New e-crime figures announced.

This is an interesting one.

The British Retail Consortium (BRC) released a report this morning showing a big increase in electronic crime (or e-crime) in the UK. The most common type of e-crime involved some form of identity deception in purchasing goods.

One thing I learned from the report is that the UK has the biggest internet spend per-capita of any nation, so the potential for online fraud is huge.

The report isn't huge, but it's fact with good stats and you can find it here.

New research proposes link between the increase in suicide rates and the recession

Firstly, I want to acknowledge that suicide is quite a difficult subject to discuss. I know that many issues within your subject area are tough but that clearly isn't a reason for me to steer clear of them on Bedtimes and Deadlines. So when I heard this morning of new research looking at the link between increases in suicide rates and current unemployment/recession figures, I thought it worth sharing.

You can read The Guardian's account of the research, published in the British Medical Journal, by clicking here.

If you'd prefer to just head straight to the report then go here.

There are a few recommendations in there that seem quite reasonable; none more so than a call for support staff in job centres to be aware of customers showing worrying levels of depression. As always, if you'd like me to show you how to access mental health research then just ask.

The Riots: In Their Own Words

Tonight (August 13th) will see the first of a two part series of programmes being broadcast on BBC2 at 9pm covering last summer's UK riots. Tonight's show features the words of people who took part in the rioting (their words are voiced by actors) whereas next week will feature interviews with the police.

It promises to be an engaging and insightful account of what occurred. Have a look here for some trailers and further information on how the programmes came to be made.

The UK riots: one year on.

A year ago I blogged in the immediate aftermath of the UK riots by highlighting the 'broom army'. Slowly, more analysis emerged; sometimes biased , sometimes contradictory, always troubling. The one year anniversary of the rioting has provided another opportunity to reflect. It is a particularly interesting time to reflect on such upsetting events whilst in the midsts of what has (so far!) been a wildly successful London Olympics.

On this morning's Today programme there were two pieces on the 2011 riots.
One gave a voice to the rioters themselves, whereas the other interviewed Chief Constable, Ian Learmonth.

I've got more pieces I'd like to share with you on the analysis of the 2011 riots, but I'll spread them out over the next few weeks.