£4.5m Investment For Centre Of Excellence For Brain Research

£4.5m in EU funds is to be set aside to help Cardiff University develop a leading centre of excellence for brain research.

The new CUBRIC (Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre) building will allow researchers to test new ideas and theories to gain a faster understanding of the causes of a range of health conditions, including dementia, schizophrenia and multiple sclerosis.

The EU funds, through the Welsh Government, will support the construction works of the new £44m state-of-the-art facility which will be based at Maindy Park. It will feature a number of laboratories and cutting-edge equipment, and be four times larger than the University's existing facilities. The expansion is also expected to generate new, highly-skilled research posts at the site.

In addition, the Welsh Government has invested more than £9m in the development of CUBRIC, including funding towards an ultra-high field Tesla MRI scanner. The centre is due to open in 2016.

Investigation Into Girl's Death, Aged Five

Police are continuing investigations into the death of a five-year-old girl.

Shortly after 5.30pm on Friday 17 July, emergency services were called to a play area in Mile End Park, off Locksley Street in London, following reports that a child had been injured.

When they arrived at the scene, they found the girl in cardiac arrest.

She was taken to a hospital in east London, but was later pronounced dead.

It is understood the girl was injured as a result of a tree collapsing. At the time of the incident, the girl had been playing on a rope-swing which ran from the tree to the frame of a zip wire.

A post-mortem is expected to take place today, 22 July.

£1.5bn Investment For England's Motorways

Some £1.5bn is to be used to upgrade a number of motorways in England, it has been announced.

Six joint-venture companies have been appointed by Highways England to design and build 10 'smart motorways'.

Three of the projects will commence this autumn; two are in the Midlands – M1 J19 to J16 in Northamptonshire, and the M5 J4a to J6 in Worcestershire, with the other located in the North West – M6 J16 to J19 near Stoke-on-Trent.

The schemes, which will be delivered between now and 2021, will see 292 extra lane miles added to motorways. The hard shoulder will be converted to a traffic lane and signing and technology will tell drivers what speed to drive at, if lanes are blocked or closed and about any incidents up ahead.

Construction contractors appointed are Balfour Beatty and VINCI* joint venture, Costain and Galliford Try joint venture, and Carillion and Kier joint venture. The designers are CHM2 and Hyder joint venture, Amey and Arup joint venture, and Jacobs and Atkins joint venture.

Further details on each project can be found here.

(JP)