till.

Ronnie Biggs was a petty criminal who set out to transform his life with the daring heist of a mail train packed with money. The plan worked in ways he could never have imagined. Biggs was part of a gang of at least 12 men that robbed the Glasgow-to-London Royal Mail Train in the early hours of Aug. 8, 1963, switching its signals and tricking the driver into stopping in the darkness. The robbery netted 125 sacks of banknotes worth 2.6 million pounds — $7.3 million at the time, or more than $50 million today — and became known as...