Manchester United had won only two of their previous five Premier League matches, and were eight points behind Chelsea at kick-off, but they quickly trimmed that back to five with a comfortable victory over the basket case poor Everton resemble at present.It is interesting to note that, at this stage last season, United were running third, behind Chelsea and Liverpool, and they stayed there until the new year, when they hit the top on the back of an irresistible surge of 11 successive wins.Traditionally, they move up as the Christmas decorations come down. This time, however, there is no…
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Manchester United 3-0 Everton
21 Nov 2009 | 12:04 pm -
England 6-19 New Zealand
21 Nov 2009 | 11:52 am• England beaten for 17th time in 36 games since 2003• Johnson's side have scored just one try in three TestsFrancis Baron has helped to create the richest governing body and biggest rugby stadium in the world, but the second half of the reign of the chief executive of the Rugby Football Union, who is retiring next summer, has been notable for a lack of success on the field. These are the barren years for England and, while there was no questioning the men in white's attitude, it was New Zealand who had the aptitude as they recorded their eighth successive victory in the fixture with more… -
Chelsea 4-0 Wolves
21 Nov 2009 | 9:05 amThe only consolation for Wolves in the teeming west London rain was that they did not emulate their predecessors. The last time the Midlands club were in the Premier League they conceded five goals on each of the two occasions they faced Chelsea. The final tally was one fewer this time around, but that should in no way disguise the utter domination of Carlo Ancelotti's side on a day they revelled as champions-elect.A 12th consecutive home victory, a club record, was achieved with minimum fuss and remarkable class. The league leaders lacked key performers in Frank Lampard, Michael Ballack and… -
Ireland drop replay bid
21 Nov 2009 | 8:24 am• 'Calls have fallen on deaf ears at French Football Federation'• Patrice Evra denounces critics; offers rematch on PlaystationThe Republic of Ireland have been forced to admit defeat in their efforts to be granted a replay of their World Cup play-off clash with France. After Fifa rejected their appeals to have the second leg of the tie replayed because of Thierry Henry's handball in the run-up to William Gallas' decisive goal, the Football Association of Ireland, backed by the France skipper Henry, had turned to the French Football Federation.However, the FFF has ruled out the… -
Cumbria braces for more rain as clean-up continues
21 Nov 2009 | 7:36 amMet Office predicting up to 50mm and warns of waters rising again as county reels from evacuations and policeman's deathFlood-damaged parts of the UK are bracing themselves for more heavy rain today after two days of downpours that inundated homes, swept away bridges, sparked evacuations and claimed the life of a policeman.Gordon Brown has pledged an extra £1m to help flood-hit communities in Cumbria, which yesterday suffered the worst downpour in British history, with 314mm – more than a foot of rain – falling in 24 hours.Brown announced the funding on a visit to the flood-stricken…
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Technology: Apple | guardian.co.uk
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Mobile workers of the world unite? With Worksnug there is an app for that!
20 Nov 2009 | 8:35 amMobile workers of the world can finally unite, as the neat augmented reality application Worksnug has just been approved by Apple for the iPhone. And you know what? Two days after its approval it is already a hit. Not only has Stephen Fry twittered about it, but it went straight in at number five in the iPhone application business charts. So what is it about the application that people seem to want so badly? Worksnug allows you to find wifi locations available nearby, from Starbucks to independent cafes, to libraries and shared offices, complete with reviews describing the atmosphere, power… -
Apple iTablet reportedly delayed until the second half of next year
19 Nov 2009 | 4:36 amDigiTimes in Taiwan reckons that the launch of Appe's putative tablet PC will be delayed so that it can launch a model with an OLED screenBear in mind that Apple's touch-screen tablet-style computer has not been announced, and stories about it may be mostly speculation. Still, you can't make a computer without buying components, and the companies that make and/or assemble components may sometimes leak information -- though this still doesn't mean the information is accurate. With those caveats in mind, DigiTimes in Taiwan is reporting that: Apple reportedly plans to postpone the launch of its… -
Quick mobile gaming round-up
18 Nov 2009 | 1:06 pmTeeny news snippets from the world of phone games...I haven't covered mobile games on here for a while, not because there's nothing interesting going on – far from it – but because juggernaut-like releases such as Batman: Arkham Asylum, Dragon's Age and Modern Warfare 2 have been taking up all my gaming time. Regular readers could probably do with a break from Infinity Ward's blockbusting FPS, though, so here's a quick dash through some interesting new and forthcoming titles…First up, two whole-hearted recommendations, both available on a variety of mobile platforms: Bubble Town 2 and… -
Breakfast briefing: Free Our Data's big win, Apple's big seller and more
17 Nov 2009 | 10:00 pmBesides those, we've also got autocompletion overload, the key question about Eric Raymond, and a coding book.• First up, in case you've missed it (and you might well have), the Free Our Data campaign has had a significant victory. The prime minister Gordon Brown yesterday announced that from April Ordnance Survey map data, including "mid-range" maps (roughly, starting from 1:10,000 and up), electoral boundary data, administrative data, postcode location (basically like that leaked to Wikileaks) will be free for use without restriction.Sir Tim Berners-Lee, who was recruited to help open… -
Tech Weekly: Sony discusses Blu-ray success and 3D
17 Nov 2009 | 10:15 amOn this week's Guardian Tech Weekly, it's time to take stock of Blu-ray – we'll be giving a tough time to Eric Kingdon from Sony Europe, as we ask the hard questions about the high definition format.Jemima Kiss also takes a mini-break from maternity leave, to jump into the elevator with the co-founder of Spoonfed, a start-up promising to deliver tailored event recommendations to Londonites. Do they have a head for heights?And of course, we'll be dissecting the latest tech news, and we'll be turning the show over to you as we take a look at what's been causing a stir on the blogs, and a…
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Technology: Microsoft | guardian.co.uk
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This week's games reviews
20 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmCall Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, PC, PS3, Xbox 360 (reviewed)After last year's mediocre Call Of Duty: World At War, developer Infinity Ward is back in the driving seat for Modern Warfare 2, which brings back a couple of grizzled soldiers from the first game for another fearsome round of machine gunning, this time in opposition to a Russian terror gang. From the outset, the sense of danger and confusion is palpable with the intense single-player campaign clocking in at around eight hours. You can tackle a significant set of challenge levels on your own or co-operatively, but, as with older… -
Breakfast briefing: will Chrome shine, will IE reach 9, and a farewell...
18 Nov 2009 | 10:00 pmGet your coffee ready: reading ahead.• Got your netbook ready for Google's Chrome OS? The expectation is that it's going to be released (most likely in that rarest of forms for Google, a beta) sometime late on Thursday.That's because there's a presentation at Google's HQ on Thursday afternoon (Pacific time; early evening UK time) where Google will finally take the wrapper off its highly-anticipated Chrome operating system during a presentation at Google HQ on Thursday. The event will include a complete overview of the product featuring a Chrome OS demonstration and Q&A session. according… -
Is the Xbox Live ban the ultimate answer to game piracy?
18 Nov 2009 | 2:05 pmThe social nature of today's best console games gives manufacturers a potent weapon against piratesModern Warfare 2 has shifted more than one million copies in the UK alone and is likely to sell many more before Christmas. Its controversial terrorist section is what's got the headlines. But the real story here is online. The huge appeal of Modern Warfare 2 is primarily driven by its online modes. The single-player section of the game – as splendidly over the top and visceral as it is – is over in six or seven hours. The multiplayer modes will keep you entertained for six or seven months… -
Newsbytes | 19 November 2009
18 Nov 2009 | 2:05 pmPrepare for cyberwarMcAfee's fifth annual Virtual Criminology Report says some of the world's leading countries are arming themselves for cyberwar.More opting for OpteronThe world's three fastest supercomputers now use AMD Opteron processors, though Intel-based systems still have 80% of the Top 500.UK gets Binged!Microsoft has released a version of its Bing search engine tailored for UK users, including a shopping service integrated with Ciao UK.Living the HD dreamDell's Zino HD range of small, colourful computers can work in living rooms as high-definition media centres.E-swoon with Mills &… -
Is Windows Mobile threatened with extinction? | Newly asked question
18 Nov 2009 | 12:00 pmMicrosoft's phone operating system is under increasing pressure – with Google a particularly dangerous opponentQuite possibly. In the past year it's lost a significant slice of global market share: down from 11% of the smartphone market in the third quarter of 2008 to 7.9% in the same period of 2009, according to the research company Gartner. That's led some analysts to question its future and suggest it may be effectively dead within two years.In the past year, the iPhone's share has grown from 12.9% to 17.1% – and according to a number of estimates, it has the lion's share of the…
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Comment is free | guardian.co.uk
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Time for truth about torture | Colin Horgan
21 Nov 2009 | 9:00 amAfter a whistleblower revealed Canadian complicity in the torture of Afghan prisoners, a full public inquiry is vitalOne man has Canada in an uproar. Former second-in-command at the Canadian embassy in Kabul, Richard Colvin, told a parliamentary committee in Ottawa that all detainees handed over to the Afghanistan government by Canadian soldiers were abused. The opposition parties have called for a public inquiry, but the Harper government has called Colvin's testimony into question. Now, Canada must yet again have a serious discussion about its role in Afghanistan.Colvin sat before the… -
The search for Shackleton's spirit | Bill Mackintosh
21 Nov 2009 | 8:00 amThere's an obsession among whisky fans to try as many different drams as they can. But is an Antarctic expedition a step too far?How far would you go for a bottle of whisky? The off-licence at the corner of the road? The pub down the high street? For Richard Paterson, a wooden hut at the bottom of the world isn't a step too far.The 10,000 or so miles between his tasting laboratory in Glasgow and that hut 92 miles from the South Pole are all that stand between him and the chance to recreate a whisky that's no longer made.Paterson is the master blender for Whyte & Mackay whisky. He's a legend… -
Observer Panel | Is enough space set aside in Britain for nudity?
21 Nov 2009 | 7:12 amJulian Clary and Peter Tatchell are part of a campaign for a naturists' area at the men's bathing pond on Hampstead Heath, LondonANASTASIA DE WAALIsn't Britain a bit chilly for extensive public nudity? Having said that, you can imagine "naturist entitlement areas" being rolled out nationally. In such austere times, these would probably have to be eked out of the 2012 budget, integrated perhaps into some sort of Olympic Heritage Project, evoking both naked ancient Greek Olympians and naturists' rights. You can also imagine no one turning up. While liberating your inhibitions may appeal in the… -
On staring at goats, cats and camels | Khaled Diab
21 Nov 2009 | 6:00 amBe it giving them Viagra, putting them in a pageant or paying $14m for them, every culture has eccentricities about animalsCan a man kill a goat armed with little more than his eyes? Well, the US military seemed willing to believe in the possibility of such superhuman powers, as revealed in The Men Who Stare at Goats, Jon Ronson's book about how the American army investigated the application of psychic power in combat situations which has been turned into a film starring George Clooney.Another group of people who believe in the eye's destructive power on four-legged bovidae are Saudi breeders… -
There can be no 'banning of sharia law' | Bananabrain
21 Nov 2009 | 5:00 amBesides being unworkable, a 'ban' on sharia law would pose a serious challenge to all our civil libertiesI do not support the aims of the "One Law for All" campaign and today's rally. Nor do I support that which they oppose, namely the use of sharia as a vehicle by Islamist groups to assist their nefarious goals. Obviously, as an observant Jew, the campaign's success would also severely inconvenience me by outlawing Jewish halakhah (religious law), not to mention the Church of England, but there are several reasons why the non-religious should also be wary. These concern one's individual…
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Culture | guardian.co.uk
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Theatre review: The Roman Tragedies, Barbican, London
20 Nov 2009 | 4:40 pmBarbican, LondonShakespeare gets a close-up in Toneelgroep's compression of three plays – Coriolanus, Julius Caesar and Antony and Cleopatra – a remarkable six-hour marathon played without an interval. If that sounds like a penance, think again: this is an exhilarating pleasure. Director Ivo van Hove gleefully reinvents these tragedies of private obsessions and passions, political ambitions and expediency to make it seem as if Shakespeare is not only our contemporary but only finished writing the plays this morning. The final hour of the final play, Antony and Cleopatra, is about as good… -
Bryan Cranston: from Malcolm In The Middle to America's favourite meth dealer
20 Nov 2009 | 4:15 pmStar who beat Gabriel Byrne and Hugh Laurie to Best Actor Emmy on his role as the terminally ill, drug-dealing teacher at the heart of Breaking Bad, US telly's most unlikely successHe's wearing a box-fresh stripy shirt, sharp trousers, highly polished shoes. He has a decent head of hair. Leaning back into a leather armchair, this 53-year-old is clearly at ease with the world around him. His teenage daughter, tucked in the corner of an adjacent sofa and plugged into her iPod, smiles sweetly. Rarely has an actor been less like his on-screen persona. Is this what is was like meeting a charming… -
With Law Abiding Citizen, payback is making a comeback
20 Nov 2009 | 4:15 pmWhy does recession bring with it a thirst for dumb revenge dramas?Law Abiding Citizen, which I should say at the outset is a terrible, terrible movie – either the stupidest of the year so far or the most unintentionally funny – takes the urban revenge movie and grafts on to it certain depressing innovations from other genres, including the serial killer-as-genius trope from The Silence Of The Lambs, and the post-Saw/Hostel enthusiasm for torture-porn and mega bloodshed. Let's just say it doesn't tell us much except that the revenge movie is back with, um, a vengeance.Gerard Butler plays a… -
This week's new cinema previews
20 Nov 2009 | 4:15 pmA Serious Man (15)(Ethan & Joel Coen, 2009, US) Michael Stuhlbarg, Sari Lennick, Richard Kind. 105 mins.A "proper" Coens movie after the brothers' recent, atypical efforts, and it's one of their, and the year's, best, striking that contradictory, tragicomic, mundane-surreal tone only they can achieve. Harking back to their own late-1960s youth, it's a portrait of one man's suburban hell, with Stuhlbarg's Jewish physics professor plagued by all manner of uncertainty: domestic, religious, scientific. He doesn't even know whether to laugh or cry. The result is a procession of unforgettable… -
World Of Lather
20 Nov 2009 | 4:15 pmThis month in soap, run, Roy, run! Tony's out to silence his confidant in Corrie; Ronnie finds a new sperm donor in EastEnders; and there's another fire in arson-prone EmmerdaleExciting times on Coronation Street. Maria knows that Tony killed her ex-husband, Liam. Again. Let's be frank: Maria knew this last Boxing Day when she punched Tony's face, then painted "MURDERER" on the side of Underworld in foot-high, blood-red letters. It didn't stop Maria forming a meaningful life-partnership with Tony months later and letting him prance off to baby yoga with her baby strapped to his chest. "Oooh,…
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Business | guardian.co.uk
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MySpace strikes deal to sell independent music from big artists
21 Nov 2009 | 5:21 amNews Corp site settles row with Merlin agency whose clients include Arctic Monkeys, Radiohead and Vampire WeekendMySpace has settled a year-long row with independent record companies with a landmark deal that will allow artists including Arctic Monkeys, Radiohead and Vampire Weekend to sell tracks on the social networking site's music service.MySpace Music launched in the US last year, recently expanded into Australia and New Zealand and plans to roll out in the UK soon. But the launch of the service was marred by anger from the largest independent record labels, which accused News Corp-owned… -
Construction industry blacklisting: the fallout continues
20 Nov 2009 | 4:06 pmGuardian Work's exposé of blacklisting in the construction industry has led to draft legislation, but many workers whose details were kept on file are still sufferingSeventeen months after Guardian Work exposed blacklisting in the construction industry, new laws outlawing the practice are set to come into force, and next week 23 of its alleged victims will start their court cases.But for electricians such as Colin Trousdale it doesn't mean the scandal is over.Officials from the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) launched an investigation following Work's story. It led them to a shadowy… -
Unthinkable? Pricing drugs humanely
20 Nov 2009 | 4:06 pmAnother nasty decision for Nice this week, as the health service's rationing agency turned down Nexavar, which treats liver cancer. Everyone agrees it provides extra months, but it will not be administered – except to the rich – as it fails to provide enough extra months for the money. The watertight logic is that cash blown on one costly treatment cannot be spent on saving other lives. But that hardly makes things more bearable for people being told that the community is no longer willing to finance the union of their body and soul. The sanctity of life is compromised even though there… -
House prices a safe haven for investors
20 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmDespite the downturn, it is an investment that has been as safe as houses, rising by an average of 111% over the decade, reports Rupert JonesForget the stockmarket and high-interest savings accounts – the best place for your investment cash during the noughties was in bricks and mortar. House prices have doubled between the start of the decade and now, even taking into account the property crash of 2007-2009.And the place that tops the table for house price growth this decade may surprise some people. It is Sheffield, where typical prices are up 158% since the start of 2000, according to… -
Thorntons chocolates: After the meltdown
20 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmPeter Thornton was ousted from the family business – Thorntons chocolates – by his brothers and cousin. He talks about the bitter rivalries that ended his careerPeter Thornton always knew he would inherit the family chocolate business, along with his two brothers and a cousin. Taken on when he was 20, after a polytechnic confectionery course, he never expected to work anywhere else. So when his male relatives joined forces to make him resign, aged 54, it came as a terrible shock. "I had the most tremendous battle to divert them from this idea but in the end they all used their voting…
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Personal Finance | guardian.co.uk
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Making allowances for childcare | Benjamin Dierks
21 Nov 2009 | 4:00 amCash incentives alone won't solve childcare – perhaps Gordon Brown should look at Germany's response to a 'stove premium'While Gordon Brown has had to rethink his plan to abolish tax relief on childcare vouchers, family policy in Germany took a different turn right from the start. It's the better-off who benefit most from the childcare regulations introduced by Angela Merkel's new coalition government.This is no accident. For years, it's been those on higher incomes that the government in Berlin wants to persuade to have more babies. The average German woman gives birth to 1.38 children. -
Let's move to Cromer
20 Nov 2009 | 4:12 pmCromer is not just about the crabs, you know, says Tom DyckhoffWhat's going for it? Enduring mystery of life no 17,978: just what is it that separates Cromer from loftier spots such as Holt and Burnham Market one way and Southwold and Aldeburgh the other? A matter of yards, I tell you! Outside Cromer's city limits, property prices soar: beyond Blakeney, you can barely get a coal scuttle for a quarter of a million. Yet Cromer's bone structure is Southwold in all but property price and plum-mouthed inhabitants fresh from Hampstead. Gorgeous beach, cliffs high enough to be… -
Work and careers advice
20 Nov 2009 | 4:07 pmHow can I become a more public-spirited type of employee?I have for six years worked primarily in IT sales to the public sector. Though I have a successful record, I find the responsibility as head of sales for the small company I work at takes its toll in stress and pressure. I am 46 with no degree and I would like to work within the public sector, preferably in a business manager-type role. Though I have seen many state sector workers move the other way, I have always found the people and organisations I work with very interesting and feel a move towards a career with a more public-minded… -
Construction industry blacklisting: the fallout continues
20 Nov 2009 | 4:06 pmGuardian Work's exposé of blacklisting in the construction industry has led to draft legislation, but many workers whose details were kept on file are still sufferingSeventeen months after Guardian Work exposed blacklisting in the construction industry, new laws outlawing the practice are set to come into force, and next week 23 of its alleged victims will start their court cases.But for electricians such as Colin Trousdale it doesn't mean the scandal is over.Officials from the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) launched an investigation following Work's story. It led them to a shadowy… -
Graduate schemes offer testing times
20 Nov 2009 | 4:06 pmGetting a place on a graduate training programme can be like tackling an assault course. One determined student talks to Nic Paton about clearing the hurdles ... and winningYou may not (yet) have to stand up and sing in front of a baying audience, but landing yourself a place on a graduate training programme does appear to be getting more and more like The X Factor.Long gone are the days of turning up for an informal chat, a quick tour of the office and a handshake with your putative line manager before being shown out of the building with a "see you in the autumn".Students applying over the…
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Life and style | guardian.co.uk
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On staring at goats, cats and camels | Khaled Diab
21 Nov 2009 | 6:00 amBe it giving them Viagra, putting them in a pageant or paying $14m for them, every culture has eccentricities about animalsCan a man kill a goat armed with little more than his eyes? Well, the US military seemed willing to believe in the possibility of such superhuman powers, as revealed in The Men Who Stare at Goats, Jon Ronson's book about how the American army investigated the application of psychic power in combat situations which has been turned into a film starring George Clooney.Another group of people who believe in the eye's destructive power on four-legged bovidae are Saudi breeders… -
Making allowances for childcare | Benjamin Dierks
21 Nov 2009 | 4:00 amCash incentives alone won't solve childcare – perhaps Gordon Brown should look at Germany's response to a 'stove premium'While Gordon Brown has had to rethink his plan to abolish tax relief on childcare vouchers, family policy in Germany took a different turn right from the start. It's the better-off who benefit most from the childcare regulations introduced by Angela Merkel's new coalition government.This is no accident. For years, it's been those on higher incomes that the government in Berlin wants to persuade to have more babies. The average German woman gives birth to 1.38 children. -
Lauren Luke's beauty buys: best blues
21 Nov 2009 | 4:00 amA bolt of blue can brighten the greyest winter day, says Lauren. Here are six well worth a shotLauren Luke -
In the garden this week: Rose cuttings and frost protection
20 Nov 2009 | 4:13 pmMore blooms from old hackings, plus fuel-free ways to keep plants warmRose cuttingsOnce you've hacked back your roses (by about a third, to prevent wind rock over winter), use the hackings for cuttings. This works best with old roses. Take cuttings about 25cm long from wood that has grown this year. Cut the bottom just below a bud and the top just above one, dip in hormone rooting powder, push into a pot, water and leave somewhere sheltered.Beat frost at low costIt's time to tuck tender plants away in greenhouses and to start pondering options for frost protection. But… -
Think positive in love
20 Nov 2009 | 4:12 pmHigh expectations help romantic relationships to flourishEveryone's lowering their expectations these days. Marks & Spencer is saying it may not do so well this Christmas, Obama's supporters are realising he may not change the world in his first year of office and many of us will have not only a later retirement but a poorer one. But in our everyday relationships, expectations tend to be more resilient. We seem to be programmed to believe we will have above average children and relationships that are superior to most other people's. But do high expectations doom us to…
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Travel | guardian.co.uk
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Let's move to Cromer
20 Nov 2009 | 4:12 pmCromer is not just about the crabs, you know, says Tom DyckhoffWhat's going for it? Enduring mystery of life no 17,978: just what is it that separates Cromer from loftier spots such as Holt and Burnham Market one way and Southwold and Aldeburgh the other? A matter of yards, I tell you! Outside Cromer's city limits, property prices soar: beyond Blakeney, you can barely get a coal scuttle for a quarter of a million. Yet Cromer's bone structure is Southwold in all but property price and plum-mouthed inhabitants fresh from Hampstead. Gorgeous beach, cliffs high enough to be… -
Walking Spain's Olive Oil Route
20 Nov 2009 | 4:07 pmA disused Spanish railway line that once transported Andalucía's mountains of olives to the coast is now a walking trail through the endless grovesIt's eight in the morning at the bus station bar in the small town of Martos in the heart of Andalucía, and an old man is muttering as he drizzles peppery, local olive oil over his toast. "Aceite de oliva, todo mal quita," he says, nodding at us philosophically."Olive oil cures all ills" is an old Spanish saying which has special significance in Jaén, the country's largest olive-oil producing region. In Spain olive oil is more than simply a… -
Sweden's highest ski lodge
20 Nov 2009 | 4:06 pmStaying overnight in a ski lodge inside the Arctic Circle allows access to an empty, off-piste paradise most skiers can only dream ofIt's difficult to embrace the quiet beauty of a place when you're shifting through it at mach 10, skidoo engine roaring in your ears, cheeks whipped to burning in the cold. But as the dying sun cast its light across the thousands of snow crystals thrown up by the wind, the ensuing rainbow which hovered above the Låktatjåkko Mountain Station compelled silent attention. Nestled 250km north of the Arctic Circle in Swedish Lapland, it's a place where you can let… -
Tropical budget bliss
20 Nov 2009 | 4:06 pmThink a paradise break in the Indian Ocean will cost a small fortune? Not on Zanzibar where a clutch of new boutique hotels offers cool style and seriously good valueFragile thing holiday serenity. Zanzibar has the full deck of tropical idyll cards – squeaky white powder beach, azure ocean, mellow trade winds and I'm trying hard to channel the sleepy, languid pace that the island operates on, but secretly I'm expecting the concierge at the Z Hotel to come bustling over telling me they forgot to add an extra zero to our bill.I was expecting to shell out more than £60pp per night for a… -
Country diary: New Forest
20 Nov 2009 | 4:06 pmNew ForestThere is something enchanting about a group of scarlet-capped fly agaric fungi nestling within a circle of silver birches. The fungus is among the brightest of autumnal sights. With its red top seemingly sprinkled with finely chopped cheese, this poisonous species is associated with birch, and advances out on to the heaths as the trees colonise them. In time, this forms new woodland. If the amount of grazing needed across the forest is to be maintained, such invasive growth must be kept in check. That explains the large pile of birch logs stacked close to Wittensford, near Brook.The…
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Environment | guardian.co.uk
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Flood-hit Cumbria braces for more rain
21 Nov 2009 | 7:36 amMet Office predicting up to 50mm and warns of waters rising again as county reels from evacuations and policeman's deathFlood-damaged parts of the UK are bracing themselves for more heavy rain today after two days of downpours that inundated homes, swept away bridges, sparked evacuations and claimed the life of a policeman.Gordon Brown has pledged an extra £1m to help flood-hit communities in Cumbria, which yesterday suffered the worst downpour in British history, with 314mm – more than a foot of rain – falling in 24 hours.Brown announced the funding on a visit to the flood-stricken… -
Mountains melt: Helena Christensen's pictures from Peru
21 Nov 2009 | 6:46 amSupermodel turned photographer talks about Oxfam project documenting climate change in the Andean countryJim PowellImogen Carter -
Climate crunch
20 Nov 2009 | 5:47 pmUnless they end in promises, and a treaty within months, Ed Miliband believes the Copenhagen talks will be a disaster. But can the British energy secretary, in Denmark for a frantic round of pre-summit diplomacy, win the argument?It's breakfast time in the biggest of Copenhagen's Scandic hotels. Over the obligatory croissants and coffee – and, for those who want it, an off-beam version of the English breakfast – 42 international delegations are preparing to go into a second day of talks. Phones tweet; hushed conversations within teams of negotiators form a low conversational hum.Look… -
Behind the Copenhagen summit scenes
20 Nov 2009 | 5:31 pmJohn Harris and Guardian photographer Martin Argles shadowed Ed Miliband during his trip to Copenhagen -
All fired up: wood-burning stoves
20 Nov 2009 | 4:10 pmThey keep our homes warm in style, and are a renewable energy source to boot. What's not to like about wood-burning stoves, asks Dominic Murphy Why buy one? It's potentially carbon neutral. Although burning logs releases CO2, this is the same amount as was absorbed while the wood was growing. If a new tree is planted for each one burned, there is no overall increase in carbon emissions.A bit old-fashioned, no? So what if there's a touch of Heidi about some. There are plenty more with a contemporary feel – 007 just back from the ski slopes, say.Where do I start? Decide what sort of stove you…
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Blogposts | guardian.co.uk
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Scotland earn first win over Australia in 27 years
21 Nov 2009 | 12:58 pmMassive superiority in terms of winning the ball in the danger area should have given tourists a big win – but didn'tStatistics can be fickle little beasties but there is one that normally says everything about a game: the number of times a side wins ball in the opposition 22. Scotland managed it nine times, which is a lowly number, and may explain why they only scored nine points. One point per ball won.Australia won the ball 59 times in the Scottish 22, which suggests – promises irrefutably – that they must have maintained their average, at the very least, of 30 points against… -
Tenacity cannot overcome England's dearth of imagination | Paul Hayward
21 Nov 2009 | 10:00 amMartin Johnson's journeymen are impossible to define as a 15-man entity, except as an unreliable bulldozerTwickenham had been a graveyard for the imagination, a cemetery for entertainment, until England summoned the old standby of yeoman spirit to encourage their bored punters to keep coming back for more. This is a desperately mediocre England side who scored one try and fell to two defeats in three autumn internationals.A soporific win over Argentina is the lone prize in six of these November trials, this season and last. The mantra of reconstruction is hollow. Only faint praise can be… -
Manchester City waste the chance to confirm their top-four ambitions
21 Nov 2009 | 9:49 amAgainst a weakened Liverpool at Anfield, Mark Hughes's policy of containment cost his side two pointsManchester City should seek a placenta cure for their lack of ambition when they next visit the besieged Belgrade home of Mariana Kovacevic. A point at Anfield is no disgrace, as Mark Hughes mentioned once or twice afterwards, and but for the deflection that aided Liverpool's equaliser, his game-plan could have yielded a victory of renewed intent. Even with mitigation, however, this was a glorious opportunity wasted by City.Hughes bristled at the suggestion of negativity in his tactics and, on… -
Combative England take pride in restricting margin of All Blacks victory | Richard Williams
21 Nov 2009 | 9:05 amMartin Johnson's men made it tough for their superior opponents, but nothing other than a New Zealand win was on the cardsEngland promised to show their spirit against the All Blacks, and they were as good as their word. If you wanted a moment that summed up the challenge they presented to a side generally reckoned to be their superior in every respect, it would have to be Steve Borthwick's tackle on Dan Carter in the 18th minute, when the England captain arrived at the same time as the ball and forced it out of the New Zealand fly-half's grasp. Twickenham rocked with glee.Borthwick has had… -
Claims Five: Most memorable Betfair moments
21 Nov 2009 | 5:10 amOf all the extraordinary bets struck on the exchange, these are the ones that will live on in punting loreFor the purists, today's big race at Haydock is the Lancashire Chase. You may never have heard of such a race title, but it exists - it is the official title given to the Betfair Chase as a kind of insurance against the day when the sponsor might withdraw.Personally, I hope that day never comes, but there are certainly people in racing who feel no goodwill whatever towards the leading betting exchange and would not despair if it somehow disappeared into a black hole in cyberspace. The…
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Community | guardian.co.uk
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Changes to commenting functionality
4 Nov 2009 | 10:20 amAs you may have noticed, this week we've been changing the way commenting works on the site. The tech-literate among you may be interested to learn that the main change is that comments are now handled server-side rather than client-side. For everyone else, this means that we're not using javascript to display comments anymore, which brings with it a whole sheaf of improvements (such as speed of loading, accessibility and more compatible with normal web things like using ctrl+f to search for a word in a page, or using page up/down), as well as a number of interesting new challenges.One of our… -
Comment on blogs and articles
19 Aug 2008 | 11:56 amGot something to say? You can comment on all blog posts and a growing number of articles on the site. Just look for the comment icon, and join the conversation -
Have your say on the big issues of the day
14 Sep 2007 | 3:52 pmRead expert opinion, comment and analysis and join the debate in the conversations which follow. Comment is free recently won an award from the Association of Online Publishers, which noted that the site "brings traditional editorial rigour and values to the future of online citizen journalism" -
Start or join a conversation on Guardian Talk
7 May 2009 | 11:21 amExplore hundreds of active topics initiated by members of the community, covering everything including football, film, politics, environment, media and travel. Now over ten years old, Talk is still a vibrant community hub full of intelligent - and often irreverent - conversation -
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Sports
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Chelsea 4-0 Wolves
21 Nov 2009 | 9:05 amThe only consolation for Wolves in the teeming west London rain was that they did not emulate their predecessors. The last time the Midlands club were in the Premier League they conceded five goals on each of the two occasions they faced Chelsea. The final tally was one fewer this time around, but that should in no way disguise the utter domination of Carlo Ancelotti's side on a day they revelled as champions-elect.A 12th consecutive home victory, a club record, was achieved with minimum fuss and remarkable class. The league leaders lacked key performers in Frank Lampard, Michael Ballack and… -
Sunderland 1-0 Arsenal
21 Nov 2009 | 9:20 amIn the desert heat of Qatar, the cameras lingered on Darren Bent, on his knees in the Brazilian penalty area, appearing as forlorn, beaten and irrelevant as it is possible for a centre-forward to be.If Bent seems an improbable candidate for the World Cup, domestically he appears irresistible and has now scored against every member of the so-called Big Four before November is out. Against Liverpool, he required a deflection from a stray beach ball, here his header rebounded off his fellow striker, Fraizer Campbell, and landed at his feet to drive past Manuel Almunia. Centre-forwards have… -
Manchester United 3-0 Everton
21 Nov 2009 | 12:04 pmManchester United had won only two of their previous five Premier League matches, and were eight points behind Chelsea at kick-off, but they quickly trimmed that back to five with a comfortable victory over the basket case poor Everton resemble at present.It is interesting to note that, at this stage last season, United were running third, behind Chelsea and Liverpool, and they stayed there until the new year, when they hit the top on the back of an irresistible surge of 11 successive wins.Traditionally, they move up as the Christmas decorations come down. This time, however, there is no… -
England 6-19 New Zealand
21 Nov 2009 | 11:52 am• England beaten for 17th time in 36 games since 2003• Johnson's side have scored just one try in three TestsFrancis Baron has helped to create the richest governing body and biggest rugby stadium in the world, but the second half of the reign of the chief executive of the Rugby Football Union, who is retiring next summer, has been notable for a lack of success on the field. These are the barren years for England and, while there was no questioning the men in white's attitude, it was New Zealand who had the aptitude as they recorded their eighth successive victory in the fixture with more… -
Scotland 9-8 Australia
21 Nov 2009 | 12:34 pmScotland 9-8 AustraliaA scoreline to make some people weep this may be, but it is a result that had Murrayfield rocking in a way it surely never has since, oh, probably 1982, when Scotland last beat Australia. After 16 fruitless attempts to replicate that triumph, this – the seventeenth – was about as heroic a win as Scotland have ever pulled off, and that is saying something. They spent virtually an entire match repelling Australia's relentless attacks. And still they were throwing themselves into the fray defending a tryline stand that lasted some 20 phases and finally ended with Ryan…
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Most viewed | guardian.co.uk
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Gang 'killed victims to extract their fat'
20 Nov 2009 | 10:48 amPeruvian police arrest suspects who allegedly drained their victims and sold liquid as an anti-wrinkle treatmentA Peruvian gang that allegedly killed people and drained fat from their corpses for use in cosmetics may have been inspired by a grisly Andean legend.Hilarió Cudeña Simon, the alleged ringleader, linked the crimes to tales of demonic assassins, known as Pishtacos, who purportedly waylaid victims in pre-Columbian times, police said.Peru reacted with revulsion and horror to reports that scores of peasants may have been butchered by the gang, which was said to have operated in… -
Climate sceptics claim leaked emails are evidence of collusion among scientists
20 Nov 2009 | 10:15 amHundreds of emails and documents exchanged between world's leading climate scientists stolen by hackers and leaked onlineHundreds of private emails and documents allegedly exchanged between some of the world's leading climate scientists during the past 13 years have been stolen by hackers and leaked online, it emerged today.The computer files were apparently accessed earlier this week from servers at the University of East Anglia's Climate Research Unit, a world-renowned centre focused on the study of natural and anthropogenic climate change.Climate change sceptics who have studied the emails… -
Cumbria flood policeman's body found
20 Nov 2009 | 10:07 am• Missing police officer named as Bill Barker• Hundreds evacuated as riverbanks burstA policeman swept away during devastating flooding was trying to save lives by directing motorists off a bridge across a swollen river.PC Bill Barker, who would have been 45 tomorrow, was praised by the prime minister, Gordon Brown, as a "very heroic, very brave man".His body, still in uniform, was found on a beach today. The father of four went missing after a bridge in Workington collapsed amid what the local MP described as the kind of flooding seen only "once every 1,000 years".Barker went missing… -
What is the French for handball, Thierry? | Dara O Briain
20 Nov 2009 | 6:55 amThierry Henry's left hand was so fast four Swedish men could not see it help to stop Ireland from qualifying for the World CupA quiet week for Irish football, then, the highlight of which for me was probably when I was on BBC's Newsnight accepting David Ginola's apologies from an embarrassed French people. So, y'know, the usual.And while 82% of French people polled on the news network BMF were saying "Oui!" to the question "Faut-il rejouer le match France-Irlande?", friends who attended the match were reporting back from Paris that by Thursday the Irish team's performance had introduced a new… -
Thierry Henry tells Ireland: You deserve a replay
20 Nov 2009 | 5:50 am• 'Naturally I feel embarrassed at the way that we won'• 'I am not a cheat and never have been' insists HenryThierry Henry believes a replay would be the "fairest solution" to the continuing furore over the handball which led to the goal that eliminated the Republic of Ireland from World Cup qualification, and said Ireland "deserve to be in South Africa"."Naturally I feel embarrassed at the way that we won and feel extremely sorry for the Irish who definitely deserve to be in South Africa," said Henry in a statement today. "Of course the fairest solution would be to replay the game but it…
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Education: 14 - 19 education | guardian.co.uk
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A million young people not earning or learning
19 Nov 2009 | 3:41 amNumber of school-leavers not in education, work or training tops a million for the first time, figures showThe number of school-leavers not in education, work or training has topped a million, the highest total on record, government figures reveal today, prompting accusations that ministers are failing to help young people during the recession.Almost one in five 16- to 24-year-olds in England are "neets" (not in education, employment or training), statistics from July to September show.This is the equivalent of 1.08m young people, or 18% of all 16- to 24-year-olds, the figures from the… -
Will council funding bring a new wealth to colleges?
16 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmCentral control of 16-18 funding is over and colleges must look to their local authorities for cash. Will the change improve education?He who pays the piper, calls the tune … it's an adage well understood by colleges. Since 1991, when funding was taken away from local authorities, further education has been paid for by central government, and colleges up and down the country have ever since been scrambling to create courses that meet nationally set strategies.The paymaster, however, is about to change. The single pot of money that has funded all post-16 education – disbursed by the… -
Is college at 14 a step too soon?
2 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmColleges would like to admit 14-year-olds on to full-time courses, but not everyone agrees that it's a good ideaSt Helens College, Merseyside, has a new cohort of students. In September, for the first time, it allowed a handful of 16-year-olds to enrol on the college's courses full-time.For Pat Bacon, principal of the college, FE colleges provide a different learning experience to school that can help to tackle problem behaviour and boost confidence."They provide expertise, impartial advice and guidance, and the opportunity to experience a different environment and curriculum," she says. The… -
Paying UK pupils to stay at school is a 'waste of money'
17 Oct 2009 | 4:33 pmCritical report says most children would remain at school without £30 cash incentiveThe £545m-a-year "cash for lessons" scheme, under which the government pays young people up to £30 a week for staying in education beyond the age of 16, should be scrapped because it is a waste of money and has had little impact, according to a major new study.A damning report by the Local Government Association says the "vast majority" of 16-year-olds who receive the money would have stayed on in education anyway – and argues that it has had a minimal effect on "staying on" rates for 17- and… -
'Lost generation' fear as young jobless rate soars
18 Aug 2009 | 12:58 pm• Latest figures show record number of 'neets'• MPs and unions warn of 1980s-style crisisBritain risks a repeat of the 1980s, when it lost a generation to unemployment, unions and MPs warned today as a record number of young people out of education, work or training was revealed.One in six young people in England aged 18 to 24 are so-called "neets" (not in education, employment or training), statistics published by the Department for Children, Schools and Families show.This amounts to 835,000 young people – 100,000 more than this time last year. The proportion of 18- to 24-year-olds…
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Education: Access to university | guardian.co.uk
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English education is just too narrow
16 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmUniversities have a role to play in broadening A-levels and their own degree coursesThose of us running universities are directly challenged by the government's latest blueprint for the future, Higher Ambitions, to improve our efforts in widening participation through major culture change. Specifically, we are asked to provide opportunities to study "in a wider range of ways than in the past".Among the government's proposals is the suggestion that universities should not use A-levels or diplomas alone as a guide to merit in determining access. There are sound reasons for contextualising… -
Any student, any subject, anywhere
9 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmWeb technologies are driving a revolution in higher education, where many degrees may soon be studied onlineMandy has been on a study trip to the Sistine chapel without going to Italy. Tina, while working as a full-time carer, has been taking a free university course in psychology on another continent. And Scott has recently secured a degree from an online university on the basis of learning, largely acquired at work.New web technologies are driving a revolution, not only in the way students consume and institutions deliver higher education, but in the very idea of what makes a university. At… -
Record number of students admitted to university despite cap
21 Oct 2009 | 6:51 amUniversities could face huge fines as student admissions soar by nearly 6%Universities could face multimillion pound fines after breaking a government-imposed cap on student numbers, as the number of new undergraduates rose by nearly6% this year, figures released today reveal.A record 477,277 students took up a place at university this autumn, the latest data from the university applications service, Ucas, shows. This is 25,406 students more than last year – a rise of 5.6%But some 139,520 students did not get places. They either received no offer, failed to meet the requirements of their… -
30,000 missed out on a university place, figures show
14 Oct 2009 | 3:21 amKnock-on effect expected next year, as well-qualified applicants apply againUp to 30,000 students are now known to have missed out on a place at university this year after the government capped the number of places on offer.The latest figures from the university admissions service reveal that nearly 20,000 more students have been accepted on to degree courses this year than last year. With 50,000 more applicants, a rise fuelled in part by more older people wanting to sit out the recession by doing a degree, that meant 30,000 failed to win a place.The figures, dated Friday last week, were… -
What do they ask in Oxford University interviews?
8 Oct 2009 | 8:32 amThoughts on the Twilight series of novels and a view on the meaning of 'language' may serve candidates well, say tutorsOxford University today blew the lid off its myth-shrouded selection process to reveal that its tutors are just as likely to quiz applicants about the Twilight novels as they are about Shakespeare.For years, rumours have circulated that, during interviews, tutors at the 800-year-old institution suddenly throw candidates a curve ball to see how quick their reactions are or start speaking Latin.But such accounts were quashed today as the elite university published a list of…
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Education: A-levels | guardian.co.uk
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Could grammar schools have a radical new role?
16 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmThe former chief schools adjudicator suggests that grammar schools could be turned into sixth-form colleges, which look set to achieve the best results at A-levelStudents at the non-selective sixth-form college in Farnborough, Hampshire, achieved an average of 398 Ucas points last year – the equivalent of more than three As at A-level. At grammar schools, meanwhile, the average point score was 385, according to a Guardian league table created from a database into which schools entered their results.The full A-level results for schools and colleges will be published in January, but early… -
English education is just too narrow
16 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmUniversities have a role to play in broadening A-levels and their own degree coursesThose of us running universities are directly challenged by the government's latest blueprint for the future, Higher Ambitions, to improve our efforts in widening participation through major culture change. Specifically, we are asked to provide opportunities to study "in a wider range of ways than in the past".Among the government's proposals is the suggestion that universities should not use A-levels or diplomas alone as a guide to merit in determining access. There are sound reasons for contextualising… -
Marking computer says no to lazy Dickens and dull Austen
12 Nov 2009 | 6:24 amThe official A-level higher English exam marking computer takes young Dickens, Austen and John the Evangelist to taskAs you know, children, we have run all of your mock A-level English papers through the government's official examination marking computer. You will have read in the Times this morning of the fiasco when Ernest Hemingway, William Golding, Winston Churchill and Anthony Burgess failed so spectacularly – frankly confirming my own view that they should have come to me far earlier to discuss their subject choices. I wish them well, obviously, but I fear their subsequent career… -
Diplomas too difficult for pupils, says survey
26 Oct 2009 | 5:05 pm• Courses are 'better suited for more able students'• Parts of qualification need urgent review, says reportDiplomas, the government's alternative to A-levels and GCSEs, are too difficult for thousands of teenagers they were designed for, a survey of more than 130 sixth form and further education colleges has found.Parts of the qualification require urgent review, a report published today by the Association of Colleges (AoC) argues. Its poll of colleges in England found that managers felt the one-year higher diploma was too difficult for many pupils.It is the equivalent of seven GCSEs at… -
Half of GCSE students in state schools hit government target
15 Oct 2009 | 5:30 amLondon schools have improved at faster rate over last decade than anywhere else in EnglandA record half of all GCSE students in state schools hit the government's target of five good passes including English and maths this summer, official figures revealed today.Some 50.4% of pupils in state schools across England achieved five A* to C grades including in English and maths – a 2.1 percentage point rise on last year.At 47.7%, the proportion of private school pupils achieving five A* to C grades including English and maths is lower that that of state schools, the figures from the Department…
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Media: Advertising | guardian.co.uk
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Gangbos become the latest measure for fighting antisocial behaviour
20 Nov 2009 | 4:44 pmNew injunctions against gangs and action on wheelclampers included in Alan Johnson's crime billNew antisocial behaviour injunctions – dubbed gangbos – aimed at tackling teenage gang members as young as 14 are to be introduced as part of the new crime and security bill, the home secretary disclosed yesterday.The civil injunctions will include bans on meeting other gang members, wearing gang colours, going to certain locations or having a violent dog in a public place.Breaching a gangbo could require the offender to report to the police regularly, obey a curfew enforced by an electronic tag… -
The Hard Sell: Microsoft Windows 7
20 Nov 2009 | 4:15 pmSmarmy simpletons claiming they've had a hand in its creation … that'll really shift your software, Mr GatesFor the uninitiated, Windows 7 is Microsoft's latest version of an important computer technology that allows you to put a computerised photo of a cat into a virtual bin. What you'd reasonably expect in the ads is as many reasons they could fit into 30 seconds why you should dump the version they sold you three years ago. Instead, they're bombarding us with "members of the public" whose ideas have apparently been incorporated into the software. For this, read: "the most self-satisfied… -
Policing Pledge: Police use TV to explain promises to public
20 Nov 2009 | 4:01 pmA £1.9m national advertising campaign explaining what the public can expect from their local force in England and Wales launches today -
A backhanded compliment to Athena | Media Monkey
20 Nov 2009 | 7:26 amIt is an instantly familiar image – especially if you were a teenage boy in the 1970s – except it isn't that image at all. The gambling outfit Intercasino has come up with a sequel (of sorts) to the classic 1976 Athena poster of a female tennis player having a, er... wardrobe malfunction, to promote the upcoming masters tennis tournament in London. The press ad, created by agency Isobel, appears in today's issue of London weekly freesheet Sport. No word on whether it is the same tennis player. We're guessing not. Monkey never forgets a face - or bum.AdvertisingMonkeyguardian.co.uk ©… -
Government intelligence organisation targets recruits with Xbox Live ads
20 Nov 2009 | 3:58 amGCHQ to run ad campaign within Xbox Live online games to attract 18- to 34-year-olds to its ranksGovernment intelligence organisation GCHQ is to run an ad campaign within Xbox Live, to attract quick-thinking 18- to 34-year-olds to its ranks.The campaign marks the first time that GCHQ, which reports to the foreign secretary, David Miliband, and works with MI5 and MI6, has run ads through Microsoft's internet-connected Xbox Live platform, which connects gamers all over the world.GCHQ's recruitment campaign will run on the Xbox Live platform, home to games including Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare…
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World news: Afghanistan | guardian.co.uk
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Time for truth about torture | Colin Horgan
21 Nov 2009 | 9:00 amAfter a whistleblower revealed Canadian complicity in the torture of Afghan prisoners, a full public inquiry is vitalOne man has Canada in an uproar. Former second-in-command at the Canadian embassy in Kabul, Richard Colvin, told a parliamentary committee in Ottawa that all detainees handed over to the Afghanistan government by Canadian soldiers were abused. The opposition parties have called for a public inquiry, but the Harper government has called Colvin's testimony into question. Now, Canada must yet again have a serious discussion about its role in Afghanistan.Colvin sat before the… -
Voting for failure in Afghanistan | Stephen Kinzer
20 Nov 2009 | 1:00 pmBy forcing a flawed model of democracy on Afghans, the US has made Afghanistan less stable and less democraticThe fiasco of the elections in Afghanistan has been widely lamented. Most laments focus on a single obvious fact: by winning a new term through fraud at the polls, President Hamid Karzai has weakened his legitimacy, endangered the already tepid support he enjoys in Washington DC, and handed the Taliban another piece of evidence, if one is needed, that his regime is corrupt.How could this result have been prevented, or how might it be prevented in the future? A litany of answers has… -
Karzai 'would fall in weeks' if Nato pulls out
20 Nov 2009 | 11:24 amDavid Miliband says UK needs more time to shore up Afghan government The Afghan government could fall within weeks if Nato pulled out troops now, David Miliband warned today as he urged British opponents of the war to give the fight to rebuild the country more time.In an interview with the Guardian at the end of a visit to Kabul for the presidential inauguration of Hamid Karzai, the foreign secretary said: "If international forces leave, you can choose a time – five minutes, 24 hours or seven days – but the insurgent forces will overrun those forces that are prepared to put up… -
Unicef's state of the world's children report 2009: Where is the worst place in the world to grow up? Afghanistan
20 Nov 2009 | 7:46 amUnicef's 2009 state of the world's children report tells us what it's like to grow up in the poorest - and richest - places in the world. Find out which is which• Get the data• Afghanistan's civilian casualtiesA UN official confirmed today what many already suspected - that Afghanistan is the worst place in the world for children to be born.Launching Unicef's annual flagship report, The State of the World's Children, the organisation's regional director for South Asia, Daniel Toole, said: "Afghanistan today is without a doubt the most dangerous place to be born."Eight years after the US… -
Canadian diplomat alleges troops in Afghanistan were complicit in torture
20 Nov 2009 | 7:18 amSenior diplomat formerly stationed in Kabul claims troops 'handed over for severe torture a lot of innocent people'The Canadian government was fending off calls for a public inquiry on torture today after allegations from one of its senior diplomats that Canada was complicit in the torture of Afghan detainees.Richard Colvin, who was second in command at Canada's Kabul embassy in 2006 and 2007, said that Afghans swept up in security sweeps by Canadian troops during that time were routinely handed over to the Afghan intelligence services."According to our information, the likelihood is that all…
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World news : Africa roundup | guardian.co.uk
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World Aids Day: Gideon Mendel talks to Kenyans with HIV
20 Nov 2009 | 4:11 pmTo mark World Aids Day, and a 10-year project with the Guardian, photographer Gideon Mendel travels to Kenya to ask young people with HIV what it means to themGideon MendelChris Fenn -
Kidnapped British sailors fear they may be killed within week
20 Nov 2009 | 12:30 pmPaul and Rachel Chandler have been shown on C4 news urging the government to begin ransom talks with Somali piratesThe British couple kidnapped by Somali pirates appeared in television footage tonight surrounded by gunmen and warned they could be killed "within a week". Paul and Rachel Chandler pleaded for their lives, saying they feared they would "sleepwalk to a tragic end" as their captors were "losing patience".The two-minute video, shown on Channel 4 news, is the first time the couple have appeared on camera since they disappeared on 23 October while sailing from the Seychelles towards… -
Crackdown in Cairo as football violence erupts
20 Nov 2009 | 9:53 am• Rioting sparked by Algeria victory spreads to Egypt• Fans attack embassies in wave of tit-for-tat reprisalsParts of Cairo are under police lockdown amid some of the worst football violence ever seen in the region.More than a thousand security personnel deployed to protect the Algerian embassy and other key locations came under attack from angry protesters after Egypt's contentious defeat to Algeria in a World Cup playoff match on Wednesday. Egypt recalled its envoy to Algiers and condemned the Algerian government for failing to prevent the destruction of Egyptian offices. The secretary… -
Unicef's state of the world's children report 2009: Where is the worst place in the world to grow up? Afghanistan
20 Nov 2009 | 7:46 amUnicef's 2009 state of the world's children report tells us what it's like to grow up in the poorest - and richest - places in the world. Find out which is which• Get the data• Afghanistan's civilian casualtiesA UN official confirmed today what many already suspected - that Afghanistan is the worst place in the world for children to be born.Launching Unicef's annual flagship report, The State of the World's Children, the organisation's regional director for South Asia, Daniel Toole, said: "Afghanistan today is without a doubt the most dangerous place to be born."Eight years after the US… -
Lockerbie row reignited as Megrahi exceeds his life expectancy at time of release
20 Nov 2009 | 5:40 amThree months after the release of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, American families of victims question medical adviceThree months after the release of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, the families of American victims of the Lockerbie bombing have reignited a row over the medical advice that allowed him to be freed early from his 27-year sentence.Megrahi was released on compassionate grounds from prison in Greenock on 20 August after the Scottish justice minister, Kenny MacAskill, received advice that he was terminally ill with prostate cancer. It was said that the Libyan, who was convicted of carrying out the…
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Business: Airline industry | guardian.co.uk
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Kipper Williams: what will easyJet charge for now?
18 Nov 2009 | 12:06 amAs the low-cost carrier reports a 65% decline in profits, will add-on fees help it recover next year? -
easyJet flying high
17 Nov 2009 | 12:59 pmThe budget carrier's hike in bag charges paid off – even Sir Stelios approvedTo see inflation in action, look at easyJet's checked-in bag charges. These were introduced in September 2008 at £5 a bag. That soon became £8, then £9.The airline's plan was to soften the impact of rising fuel costs and it has worked. easyJet's revenue per seat rose 11% in the year to September, to £50.47. Exchange rate movements (easyJet benefits from a strong euro) flattered the comparison but even the 4% increase at constant currencies is a remarkable outcome in a recession.The sheer size of the increase in… -
From bags to boarding – how airlines clean up
17 Nov 2009 | 12:33 pmeasyJet's earnings last year reveal how much airlines now depend on add-on charges for its profitEasyJet's figures reveal how much airlines now depend on add-on charges for their profit, as it reported £511m in earnings last year from baggage fees, insurance, early boarding and credit card fees – equal to a fifth of its total revenue. BaggageSeven out of ten easyJet customers pay the airline £9 each way to put a bag in the hold. Baggage charges raked in £238m for easyJet, an increase of 65% over the year, and nearly enough to pay for the entire staff cost of crewing the airline. -
Airliner to set record with 800 passengers
17 Nov 2009 | 7:32 amLong-distance carrier orders 'high density' A380 to hold most passengers ever to fly in a single aeroplaneThe retail adage "stack 'em high and pack 'em tight" is to be introduced to airlines after plans were announced today for economy-only flights carrying a record-breaking 800 passengers in Airbus A380s.The French company Air Austral said that it placed orders for two "high density" double-decker A380s with a capacity for 840 seats.When full, the flights between Paris and the French island of Réunion in the Indian Ocean, where the company is based, will easily involve the most passengers… -
EasyJet warns of 'tough winter ahead'
17 Nov 2009 | 1:29 am• Passenger numbers up as it capitalises on rivals' woes• Airline aims for expansion of 7.5% a yearSlowing passenger growth and a misplaced bet on fuel prices forced easyJet into defending the budget airline business as Europe's second largest no-frills carrier reported a 65% slump in annual profits.EasyJet reported its lowest increase in passenger numbers since launching in 1995, flying 45.2 million people in the year to the end of September. The rise of 3.4% on the previous year's traffic represented a sharp drop on the 17% increase recorded in 2008, before the airline industry had seen…
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World news: Al-Qaida | guardian.co.uk
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Pakistan: suicide bomber kills 19 outside court
19 Nov 2009 | 7:16 amAt least 51 injured in sixth bombing in and around city of Peshawar in less than two weeksA suicide bomber blew himself up outside a courthouse in north-western Pakistan , killing 19 people in the latest attack by Islamist militants retaliating against an army offensive near the Afghan border.The bombing was the seventh militant strike in less than a fortnight in and around Peshawar, the largest city in the north-west, leaving more than 80 people dead.The bomber, who arrived in a taxi, was being searched by police officers at the gate of the city's lower court when he detonated explosives on… -
Letters: Afghan withdrawal symptoms
18 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmThree cheers for Simon Jenkins and his very persuasive article advocating withdrawal from Afghanistan (Face down the militarists and get out of Afghanistan. No strings attached, 17 November). However, he dismisses Boris Johnson's remark about the futility of lives already lost if we pull out now as brainless, which of course it is, but it is also emotionally very powerful. It is an argument, if you can call it that, that was constantly deployed during the Vietnam war. It makes it appallingly clear to those who have lost husbands, sons, fathers, that their deaths have achieved nothing – a… -
Obama opens up on Afghanistan decision during China visit
18 Nov 2009 | 8:12 amUS president touches on various other issues facing his administration during interviews with TV networksPresident Barack Obama has said he is close to a decision on whether to dramatically increase the number of American troops in Afghanistan. But the president said that alongside agreeing an effective military and political strategy in Afghanistan, it was important to win the backing of the American people for a war that involves vital US interests. Support for the conflict in the US is slipping now that it is close to overtaking Vietnam as America's longest fought war and with no end in… -
Face down the militarists and get out of Afghanistan. No strings attached | Simon Jenkins
17 Nov 2009 | 10:00 amObama must call time on the Afghan war. Retreat can be spun as victory. But it can't be conditional on impossible objectivesGo to Washington any time in the past eight years and ask what influence Britain has over America's Afghan policy. The answer is a thumb and forefinger joined in a simple zero. The same was true in Iraq. Ever since Tony Blair kowtowed to George Bush at Crawford in April 2002, Britain has been the patsy, the poodle, the dumb ally in Washington's wars of ideological empire.Britain's military failures in Basra and Helmand, rescued in both by the Americans, increased this… -
Keene and Norquist and Barr/have they gone too far? | Michael Tomasky
17 Nov 2009 | 8:33 amIt doesn't quite have the ring of "Martin, Barton and Fish," but the three above-named conservatives -- David Keene, Grover Norquist and Bob Barr -- yesterday released a rather remarkable statement in support of the administration's decisions to transfer terrorism detainees to federal prisons and to try them in federal court. From the letter:We are confident that the government can preserve national security without resorting to sweeping and radical departures from an American constitutional tradition that has served us effectively for over two centuries. Civilian federal courts are the…
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World news : Americas roundup | guardian.co.uk
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Time for truth about torture | Colin Horgan
21 Nov 2009 | 9:00 amAfter a whistleblower revealed Canadian complicity in the torture of Afghan prisoners, a full public inquiry is vitalOne man has Canada in an uproar. Former second-in-command at the Canadian embassy in Kabul, Richard Colvin, told a parliamentary committee in Ottawa that all detainees handed over to the Afghanistan government by Canadian soldiers were abused. The opposition parties have called for a public inquiry, but the Harper government has called Colvin's testimony into question. Now, Canada must yet again have a serious discussion about its role in Afghanistan.Colvin sat before the… -
Mountains melt: Helena Christensen's pictures from Peru
21 Nov 2009 | 6:46 amSupermodel turned photographer talks about Oxfam project documenting climate change in the Andean countryJim PowellImogen Carter -
Gang 'killed victims to extract their fat'
20 Nov 2009 | 10:48 amPeruvian police arrest suspects who allegedly drained their victims and sold liquid as an anti-wrinkle treatmentA Peruvian gang that allegedly killed people and drained fat from their corpses for use in cosmetics may have been inspired by a grisly Andean legend.Hilarió Cudeña Simon, the alleged ringleader, linked the crimes to tales of demonic assassins, known as Pishtacos, who purportedly waylaid victims in pre-Columbian times, police said.Peru reacted with revulsion and horror to reports that scores of peasants may have been butchered by the gang, which was said to have operated in… -
Canadian diplomat alleges troops in Afghanistan were complicit in torture
20 Nov 2009 | 7:18 amSenior diplomat formerly stationed in Kabul claims troops 'handed over for severe torture a lot of innocent people'The Canadian government was fending off calls for a public inquiry on torture today after allegations from one of its senior diplomats that Canada was complicit in the torture of Afghan detainees.Richard Colvin, who was second in command at Canada's Kabul embassy in 2006 and 2007, said that Afghans swept up in security sweeps by Canadian troops during that time were routinely handed over to the Afghan intelligence services."According to our information, the likelihood is that all… -
Venezuela blows up border bridges with Colombia
20 Nov 2009 | 12:20 amTensions raised between two countries as troops dynamite rural walkways Venezuela claims are used by smugglers and militiaVenezuela has blown up two pedestrian bridges on its border with Colombia in the latest sign of deteriorating relations between the Andean neighbours.Soldiers destroyed the walkways because they were being used by illegal militia and drug traffickers, said Eusebio Aguero, an army general based in the border state of Táchira."They are two foot bridges that paramilitary fighters used, where gasoline and drug precursors were smuggled, subversive groups entered. They are not…
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World news: Anglicanism | guardian.co.uk
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Senior Catholic warns off Anglican church's women priest opponents
20 Nov 2009 | 10:31 amConverts to Rome cannot pick and choose, says Vincent Nichols, as Rowan Williams and pope prepare to meetAnglicans should not become Catholic to protest against female clergy or sexual ethics, the archbishop of Westminster said today, as he warned traditionalists against adopting a "pick and choose" approach to the religion.The Most Rev Vincent Nichols, the most senior Catholic in England and Wales, was speaking ahead of tomorrow's meeting in Rome between Rowan Williams, the archbishop of Canterbury, and Pope Benedict XVI. The pair will discuss the recent initiative by the Vatican to allow… -
A show of unity at too high a price | Savitri Hensman
20 Nov 2009 | 9:45 amThe Anglican church should no longer put the virtue of uniformity above the need to challenge prejudice and suffering"United we stand, divided we fall" is a common saying. Likewise there is a Japanese proverb "A single arrow is easily broken, but not ten in a bundle."To stay united (or appear to be), members of families, religious groups, social movements and political parties may play down doubts and disagreements. On minor matters, this may be sensible or at least harmless. However, when this involves upholding injustice and cruelty, it can damage not only those on the receiving end but… -
Climate change denial MEP attacks church
20 Nov 2009 | 7:11 amRoger Helmer says Anglican hierarchy has dropped the gospel in favour of 'the new religion of climate alarmism'A Tory MEP has accused the Church of England of having "abandoned religious faith entirely and taken up the new religion of climate alarmism instead".Roger Helmer, who resigned from the Tory frontbench in Europe when the Westminster leadership dumped its promised referendum on the Lisbon treaty, used a magazine article to urge the Church to "get back to the gospel".Referring approvingly to the work of another writer who said bishops were spending more time "preaching climate change… -
Graphic confusion in Rome | Andrew Brown
20 Nov 2009 | 3:21 amBoth main approaches to church unity have failed. Perhaps what we need is a flow chartAmong the stranger Anglican blogs out there is The Beaker Folk of Husborne Crawley, which has published a flow chart that will be helpful to anyone trying to understand the choices facing the Anglican clergy right now.I feel we should start a competition to reduce Rowan's speeches to the same format. I have read carefully his talk in Rome, and the task is beyond me. The nearest I could get to his message to the pope is "Forgive us our women, as we forgive those who trespass against us" but that can't be… -
I was ready to give up alcohol – until I read the latest research | Alexander Chancellor
19 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmApparently, the more you drink the greater your protection against heart disease. Does that mean we should all be drinking at least a bottle of wine a day?The case against drinking alcohol has been promoted for so long and with such vigour that even I have started to wonder whether I shouldn't perhaps give it up altogether. I have occasionally done this before without huge difficulty, but have never found it at all easy to drink in what is officially regarded as "moderation" – that is, the maximum of 21 units of alcohol a week (equivalent to less than three bottles of wine) that men are…
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World news: Animals | guardian.co.uk
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On staring at goats, cats and camels | Khaled Diab
21 Nov 2009 | 6:00 amBe it giving them Viagra, putting them in a pageant or paying $14m for them, every culture has eccentricities about animalsCan a man kill a goat armed with little more than his eyes? Well, the US military seemed willing to believe in the possibility of such superhuman powers, as revealed in The Men Who Stare at Goats, Jon Ronson's book about how the American army investigated the application of psychic power in combat situations which has been turned into a film starring George Clooney.Another group of people who believe in the eye's destructive power on four-legged bovidae are Saudi breeders… -
In pictures: Most beautiful and most wonderful | Darwin photo competition
20 Nov 2009 | 7:47 amWinning entries of a photographic competition celebrating the birth of Charles Darwin and his theory of evolution -
In pictures: The week in wildlife
20 Nov 2009 | 4:55 amFrom howler monkeys to Siamese crocodiles – this week's best images from the natural world -
British men fined for pigeon tossing in Poland
17 Nov 2009 | 10:47 amPair made to pay £130 for throwing birds up into the air in Krakow's Renaissance marketTwo British men have been fined by a court in Poland for pigeon tossing. The pair threw the birds up into the air in historic Krakow's Renaissance market on October 24.According to local reports the stunned birds were unable to open their wings and fell to the ground, breaking their wings.The pigeon tossers, both aged 24, from Ulverston and Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria, appeared in court today and pleaded guilty to a charge of cruelty to animals.Prosecutor Boguslawa Marcinkowska said the men were both… -
Breeding out aggression in dogs | Dave Hill
17 Nov 2009 | 6:30 amMany blame 'weapon dogs' solely on bad owners, but is it not disingenuous to deny that animals are bred for particular traits?In a recent article Kit Malthouse, Boris Johnson's deputy for policing in London, called for all "weapon dogs" of the "bull-type" to be not only registered and muzzled but also neutered and so humanely yet effectively phased out of existence. He was writing in response to a sharp rise in the Metropolitan police's seizure of canine suspects and of prosecutions of owners under the 1991 Dangerous Dogs Act (DDA).A search of London news sites yields a plentiful supply of…
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Science: Archaeology | guardian.co.uk
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Heart disease was rife among ancient Egyptians
17 Nov 2009 | 1:51 pmX-rays of mummies reveal atherosclerosis, suggesting there may be more to heart disease than bad diet and smokingHeart disease plagued human society long before fry-ups and cigarettes came along, researchers say. The upper classes of ancient Egypt were riddled with cardiovascular disease that dramatically raised their risk of heart attacks and strokes.Doctors made the discovery after taking hospital X-ray scans of 20 Egyptian mummies that date back more than 3,500 years.The scans revealed signs of atherosclerosis, a life-threatening condition where fat and calcium build up in the arteries,… -
Sheila Unwin obituary
15 Nov 2009 | 10:31 amAt the age of 86 Sheila Unwin fulfilled her lifelong ambition and wrote a book called The Arab ChestMy mother, Sheila Unwin, who has died aged 89, was an expert in Swahili and Arab culture. At the age of 86 she fulfilled her lifelong ambition and published The Arab Chest, a personal yet academic account of her quest into the origins of these brass-studded wooden pieces of furniture found all over the Gulf and East Africa.This fascination began as long ago as the late 1940s when, after the second world war, she and my father went to Tanganyika to work on the ill-fated Groundnut Scheme, the… -
This treasure stirs the West Midlands' Anglo-Saxon soul | Tristram Hunt
9 Nov 2009 | 11:30 amThe Staffordshire hoard has brought history to life in modern-day Mercia – and it is here that the collection has to returnFrom the Lindisfarne gospels to the Lewis chessmen, much of British heritage policy is about putting things back where they belong. Now we have a golden opportunity not to commit the original sin, and ensure the most fascinating find in a generation remains where it should.The Staffordshire hoard, that stunning collection of 1,500 Anglo-Saxon gold and silver goods discovered near Lichfield, has just gone on display at the British Museum with the earth still on it –… -
UK scholars linked to 'stolen' bowls of Babylon
7 Nov 2009 | 4:06 pmSuppressed report reveals archaeological treasures were dug up after Gulf warA secret report on the chequered history of priceless Aramaic bowls loaned to a leading university has exposed an apparent attempt to cover up UK academic connections to a potentially deadly trade in stolen Iraqi antiquities.The findings of the study, which was suppressed by a controversial legal agreement in 2007, have at last solved a long-standing archaeological mystery.Commissioned by University College London in 2005, it confirms the expert view that the bowls were stolen from the historical site of Babylon and… -
Primary sources | John Crace
5 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmJohn Crace sifts through new research and discoveries from around the worldThe hole that time forgotFor a long time now the Mexicans have got it in the neck for being home to the crater formed by the object that killed off the dinosaurs. But it seems the real culprit might lie thousands of miles to the east. According to Sankar Chatterjee of Texas Tech University, the Shiva basin off the coast of India could be the largest, multi-ringed impact crater the world has ever seen and may have been responsible for killing the dinosaurs off 65m years ago. "If we are right, this is the largest crater…
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Art and design: Architecture | guardian.co.uk
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A love affair with a city like London demands much more than an air-kiss | Simon Jenkins
19 Nov 2009 | 2:30 pmI know people who swear by the charms of Lagos or Grozny. For them, as me, a city is where friends are. Take note, Jan MorrisI once sat next to a woman at dinner who asked me where I lived. When I replied, London, she frowned and said, how simply ghastly for me. "It is an awful place, absolute hell. I hate going there, the people, the traffic, the tube, the dirt. You must be dying to escape."Stung by hearing my beloved home so abused I asked where she lived. Gloucestershire, she replied. "How ghastly," I said, "it is an awful place, absolute hell. I hate going there, the people, the horses,… -
When in Rome: Zaha Hadid's new museum for 21st-century art
17 Nov 2009 | 2:37 amTake a tour of Maxxi, Zaha Hadid's light-filled labyrinth of modern art and architecture that has just opened for viewing in Rome's Flaminio district -
Zaha Hadid's stairway into the future
16 Nov 2009 | 1:30 pmWith its swooping curves, impossible angles and haunting views, Zaha Hadid's new museum of 21st-century art is her best work yet. Jonathan Glancey gets a guided tour in RomeI remember looking at Zaha Hadid's drawings for Rome's new museum of 21st-century arts a decade ago and wondering how on earth this structural adventure would ever be built. On paper, it looked like a surreal motorway intersection imagined by JG Ballard, or a wiring diagram plotted for the palace of esoteric giants. Her floor plans were some of the most mesmerising and challenging since Frank Lloyd Wright unveiled his… -
Kevin McCloud's favourite cathedrals and temples
14 Nov 2009 | 4:06 pmThe designer and television presenter on magnificent domes in Rome, Florence and LondonPANTHEON, ROMEThis is the mother of all domes. On the outside it's a disastrous building – the joints are pulling and it looks awful. But inside it's a revelation, all coated in marble, and beautifully decorated and panelled. It is also phenomenally powerful; the columns are massive, and the doors are more than 40ft high – at any moment you expect a door to be flung open and a 35ft-high Mercury to stride in. That is the brilliant thing about it – it is not built on a human scale. You feel as though it… -
The revamped Ashmolean Museum, Oxford
13 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmBritain's oldest museum reopened this month after a £61m refit. The display is designed to reflect the free-flowing cultural exchange of globalisationFounded in 1683, the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford is not just the oldest museum in Britain; it can also boast the most identity crises. Time and again it has stood on the brink of dissolution or obsolescence, only for a new version to rise, like the proverbial phoenix, out of the ashes of the old. The latest and already much-feted makeover, which has cost £61m, was not prompted by any major crisis, but is as radical as any of its…
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World news: Argentina | guardian.co.uk
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Ship heads for port after being stranded in Antarctic ice
17 Nov 2009 | 2:44 pmFor the tourists who embarked upon the journey of a lifetime to the Antarctic the chance to travel through "spectacular icy seascapes" probably brought to mind romantic images of following in the pioneering footsteps of Ernest Shackleton and recreating in some small way his heroic exploits.But in the end they came a little too close for comfort to the legendary explorer's footsteps than they would have liked.Fifty-one British tourists and a BBC film crew are among the 184 people, 101 of whom are passengers, on board the Kapitan Khebnikov icebreaker which has been stranded since last Friday… -
How Pablo Escobar's son atoned for the sins of his father
7 Nov 2009 | 4:07 pmColombian drug baron Pablo Escobar was gunned down in 1993. In an exclusive interview, his son tells Uki Goñi why he had to seek reconciliation with the children of Pablo's victimsJuan Escobar was a teenager when he first challenged his father, the most notorious and brutal drug lord in Colombia's history. "I confronted him about the deaths attributed to him on the TV news," he recalls now. "He started calling me 'my 14-year-old pacifist son'. But no one could stop my father. Not all of Colombia, together with the help of the CIA. So what could the son of Pablo Escobar do?"Nearly two decades… -
Roy Greenslade: Argentina to drop jail terms for libel
4 Nov 2009 | 12:07 amArgentina has moved closer to removing jail sentences for slander and libel from its penal code. Prompted by the government of President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, the chamber of deputies passed a reform bill that must now be voted on by the senate. It follows a 2008 Inter-American Court of Human Rights ruling that overturned the conviction of journalist Eduardo Kimel for criminal defamation.Source: IPIPress freedomArgentinaMedia lawGreenslade on Latin AmericaRoy Greensladeguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions… -
Justice in Uruguay comes full circle | Marcelo Garcia
24 Oct 2009 | 5:00 amAfter years of protecting human rights abusers from prosecution, Uruguay is finally confronting its brutal pastWhen Uruguay goes to the polls tomorrow to choose a new president, this tiny South American country will teach itself, and the world, an important lesson: that burdens of injustice cannot be hidden for long. Or, to the more pragmatic, it will show that it is easier to deliver justice for past atrocities when the culprits are closer to the cemetery than they are to the courts.Uruguay may look to foreign eyes like an icon for reconciliation and justice. If the polls are right, José… -
Monopoly slayers and freedom fighters | Marcelo Garcia
16 Oct 2009 | 10:00 amArgentina is the latest Latin American country to battle the media. At stake is the way political representation will evolveThe approval of new media legislation in Argentina is the latest in a series of head-on clashes between Latin American governments and big media. It is a war between self-declared monopoly slayers and freedom (of expression) fighters. Their fighting ground is the public. And their first casualty is information.Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and her husband and predecessor, Néstor Kirchner, comfortably won the congressional chapter of an all-out…
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Art and design: Art | guardian.co.uk
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This week's exhibitions previews
20 Nov 2009 | 4:06 pmRoger Hilton, CambridgeAt Christmas 1972, Roger Hilton started mischievously to play with the poster paints presented to one of his sons. Largely confined to bed due to prolonged addiction to booze and fags, Hilton, through the remaining three years of his life, went on to produce one of the most touching and enchanting painting series of the 20th century. While his contemporaries struggled to regain the gestural spontaneity of children's doodles, Hilton – in works of utterly compelling maturity – brought it off again and again, pouring out images of deceptive innocence: cheeky nudes,… -
Vincent Van Gogh's Complete Letters | Book review
20 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmVan Gogh's letters provide an extraordinary map of the artist's interior worldMichelangelo wrote some wonderful sonnets; Constable's correspondence has a fascinating tough-tenderness; most visualisers have, with varying degrees of success, tried to match words to their images. But Van Gogh's letters are the best written by any artist. Engrossing, moving, energetic and compelling, they dramatise individual genius while illuminating the creative process in general. No wonder readers have long since taken them to heart. No wonder, either, that singers have used them in their songs ("Starry… -
Matisse: the true revolutionary
20 Nov 2009 | 7:11 amIt wasn't Americans such as Pollack and Rothko who revolutionised art – Matisse stepped away from the easel more than a decade before themIn the 1940s and 50s, art was revolutionised by a generation of young Americans who redefined what painting could be and, in doing so, laid the ground for today's art of installation, performance and space invasion. Jackson Pollock, Barnett Newman and Mark Rothko painted on such a scale and with such an enriched idea of space that they left the traditional idea of painting behind.At least, that's the official story. Pollock's champion, the critic Clement… -
Jeanne-Claude, Christo's wife and collaborator, obituary
20 Nov 2009 | 5:03 amShe was one half of the environmental artist known to the world as ChristoThe flame-haired artist Jeanne-Claude – or Mrs Christo, as she sometimes called herself – worked with her husband to mummify the Pont Neuf, to envelop a string of Miami islands in flamingo-pink nylon, to bind the German Reichstag building in aluminium fabric and to erect 7,503 billowing, saffron "gates" in Central Park, New York. She has died aged 74, from complications of a brain aneurism suffered after a fall.Jeanne-Claude Denat de Guillebon was born in Casablanca, Morocco, where her father, a French general, was… -
Exhibitionist: The best art shows to see this week
20 Nov 2009 | 2:59 amLouise Bourgeois brings her bronzes to London, Luke Fowler is all ears in Glasgow, and Nottingham grunts a ballsy ballad to blokedomAfter Awkward Objects, Hauser & Wirth, LondonThere's an eruption of bulges in After Awkward Objects, at London's Hauser & Wirth, an exhibition of work by feminist-art titans Louise Bourgeois, Lynda Benglis and Alina Szapocznikow. Benglis's gorgeous bronzes resembling both molten lava and gluey body fluids clearly share a formal kinship with Bourgeois's anthropomorphic dangly bits and Szapocznikow's "tumour sculptures". Yet there's a marked difference in what…
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Art and Design | guardian.co.uk
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Mountains melt: Helena Christensen's pictures from Peru
21 Nov 2009 | 6:46 amSupermodel turned photographer talks about Oxfam project documenting climate change in the Andean countryJim PowellImogen Carter -
The shape of emotion
20 Nov 2009 | 4:07 pmDonatello was the first genius of the Renaissance, but his raw, expressive work also challenges all our assumptions about the period. He is justly the star of the V&A's triumphant new galleriesThe Ricordanze of Giovanni Chellini da San Miniato are terse little comments, on the whole. It was the custom for men of substance in Renaissance Florence to keep a kind of economic diary, mostly a record of debits and credits, of dowries paid and daughters married off. Some of these manuscripts break out of genre to become personal, but Chellini's is pretty matter of fact. It takes an earthquake to get… -
This week's exhibitions previews
20 Nov 2009 | 4:06 pmRoger Hilton, CambridgeAt Christmas 1972, Roger Hilton started mischievously to play with the poster paints presented to one of his sons. Largely confined to bed due to prolonged addiction to booze and fags, Hilton, through the remaining three years of his life, went on to produce one of the most touching and enchanting painting series of the 20th century. While his contemporaries struggled to regain the gestural spontaneity of children's doodles, Hilton – in works of utterly compelling maturity – brought it off again and again, pouring out images of deceptive innocence: cheeky nudes,… -
Art you can wear from Hermès
20 Nov 2009 | 4:06 pmThe most desirable and grown-up 36 square inches of silk in fashion -
Weekend readers' pictures: Green
20 Nov 2009 | 4:06 pmYour best photographs on this week's theme, from circuit boards to emerald snakes
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Business: Asda | guardian.co.uk
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Who will be Morrisons' new boss?
19 Nov 2009 | 1:06 pmThe contenders who could take over from Marc Bolland as he moves to M&SRichard Pennycook Morrisons' no-nonsense finance director joined before Marc Bolland (below), when it was in freefall following the botched takeover of Safeway in 2004 and the company had admitted its finance department had lost control. Bolland adopted Pennycook's plan to restore the store's fortunes. He has thrown his hat into the ring and is highly rated by the City, but finance directors are so often the bridesmaid … Odds: 4/7John Dixon The head of Marks & Spencer's food business and was a contender for the M&S top… -
Archie Norman: straddling business and politics
18 Nov 2009 | 1:27 pmAsda's saviour is known for his skill in engineering turnaroundsArchie Norman is the only FTSE 100 chairman to have sat in the Commons. The company in question was Asda, which was so troubled when he took it on in 1991 that he was the only person who applied to be its chief executive.Eight years later Asda was sold to Wal-Mart for £6.5bn, handing investors an eightfold improvement in the share price and sealing Norman's golden reputation in the retail world. A later turnaround project was the telecoms company Energis, which was sold to Cable & Wireless for double the original value.The… -
Letters: Watershed in high-street bookselling
13 Nov 2009 | 4:06 pmStuart Jeffries laments the passing of the "old" Waterstone's without acknowledging many good things the "new" Waterstone's has to offer (Sold out, G2, 10 November). There are 300 branches of Waterstone's on high streets around the UK, staffed by people with a passion for their trade and carrying a vast number of books for all tastes. Of these only a carefully selected number are price-promoted at any one time. The details of a particular promotion might be confusing, but the outcome is wonderful for the consumer.Jeffries cites Hilary Mantel's Booker prize-winning Wolf Hall: 800 pages of… -
Woolworths' collapse means a merrier Christmas for its high-street rivals
13 Nov 2009 | 10:29 amWith £2bn of sales up for grabs, stores across Britain have been taken over to share in a retail bonanzaOn a Wednesday night in late November last year, the directors of one of the high street's biggest retailers gathered sombrely in their boardroom. After exhaustive negotiations with lenders owed £385m, they were finally forced to admit defeat and formally called in the administrators. After almost 100 years, and despite an eleventh-hour intervention by officials representing business secretary Lord Mandelson, Woolworths collapsed and 30,000 jobs were lost.Twelve months on, the wonder of… -
Asda and Tesco in £400m Christmas price war
12 Nov 2009 | 5:38 am• Supermarket announces discounts worth £150m• Tesco also reveals aggressive festive price cutsAsda and Tesco fired the first shots in the Christmas price war today, confirming that festive trade in Britain's supermarket aisles and high streets would be at its most competitive level for 10 years.With six weeks to go until Christmas day, Britain's two biggest supermarket chains announced price cuts totalling £400m.Asda, which also released strong financial results today, is making discounts which it says are worth £150m to its customers."This year will be the most aggressive on price in…
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World news : Asia Pacific roundup | guardian.co.uk
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Mother of separated twins says she will not seek custody
20 Nov 2009 | 5:24 pmLavlee Mollik tells Bangladesh newspaper that she wants her daughters to live and be educated in AustraliaThe mother of conjoined Bangladeshi twins who were separated in an operation in Melbourne has said she does not want custody of the daughters she gave up for adoption and wants them to have new lives in Australia, according to reports.The twins, who turn three next month, had been joined at the top of their heads and shared brain tissue and blood vessels. They were separated on Tuesday after 25 hours of delicate surgery and then underwent an additional six hours of reconstructive work.The… -
President Obama: A little less conversation?
20 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmIneluctably, a worm is turning deep inside President Barack Obama's policy of constructive engagement. Mr Obama needs something, somewhere to go right. He has filled audiences in Berlin and Cairo with hope. He has deployed his rich family history to shine a beam on all manner of problems. But there comes a point where vision must give way to results.A change of tone was implicit this week on his Asian tour. He found a steelier voice on Iran, warning that its refusal to accept the offer of enriching its uranium overseas could trigger international sanctions "within weeks", and he claimed that… -
Report warns of Pakistan's younger generation losing faith in democracy
20 Nov 2009 | 11:28 am• Swelling population 'risks demographic disaster'• Cynicism and disaffection among disturbing findingsPakistan faces a "demographic disaster" if its leaders fail to invest in a youth population that is disturbingly cynical about democracy, has greatest faith in the military and is resentful of western interference, according to a study published tomorrow.The report, commissioned by the British Council, says the nuclear-armed country is at a critical point, with its population forecast to swell by 85 million, from its current 180 million, over the next two decades."Pakistan is at a… -
Japanese economy heads back to deflation
20 Nov 2009 | 7:57 am• Finance minister admits 'sense of crisis' as prices fall• Government urges Bank of Japan to tackle deflationJapan's fledgling recovery is under threat from falling prices, the government said today, as it conceded that deflation had returned to the world's second-biggest economy after a three-year gap.The finance minister, Hirohisa Fujii, spoke of a "sense of crisis" over falling prices – the problem that plagued Japan during what's known as its "lost decade" of economic stagnation in the 1990s.Fujii's comments came as the Bank of Japan (BoJ) kept interest rates at 0.1% and upgraded… -
Give North Korea a break | John Delury
20 Nov 2009 | 7:30 amDenuclearisation will only come when bridges have been built with Pyongyang and it feels firmly set on a new economic courseNegotiations over the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula look set to resume. Sadly, they are unlikely to end soon. Talk of a "grand bargain" remains just that – talk.Trust between North Korea and the US, South Korea and Japan is almost non-existent. While all leaders – including North Korea's Kim Jong-il – remain committed to denuclearisation in public, none appears ready to risk much in terms of domestic politics to achieve that end. So the best the world…
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Global: Audio | guardian.co.uk
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Guardian Book Club Podcast: Kiran Desai
20 Nov 2009 | 10:20 amKiran Desai talks to John Mullan about the writing process for The Inheritance Of LossJohn Mullan -
Nabokov's The Original of Laura discussed, Reif Larsen on his obsessive qualities
20 Nov 2009 | 7:30 amIn the week that Penguin opened the vaults on one of the most tantalising of all literary legacies, Vladimir Nabokov's unfinished novel The Original of Laura, we discuss the decision to disobey the author's wish that it be destroyed. Is it an unfinished masterpiece or the random jottings of a dying man? Actor Dominic West opens the case for publication by reading an extract from the novel.Nabokov was famously an entomologist as well as a novelist, and we follow the insect trail into a novel shortlisted for this year's Guardian first book award. The Selected Works of TS Spivet is written,… -
Music Weekly: Gonzales
20 Nov 2009 | 5:05 amWelcome, one and all, to the latest edition of Music Weekly. This week's show kicks off with art beast Gonzales, who happens to be in the middle of a residency at London's Pigalle club. Laura Barton met up with the Canadian musician to talk about being "welcomed into the bosom of the French", trying to blend musical genius with entertainment and why having Jarvis Cocker on speed dial helps get more people to come to your shows. Barton even manages to squeeze in a piano lesson with the man who holds the record for the longest ever solo performance (27 hours, since you ask).Singles Club rumbles… -
Digested classic podcast: Darkness at Noon by Arthur Koestler
20 Nov 2009 | 2:40 amJohn Crace reminds us that there's no I in socalsm or totaltaransmJohn Crace -
Media Talk podcast: Archie Norman, James Harding, and Adrian van Klaveren
20 Nov 2009 | 12:00 amIt's a bumper edition of Media Talk this week, as Matt Wells and guests Jane Martinson and Paul Robinson analyse a busy seen days across the industry.We begin with broadcasting, where – after months of dilly-dallying – ITV has finally named its new chairman. We look at the job awaiting Archie Norman. Also in the podcast, we head to glorious Essex, where the Times editor James Harding outlined his grand plan to rewrite the economics of online journalism at the Society of Editors conference.Plus, we discuss the squabble between the Guardian and the PCC, and yet more controversy over BBC…
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World news: The BAE files | guardian.co.uk
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Time to clean up Britain's reputation | Chandrashekhar Krishnan
18 Nov 2009 | 6:40 amThe MPs' expenses scandal has weakened Britain's authority in the eyes of the world community, as the corruption index revealsTransparency International's corruption perceptions index, the annual corruption ranking of 180 countries, was published yesterday. What does it tell us about corruption and the UK's position in relation to other nations?TI's annual index measures perceptions of corruption in government, politics and the public sector. It is perhaps not surprising that Iraq, Sudan, Myanmar, Afghanistan and Somalia are at the bottom of the table. They are characterised by conflict, weak… -
Amnesty: UK firm supplied armoured cars used against Guinea protesters
25 Oct 2009 | 5:15 pmHuman rights group claims South African subsidiary of BAE Systems sold Mamba vehicles, used to quell demonstrationsRecent brutal attacks on demonstrators in the west African state of Guinea have involved British-supplied armoured cars, Amnesty International alleged today.The human rights organisation is calling for a freeze on all ammunition and riot gear exports to the military junta in Guinea, where a junior officer, Captain Dadis Camara, seized power last December. Soldiers subsequently fired on unarmed demonstrators at a football stadium in the capital, Conakry, killing an estimated 150… -
BAE bribery case: MP urges Gordon Brown to intervene
11 Oct 2009 | 5:15 pmTory Nigel Evans, who has BAE factories in his constituency, warns of crippling blow to industry if SFO prosecutes arms firmAn MP with BAE factories in his constituency has called on Gordon Brown and his colleagues to intervene once again in the bribery case being drawn up against the arms company.His call came as legal sources said a slimmed-down prosecution dossier was being prepared at speed by the Serious Fraud Office and would be given, as early as the end of this month, to Patricia Scotland, the attorney general. She has the power of veto in certain corruption cases.Nigel Evans, Tory MP… -
Can morality be brought to market? | Prem Sikka
7 Oct 2009 | 1:30 amThe BAE bribery allegations draw attention to the huge gap between corporate ethical talk and actionThe BAE bribery scandal has once again brought discussions of business ethics to the fore. Politicians also claim to be interested in promoting morality in markets, but have not explained how this can be achieved.There is no shortage of companies wrapping themselves in claims of ethical conduct to disarm critics. BAE boasts a global code of conduct, which claims that "its leaders will act ethically, promote ethical conduct both within the company and in the markets in which we operate". In the… -
Letters: Principled stand on BAE investment
5 Oct 2009 | 4:05 pmThose local authorities and associated pension funds that continue investing in the arms trade should take a whiff of the stench surrounding BAE Systems (Editorial, 2 October). The Serious Fraud Office is considering bringing the company to court for allegations of paying millions in bribes to win arms contracts in countries such as Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe, the Czech Republic and South Africa.BAE, it is alleged, paid $12m into a Swiss bank account in order to sell desperately poor Tanzania a military radar system even though the country hasn't an air force. This is, of course, on top of the…
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Television & radio: Television Baftas | guardian.co.uk
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Robert Carlyle: reserve screens for UK productions
10 Nov 2009 | 4:46 amTrainspotting actor urges cinema chains to give 'a wee leg up' to the British film industryActor Robert Carlyle has called on cinema chains to "give a leg up" to the British film industry by reserving at least one screen in multiplexes to show UK productions.Speaking at the Bafta Scotland awards in Glasgow on Sunday, the Trainspotting and Full Monty actor said, "I look at all these multiplex cinemas, 15 and 20 screens. They are basically wall-to-wall American product. You will be lucky if you find any British subject in there at all."I don't see why there's anything wrong in giving our… -
Monty Python's fly-in Bafta: stars collect British award in New York
16 Oct 2009 | 7:14 amComedy group's five surviving members still full of gags on 40th anniversary of Flying CircusThe five surviving members of Monty Python reunited briefly in New York last night, using the occasion to poke fun at each other, Germans, Bafta, which gave them an award from 3,000 miles away in London, and above all the one person who wasn't there: Graham Chapman.The sixth member of the comedy group died in 1989, on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the TV debut of Flying Circus. He was represented by a cardboard cut-out at the 40th anniversary celebration of the show at the Ziegfeld cinema in… -
The BBC is right to end its head of fiction role – no one should have that much power
28 Apr 2009 | 7:12 amJane Tranter's former role at the BBC was too big a job for one individual – no one should have that much powerLest you were in any doubt about the uniqueness of Jane Tranter - though after the hagiographical tribute to her at Sunday's Baftas, at which she picked up the Special Award, I can't imagine how you could possibly entertain such a notion – the BBC has confirmed it. There will be no new controller of fiction at the corporation and the post that Tranter vacated to cross the pond will be dismantled. The excellent Christine Langan steps up at BBC Films to become creative director… -
The Bafta-winning Gareth Malone's two choirs
27 Apr 2009 | 4:01 pmIt can't be often that Jeremy Clarkson is left standing in the dust by a choirmaster. But that's what happened at this week's Baftas, when The Choir II: Boys Don't Sing beat Clarkson's Top Gear as well as The Apprentice to win Best Feature. And as Gareth Malone won his second award for this documentary about helping boys at a state school in Leicestershire to enjoy singing, Gareth's other choir - myself and the rest of the London Symphony Orchestra Community Choir - were cheering just as loudly as the boys.Through Gareth's determination, I and a handful of novices from this London outreach… -
Monkey goes to ... the Bafta television awards
27 Apr 2009 | 7:18 amNew venue – old hairTV types attending last night's Bafta television awards found themselves in strange surroundings – the bash abandoned its normal West-End-theatre, pile-on-a-bus, Park-Lane-hotel routine for a whole night at the Royal Festival Hall. But even on the South Bank, some things never change, including the red carpet providing the usual mix of sartorial elegance and car crash. Despite sporting a delightful 60s-style bouffant, Barbara Windsor, was pipped to the Barnet of The Night award by Justin Lee Collins, whose blow-dried number left him looking one part Nicky Clarke, two…
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World news: Bangladesh | guardian.co.uk
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Mother of separated twins says she will not seek custody
20 Nov 2009 | 5:24 pmLavlee Mollik tells Bangladesh newspaper that she wants her daughters to live and be educated in AustraliaThe mother of conjoined Bangladeshi twins who were separated in an operation in Melbourne has said she does not want custody of the daughters she gave up for adoption and wants them to have new lives in Australia, according to reports.The twins, who turn three next month, had been joined at the top of their heads and shared brain tissue and blood vessels. They were separated on Tuesday after 25 hours of delicate surgery and then underwent an additional six hours of reconstructive work.The… -
Separated twin Trishna looks brilliant, says surgeon
19 Nov 2009 | 12:45 amBangladeshi toddler Trishna talking and behaving normally after Australian operation to separate her from conjoined sisterA Bangladeshi toddler separated this week from her conjoined twin sister was talking and behaving normally today after waking from a medically induced coma, the head of the surgical team said.Trishna was already doing well enough that she could leave intensive care, said Wirginia Maixner, director of neurosurgery at Royal children's hospital in Melbourne, Australia."She looks brilliant, she is talking, she is being Trishna, she is behaving the way she always has," Maixner… -
Australian surgeons separate conjoined twins
16 Nov 2009 | 11:44 pmFemale Bangladeshi twins Trishna and Krishna reported to be 'very well' after 25-hour operationA team of 16 surgeons and nurses today successfully completed a 25-hour operation to separate conjoined twins in Australia.The female Bangladeshi twins, Trishna and Krishna, had been joined at their heads, sharing blood vessels and brain tissue.They were taken to Australia in 2007 after a charity worker found them in a Bangladeshi orphanage. It is too early to know whether either suffered any brain damage in the operation.Leo Donnan, of the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne, said the girls… -
Unthinkable? Fixing prices for fossil fuels
13 Nov 2009 | 4:07 pmThe oil trade is a market in the same sense that the Millennium Dome was a tourist attraction. Demand and supply curves; transparency and predictability – such terms are for the birds here. Oil traders deal in a finite resource, where it is murky how much oil is readily accessible, where supplies are subject to serious disruption and where hardly any of the environmental damage of using the stuff (everything from natural despoliation to carbon emissions) is reflected in the actual price. Not only is this a dysfunctional market; it is also clear that much more of the world's energy needs to… -
Charity Christmas cards where 100% goes to a good cause
13 Nov 2009 | 4:06 pmMiles Brignall reports from Sreepur, the Bangladeshi village project that trains destitute women to make and decorate Christmas cards for sale in the UKWhen 16-year-old Bina's husband died two months before her twin daughters were born, she faced a grim and penniless future.Abandoned as a girl after her father left home, Bina, pictured above, was forced to live with her grandfather – who, once she reached 14, swiftly pushed her into an arranged marriage.She still has no idea how her husband (who worked in the local bicycle factory) died, although she suspects it was TB. Forced out by her…
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Business: Barclays | guardian.co.uk
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FSA ready to show teeth on pay
16 Nov 2009 | 12:24 pmFinancial Services Authority is expected to get powers to veto individual bonus dealsCity financier Terry Smith has a passion for boxing but when it comes to City bonuses, it seems gymnastics are more to his taste. The combative chief executive of money broker Tullett Prebon, who is also chairman of stockbroker Collins Stewart, claims that "as an employer and as an investor in two big financial services firms, if we could introduce caps on bonuses I would do cartwheels down my office".City pay practices could face a crackdown after Wednesday's Queen's speech hands more powers to the Financial… -
Kipper Williams: Euromillions lottery winners revealed as Barclays gets set for record profits
11 Nov 2009 | 12:26 amThe UK's biggest lottery winners enjoyed a pay out of £45m, while it looks like being a bumper year for Barclays as well -
How much will Barclays dare pay in bonuses?
10 Nov 2009 | 1:09 pmRevenues at Barclays Capital are twice last year's but don't expect the bank to use the money to rebuild its capitalGood profits, nice token dividend. So how much has been set aside for bonuses? Barclays, naturally, danced around this question. It has never disclosed the size of the bonus pool at the third-quarter stage in the past and it's certainly not starting now.But it doesn't require genius to work out that, when revenues at Barclays Capital are twice last year's level, the accrued bonus pool will be large.The issue is how much Barclays dares to propose to hand out in the current… -
Viewpoint: How much will Barclays dare to pay? | Nils Pratley
10 Nov 2009 | 1:07 pmIt doesn't take a genius to work out that the accrued bonus pool at Barclays Capital will be largeGood profits, nice token dividend. So how much has been set aside for bonuses? Barclays, naturally, danced around this question. It has never disclosed the size of the bonus pool at the third-quarter stage in the past and it's certainly not starting now.But it doesn't require genius to work out that, when revenues at Barclays Capital are twice last year's level, the accrued bonus pool will be large.The issue is how much Barclays dares to propose to hand out in the current political and regulatory… -
Barclays on track for record profits in 2009
10 Nov 2009 | 11:05 amBank admits rises in pay for investment bankers at Barclays Capital are 'under consideration'Barclays is considering handing pay rises to its top investment bankers despite its insistence it will consider the view of the "broader community" when setting bonus levels.Its Barclays Capital investment bank – bolstered by the takeover of the Wall Street operations of Lehman last year – made pre-tax profits of £1.4bn for the first nine months of the year out of total group profits of £4.54bn.The City believes Barclays is on track to report record profits by year end but even so its shares…
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Media: BBC | guardian.co.uk
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Chris Evans lines up Moira Stuart to read news on Radio 2 breakfast show
20 Nov 2009 | 4:06 pmBBC was criticised for ageism after dropping veteran newsreader Moira Stuart after four decadesMore than two years after the BBC dropped her – sparking accusations of ageism – veteran newsreader Moira Stuart is being lined up for a return to the airwaves on Chris Evans's BBC Radio 2 breakfast show.Stuart, a familiar voice on BBC television for four decades, is understood to be Evans's choice of newsreader for his new show, which will begin in the new year when he takes over from Sir Terry Wogan. Evans, who currently hosts the drivetime show on Radio 2, is due to start rehearsals for the… -
Daddy, I made up the jokes
20 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmSuburban sitcom Outnumbered could easily have flopped. Instead its child stars are up against Charlie Brooker for a comedy awardAndy Hamilton and Guy Jenkin's sitcom Outnumbered should have been a disaster. At least three-fifths of its humour depends on the improvisatory skills of a trio of child actors, one of whom was only five when the sitcom started two years ago. Little as contrary to sensible broadcasting had been tried on British television before. The safe money said it would flop.But it didn't. Even though it was tucked away in BBC2's schedules after the Saturday watershed and was… -
Max Robertson obituary
20 Nov 2009 | 2:26 pmBBC radio's lightning-fast voice of Wimbledon tennis for four decadesMax Robertson, who has died at the age of 94, earned a deserved reputation for being one of the BBC's most versatile broadcasters, and was recognised during his heyday at Wimbledon as the fastest talker on the air. Among numerous other roles, he was the first presenter of the current affairs programme Panorama, and in at the start of television's passion for appreciating antiques - and the price they might fetch - in Going for a Song.For those of us growing up as sports-mad schoolboys in the 1950s, the voices that brought us… -
Public pay is bloated. But don't forget the virus source | Polly Toynbee
20 Nov 2009 | 12:30 pmThe wild escalation of top salaries goes across both sectors – and so must the solution: a high pay commissionIf ever there were a need for a high pay commission to put some rationality into out-of-control top pay scales, this is it. The Equality and Human Rights Commission is looking for a new chief executive. Its chairman, Trevor Phillips, called in Hayes Consulting to establish what the salary should be. It suggested a staggering £200,000 – more than the prime minister. Why so much?It's a poisoned chalice of a job, under daily assault from a hostile press that mocks, abuses and… -
Treasury secretary defends government's online piracy plans
20 Nov 2009 | 5:45 amStephen Timms claims piracy powers necessary to 'future-proof' government proposals to safeguard the UK's creative industriesRead the government's statement on the billRead the digital economy billStephen Timms, the Treasury secretary, has defended the government's controversial plans to give ministers sweeping powers to combat online piracy as necessary to "future-proof" its proposals to safeguard the UK's creative industries.The digital economy bill, published today, introduces a new system to combat online piracy on peer-to-peer sharing services. Persistent unlawful file-sharers will…
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Life and style: Beauty | guardian.co.uk
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Lauren Luke's beauty buys: best blues
21 Nov 2009 | 4:00 amA bolt of blue can brighten the greyest winter day, says Lauren. Here are six well worth a shotLauren Luke -
What I see in the mirror: Sue Johnston
20 Nov 2009 | 4:10 pm'I never want to see my profile because it is ugly. People actually call me Big Nose!'I would avoid the mirror if it wasn't for my profession. It's hard sitting in front of the mirror for hours while people put wigs and make-up on you. I just see faults, including bags and wrinkles, and I am always doing that self-facelift thing of lifting my chin up and squashing my nose to make it smaller.I never want to see my profile because it is ugly. People actually call me Big Nose! One of my close friends used to work at Liverpool Football Club and when he stood up, the crowd would say, "Sit down,… -
My nine to five: Charles Worthington
20 Nov 2009 | 4:06 pmCharles Worthington, celebrity hairdresser, on product testing, staying in shape and the lure of televisionMy alarm goes off every morning at 6am but I like to slide into the day, so I hit the snooze button and get up at 6.30. My first job is to feed Baxter, my American cocker spaniel, and then I get a double espresso and a protein shake.Three times a week I meet my personal trainer at the gym from 8 until 9, that's the only way I can eat the food I enjoy so much. I know for a fact I wouldn't go unless I had a trainer.I'm at the office at 9.30 and I always have a 10-minute meeting with Katie,… -
Alex Box on the fine art of makeup
20 Nov 2009 | 3:30 amMakeup artist Alex Box talks exclusively to Jo Jones about her unconventional work, high fashion, and her latest collaboration with photographer RankinJim PowellJo Jones -
What I see in the mirror: Will Young
13 Nov 2009 | 4:10 pm'I started losing my hair four years ago. The pills worked and it grew back'This morning I see bags under my eyes and myself getting older. I am 30 and I love getting older because I get happier, wiser and more confident. But I look back at old pictures of myself and I think, "I looked quite good then, why didn't I realise it at the time?" I'll probably look back when I am 40 and think, "I was quite handsome when I was 30." I am happy with my style. I feel like a man now. I felt like a little boy before, but then I suppose I was one. James Brown told me to always dress smart and,…
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Politics: Tony Blair | guardian.co.uk
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Letters: Herman rains on Tone's parade
20 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmDo I detect a certain regret that Tony Blair failed in his bid to become president of the European council (Comment, Leaders, 20 November)? Is there a single person left in this country who does not share in the shame of the deceit over Iraq?Anthony MarrianLondon • It is a major missed opportunity for the future prosperity, and indeed safety, of Europe that Tony Blair has been deemed too big a politician for the fragile egos of European leaders. The excuse of Iraq has been used to justify ignoring a man who has both the strategic judgment and courage to represent Europe in the way that its… -
Calls from Angela Merkel told Tony Blair he would not get EU's top job
20 Nov 2009 | 3:34 pmTony Blair warned Gordon Brown a week ago that his campaign to become the first president of the European Council was doomed after a decisive intervention by the German chancellor Angela Merkel, according to senior Whitehall sources.To the dismay of key ministers, who wanted Brown to push for Britain to take an economic portfolio in the European commission once Blair's hopes were dashed, Brown insisted on maintaining his candidacy until moments before Thursday's European summit.The prime minister hailed the summit as a victory after Britain secured one of the two jobs created under the Lisbon… -
Politics needs poetry – so hooray for Herman Van Rompuy
20 Nov 2009 | 2:10 pmThe verse-writing of the new president of the European Council is good in parts, says the former poet laureateFirst let me say this: on balance, I would far rather that people in politics were writing poetry than not. Where are the poets in the House of Commons? So let's give Herman Van Rompuy a round of applause.However, I am suspicious of the haiku as a form. I have read a great many over the years – it is the default form in schools, and children are always being made to write them – and have come to believe that haikus are particularly popular among those who don't have time for… -
'Europe has shown it wants to be a supersize Switzerland'
20 Nov 2009 | 12:22 pmThe mood in Brussels is bleak as experts agree politicking has triumphed over ambition in the appointment of two new leaders, writes Ian TraynorEurope's hopes of translating its economic power into global political clout have suffered a severe setback as a result of the timid choices on new leadership made this week, analysts, officials, and diplomats conceded on Friday.Others countered, however, that the new faces promoted to European leadership positions – Herman Van Rompuy of Belgium and Lady Ashton from Britain – should be given the benefit of the doubt.Critics within EU structures… -
Tony Blair out of EU race, but Britain provides new foreign minister
19 Nov 2009 | 4:14 pm• Brown seals deal to give Ashton foreign portfolio• Blair's fears realised as Van Rompuy lands top jobWith its nondescript glass front, decorated with the red and white of the national flag, the Austrian mission to the European Union looks like another unremarkable diplomatic building in Brussels.But yesterday afternoon a key moment in British Labour history took place inside the building when Gordon Brown attended a meeting of EU centre-left leaders. In the space of a few minutes the prime minister acknowledged the inevitable and withdrew Britain's support for Tony Blair as the first…
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World news: Joe Biden | guardian.co.uk
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Nato chief promises Afghanistan will get 'substantially more forces'
17 Nov 2009 | 11:59 amNato and its allies will order "substantially more forces" into battle in Afghanistan over the next few weeks, the alliance's secretary general said today.Speaking in Edinburgh at a Nato parliamentary assembly meeting, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, said: "In a few weeks, I expect we will decide, in Nato, on the approach, and troop levels needed, to take our mission forward."Barack Obama is expected to make a long-awaited declaration on US troop levels and strategy in the next few days. But Rasmussen pre-empted the president by predicting the alliance as a whole would pursue a broad… -
Can Joe Biden revive Poland's love affair with the US? | Kris Kotarski
30 Oct 2009 | 9:26 amCan Joe Biden breathe life into Poland's waning love affair with the United States?When confronted with a troubled relationship, Joe Biden may not be the first person one turns to to set things right. Yet that is what Barack Obama did last week dispatching his vice-president to Warsaw, Prague and Bucharest to comfort and reassure eastern Europe after the US "reset" its relations with Moscow and cancelled its planned missile shield deployments in the Czech Republic and Poland.Although Biden lacks the charm and star power of the therapist-in-chief, he did put in a grand effort. Sporting a broad… -
Joe Biden seeks to mend US relations with Poland
21 Oct 2009 | 6:56 amVice-president's trip comes a month after US abandoned plans for a missile defence shield in central EuropeUS vice-president Joe Biden is in Warsaw today for a round of meetings with Polish leaders, in an effort to repair a relationship strained by US abandonment of an anti-ballistic missile battery in the country.Biden is to meet Poland's prime minister Donald Tusk and president Lech Kaczynski. The US vice-president will meet Polish veterans of the war in Afghanistan at the airport on his way out of the country.Biden's visit comes a month after the US abandoned the long-planned installation… -
Red October can't hunt | Lionel Beehner
7 Aug 2009 | 6:00 amOn the anniversary of its war with Georgia, Russia is flexing its muscles at the US. But Obama shouldn't sound the alarmIt may not be newsworthy that a pair of nuclear-armed Russian submarines was patrolling near the east coast of the US. But it was bound to make headlines no less, and for that alone it is worth asking: What kind of signal is Moscow trying to send?Before reading too much into the story it should be added that a similar controversy stoked tensions after Russia resumed transatlantic flights of nuclear-armed bombers in 2007. Nothing much came of the episode, and relations… -
Don't let the beer summit go flat | Lola Adesioye
31 Jul 2009 | 9:00 amThe White House meeting between Obama, Gates and Crowley should not end the conversation about race in AmericaSince Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates was arrested at his Cambridge, Massachusetts home last week, the discussion about race relations in 21st-century America has continued to grow. It has become the hottest news topic of the week, overshadowing other pressing issues such as the president's healthcare reform initiative. It remains to be seen what effect last night's "beer summit" – a meeting at the White House between Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Gates and arresting officer James…
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UK news: Black History Month | guardian.co.uk
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Hideously diverse Britain: Black History Month – in Kent
29 Oct 2009 | 5:05 pmIt makes sense in inner-city schools, with a multicultural intake - but how does learning about Martin Luther King and Mary Seacole go down in Rochester?'Martin Luther King gave a speech," says the girl, slightly embarrassed, her brown hair nestling on a brown school sweater. "He said black and white people should be friends and shouldn't be nasty to each other." She halts, adjusts the roll of paper that has his photograph bold in the middle, handwritten text either side. "I think he was a really special person."They learn about Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela and Mary Seacole at this time… -
Malcolm X was bisexual. Get over it | Peter Tatchell
20 Oct 2009 | 1:00 pmBlack History Month should help break down homophobia by celebrating the sexuality of black heroes such as Malcolm XOctober is Black History Month in Britain – a wonderful celebration of the huge, important and valuable contribution that black people have made to humanity and to popular culture.It is also worth celebrating that many leading black icons have been lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT), most notably the US black liberation hero Malcolm X. Other prominent black LGBTs include jazz singer Billie Holiday, author and civil rights activist James Baldwin, soul… -
Review: The Oxford Companion to Black British History
7 Nov 2008 | 4:01 pmDon't be put off by the textbook format. This is really a collection of punchy, argumentative and thought-provoking essays that would make a perfect bedside book. The entry on British sport, for instance, detects an "animalising trope", which attributes a black athlete's success to natural ability (with sinister "echoes of the race-IQ debate") rather than skill or practice. (It also examines the racist reaction of British football fans to black players in the early 1980s.) The entry on multiculturalism deftly debates the pros and cons, while an entry on Roman Britain reminds us that black… -
Your country needed him
4 Nov 2008 | 4:01 pmWalter Tull overcame prejudice to become the first black officer to lead British troops into war. Kwame Kwei-Armah explains why he had to tell his storyI was in the middle of rehearsals for my recent play Let There Be Love when my agent emailed to ask if I knew of a man named Walter Tull - and, if so, was I interested in writing a screenplay about him for the BBC. I had two thoughts. One, I didn't know who the hell Tull was; and two, I had all but sworn to myself that I would not get involved in another TV project until I'd healed from the years of hell I'd just emerged from.I went home, hit… -
'I'm ambitious, dedicated and vain'
4 Nov 2008 | 4:01 pmShe's won a Tony, been nominated for an Oscar and was the first black woman to have her own US sitcom. Diahann Carroll talks to Chrissy Iley about Dynasty, discrimination and why she didn't marry David FrostDiahann Carroll says that she has always loved to over-think an outfit, to analyse what she wears to an exacting degree. When auditioning for the 1968 TV show Julia, for instance - the first US sitcom ever to centre on a black woman - Carroll decided to wear an ordinary-looking shift, which was actually by Givenchy. She landed the part. And in honour of this instinct, I over-think the…
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Books: Books blog | guardian.co.uk
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AL Kennedy: Just because a story's about sex doesn't mean it's about sex
20 Nov 2009 | 5:09 amThe subject reliably grabs attention, but the words in a good story are usually getting up to all sorts of other stuffNow then, Best Beloveds: the short story. If we're sensible and care about prose, we will agree that it's a fine, exacting and beautiful form. It's perhaps not huge and showy, like making the Eiffel Tower disappear – it's more like someone holding your empty hand until it's satisfactorily and strangely filled with your granny's cameo and the powder-sweet scent of her long-gone lipstick. The short story is small, but can be devastatingly penetrating – quite like, as I… -
Booker club: The Bone People by Keri Hulme
20 Nov 2009 | 1:49 amKeri Hulme's The Bone People deals with hefty issues surrounding Maori displacement. Shame it breaks down too easily into bad writing and spiritual nonsenseThe buzz when The Bone People won the Booker prize in 1986 was all about the struggle Keri Hulme had to bring it to publication. First there was the monumental effort of writing it over a 12-year period, then the fact that nearly every publisher rejected it out of hand. Those who were prepared to look at it wouldn't contemplate bringing it to print without severe re-edits, prompting the author to declare she would rather have the book… -
Never mind the bad sex award – where's the good sex in fiction?
19 Nov 2009 | 8:52 amAs someone who works hard to get it right in my own novels, I'm very aware of just how difficult it is to depict wellAs the bad sex in fiction award shortlist lined up yesterday, the authors and their publishers scrambled to declare they'd have been offended not to have made the cut. Perhaps they were forgetting: it's the quality of the writing, not the sex, that's being assessed – and writing about sex well is one of the hardest things to do. There's an assumption that it will involve writing the nuts and bolts, what goes where. Wrong. Try it. "His right hand slipped down her left thigh,… -
Books of the decade: your best books of 2001
19 Nov 2009 | 7:00 amIt was the year of Atonement, The Body Artist and The Corrections, but what was your favourite book from 2001?It was the year our era began, with unprecedented abruptness, in obscene rolling news. But, blessedly, literature moves at a much slower pace, and it would be some years before the convulsions of September 2001 began to resound in serious fiction. Saturday, Ian McEwan's post-9/11 novel, was four years away, and his Booker disappointment this year was for Atonement.Its story of a young girl who ruins at least three lives with a single lie, nonetheless won a lot of hearts in the year's… -
Name the best science fiction titles
19 Nov 2009 | 2:25 amSpeculative fiction has produced some of the most intriguing story titles ever. But which are the best of the best?You should never judge a book by its cover, but should you judge a story by its title? If the recent success of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is anything to go by, then for many readers today the answer is yes. Seth Grahame-Smith's bestselling mash-up of Jane Austen and George A Romero became one of the most pre-ordered titles this side of The Lost Symbol, based solely on a zeitgeist-surfing title. And if those readers came to the story expecting an obvious joke stretched thin…
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Books news, reviews and author interviews | guardian.co.uk
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Revenge of the real
20 Nov 2009 | 4:07 pmSuffering from 'novel nausea', Zadie Smith wonders if the essay lives up to its promiseWhy do novelists write essays? Most publishers would rather have a novel. Bookshops don't know where to put them. It's a rare reader who seeks them out with any sense of urgency. Still, in recent months Jonathan Safran Foer, Margaret Drabble, Chinua Achebe and Michael Chabon, among others, have published essays, and so this month will I. And though I think I know why I wrote mine, I wonder why they wrote theirs, and whether we all mean the same thing by the word "essay", and what an essay is, exactly,… -
V&A's new Medieval and Renaissance Galleries
20 Nov 2009 | 4:07 pmDonatello was the first genius of the Renaissance, but his raw, expressive work also challenges all our assumptions about the period. He is justly the star of the V&A's triumphant new galleriesThe Ricordanze of Giovanni Chellini da San Miniato are terse little comments, on the whole. It was the custom for men of substance in Renaissance Florence to keep a kind of economic diary, mostly a record of debits and credits, of dowries paid and daughters married off. Some of these manuscripts break out of genre to become personal, but Chellini's is pretty matter of fact. It takes an earthquake to get… -
The Selected Works of TS Spivet
20 Nov 2009 | 4:07 pmIn the fourth of a series of Q&As with the shortlisted authors, Reif Larsen discusses his novelWhat moved you to write an illustrated account of a child prodigy's adventuresome life?This book, like most creations, grew in fits and starts. Maybe some writers already have the master plan for their Bildungsroman before they even punch their first keystroke, but I certainly didn't – I wandered, lost in the jungle for a long time before I struck upon the particular strange alchemy of this book. First it was finding the voice of TS, which I circled around like a blind dog. TS was originally drunk… -
Ten of the best: teachers
20 Nov 2009 | 4:07 pmAbelardAbelard was a brilliant early-medieval theologian and rhetorician who agreed to take on Héloïse as a pupil. The two began an affair, and when it was discovered, she was sent to a nunnery and he was castrated. The story has often been retold, notably by Alexander Pope. "From lips like those what precept failed to move? Too soon they taught me 'twas no sin to love."HolofernesThe schoolmaster in Shakespeare's Love's Labour's Lost is a loquacious pedant whose version of English boasts itself "full of forms, figures, shapes, objects, ideas, apprehensions, motions, revolutions: these are… -
A life in books: Mavis Gallant
20 Nov 2009 | 4:07 pm'I felt that the only thing I was on earth to do was to write'A couple of months ago Mavis Gallant had a dream. A messenger came to the door carrying a cardboard box with a lid on it. On top was written "Mavis Gallant" in big letters – and underneath it "Bad Prose". "I was devastated. Devastated for days. I thought, they aren't telling me the truth."In fact, Gallant is often cited as one of the best living short-story writers, inspiring reverence among devotees of the form, such as Jhumpa Lahiri, who credits her as the most significant influence on her own writing. At the age of 15 Gallant…
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Business: BP | guardian.co.uk
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Maxim Barsky voted new chief of TNK-BP
19 Nov 2009 | 11:12 amBP loses out as oligarch-favoured candidate Maxim Barsky appointed chief executive of Russia's third largest oil groupThe new domination of Moscow shareholders in the TNK-BP joint venture was underlined today when an inexperienced Russian favoured by the company's oligarch investors was chosen to take over at the country's third largest oil group.Maxim Barsky, 36, who will become chief executive of TNK-BP in January 2011 after five months' training at BP's London headquarters and various other parts of the business, was not BP's candidate.In the meantime, TNK-BP chairman Mikhail Fridman will… -
Energy security body calls for 'urgent' review of impact of oil shortages
15 Nov 2009 | 7:09 amVirgin, Stagecoach and Yahoo among firms calling for measures to address economic dislocation from a sudden rise in oil pricesAn industry organisation that includes Virgin and Yahoo has called on the government to "urgently" reassess its dismissive view about the potential threat and impact of oil shortages.The call from the UK Industry Taskforce on Peak Oil and Energy Security comes after revelations in the Guardian that there is dissent inside the International Energy Agency (IEA) about how soon the world may run out of supplies.It also comes alongside a petition to Number 10 which calls on… -
Crude World and The Squeeze | Book review
13 Nov 2009 | 4:06 pmTwo meticulous assessments of the decline of giant oil companiesWe live in an age of teetering empires, never quite ready to fall, eras not quite ready to end, their final crisis the subject of an ever-expanding literature of reportage. In these two books it is the end of the oil age that is chronicled. Peter Maass's Crude World (Allen Lane, £20) tells the story through snapshots of the critical situations; Tom Bower's The Squeeze uses profiles of the big players. Both books, tellingly, appear shorn of profound conclusions other than the obvious: oil dependence has left humanity in a… -
BP faces damages claim over pipeline through Colombian farmland
11 Nov 2009 | 3:57 pm• Group says project harmed crops, livestock and fish • Original assessment allegedly warned of risksNinety-five Colombian farmers are suing the oil company BP in the high court in London for allegedly causing serious damage to their land, crops and animals.In the first case of its kind, the farmers are claiming that BP Exploration Company (Colombia) Ltd, which joined forces with Colombia's national oil company and four foreign multinational corporations in a consortium to construct the 450-mile (720km) Ocensa pipeline, caused landslides and damage to soil and groundwater, causing crops… -
US safety authorities impose record £53m fine on BP for Texas City failings
30 Oct 2009 | 12:30 pmBritish company has not fixed hazards after 2005 explosion at industrial complex that cost 15 livesThe US government raised grave questions over BP's safety culture today by imposing a record fine of $87.4m (£53m) on the British company for failing to fix hazards at its Texas City oil refinery in the wake of a disastrous explosion that killed 15 people four years ago.The fine is four times higher than any previous penalty levied by America's workplace safety regulator, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and it raises the possibility that a criminal prosecution of BP…
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Global: Charlie Brooker | guardian.co.uk
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This week's comedy previews
20 Nov 2009 | 4:07 pmStephen K Amos, DVD/On tourSeemingly poised for stardom with his own BBC2 series due in 2010, Stephen K Amos's debut DVD, Find The Funny, gives those new to his charms the chance to find out what the rest of us have been sniggering to ourselves about all these years. Intermingling tersely insightful stories of prejudice (sexual and racial) with audacious audience interaction, Amos can switch from debonair elegance to spit-and-sawdust crudity. The DVD sees him testing his steel against Sydney's firmly on side Aussie punters, yet no one comes up with anything to match the crassness of Prince… -
Charlie Brooker's Screen burn
20 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pm'Jordan resembles a rubbery pirate ship figurehead, a weird booby caricature'People of Britain! Why so sad? You have at least four different flavours of mulch to choose from! Enjoy what you're given and shut up. The other day I was watching a report about the The X Factor (Sat, Sun, 8pm, ITV1) charity single during an ITV news bulletin which followed I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here! (nightly, ITV1). It was the day that Jordan went into the jungle. Jordan in the jungle, Jedward on the news. The media assumes you're fascinated by both of them.There's not much to be fascinated by. Take… -
Charlie Brooker | Christmas is the season of awful adverts
15 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmThey are smug, stomach-churning and delighted by their own existenceThe following clarification was printed in the Guardian's Corrections and clarifications column, Wednesday 18 November 2009 The column above about Christmas TV ads awarded its prize for the worst to Morrisons, for an ad which the writer said, correctly, had been filmed in a "snowblown Tunbridge Wells". A reader believes a footnote may be of interest: "There is no Morrisons in Tunbridge Wells – they closed it down. Phil "Disgusted" O'Neill.". 'Yep, it's that time of year again – and the Christmas adverts are already on the… -
Media Talk podcast: The Sun, Gordon Brown, and a bit of Charlie Brooker
13 Nov 2009 | 12:00 amMatt Wells is joined by Maggie Brown and Steve Ackerman on this week's Media Talk.The panel start by discussing the rights and wrongs of the Sun's attack on Gordon Brown. Was the rest of the media right to follow the tabloid's lead? Former Labour communications chief Lance Price adds his thoughts.Also in the podcast, Melvyn Bragg returns to BBC 2 as part of a new and exciting winter lineup (if you fancy the idea of Lambing Live, that is).Plus, the Observer gets a redesign and the Guardian announces a wave of cuts.Finally, Charlie Brooker tells us about his anger management issues – but… -
Charlie Brooker in conversation with Marina Hyde
11 Nov 2009 | 8:58 amWARNING: This podcast contains language which may offend. A lot.However, if you're not offended - you might like to purchase Charlie Brooker's new book, The Hell of it All. It's available now in all good book stores, but why not save yourself the journey by heading to Guardian Books instead.And if you still want more, have a look at our video of this interview too.Charlie BrookerMarina HydeBen Green
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Politics: Gordon Brown | guardian.co.uk
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Calls from Angela Merkel told Tony Blair he would not get EU's top job
20 Nov 2009 | 3:34 pmTony Blair warned Gordon Brown a week ago that his campaign to become the first president of the European Council was doomed after a decisive intervention by the German chancellor Angela Merkel, according to senior Whitehall sources.To the dismay of key ministers, who wanted Brown to push for Britain to take an economic portfolio in the European commission once Blair's hopes were dashed, Brown insisted on maintaining his candidacy until moments before Thursday's European summit.The prime minister hailed the summit as a victory after Britain secured one of the two jobs created under the Lisbon… -
Video: Herman Van Rompuy and Cathy Ashton introduce themselves
20 Nov 2009 | 1:32 amThe new EU president and foreign minister celebrate their appointment -
Harman to be charged over car crash
19 Nov 2009 | 6:28 pmLabour deputy leader is accused of driving her car into a parked vehicle while talking on her mobile phoneHarriet Harman was facing the prospect of acute political embarrassment today after a decision to prosecute her for allegedly driving without due care and attention and driving while using a mobile phone.Once tipped to succeed Gordon Brown as Labour leader, Harman, 59, MP for Camberwell and Peckham, is confronting the potentially damaging prospect of court proceedings while serving as a cabinet minister.The law which banned driving while using a mobile phone was introduced by Labour when… -
Labour peer Lady Ashton appointed as new EU foreign minister in Brussels
19 Nov 2009 | 5:45 pmIn the space of a few minutes in Brussels yesterday afternoon, Cathy Ashton found herself catapulted into the international limelight as one of the world's most powerful women.It is a spectacular rise by any standards. Just 13 months ago she was a relatively junior member of the British cabinet, as leader of the House of Lords. In her latest role she will represent the foreign policy of half a billion EU citizens.Ashton will rank just behind Hillary Clinton and Angela Merkel as one of the world's most powerful women immersed in some of its most intractable problems. Her main areas will be the… -
Tony Blair out of EU race, but Britain provides new foreign minister
19 Nov 2009 | 4:14 pm• Brown seals deal to give Ashton foreign portfolio• Blair's fears realised as Van Rompuy lands top jobWith its nondescript glass front, decorated with the red and white of the national flag, the Austrian mission to the European Union looks like another unremarkable diplomatic building in Brussels.But yesterday afternoon a key moment in British Labour history took place inside the building when Gordon Brown attended a meeting of EU centre-left leaders. In the space of a few minutes the prime minister acknowledged the inevitable and withdrew Britain's support for Tony Blair as the first…
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Education: Bullying | guardian.co.uk
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Teenage bullies guilty of killing vicar's daughter who jumped from window
18 Nov 2009 | 7:34 amRosimeiri Boxall, 19, leapt to death after girls attacked herTwo teenage girls were found guilty today of causing the death of a vicar's daughter who jumped from a window to escape after they beat and bullied her.Kemi Ajose, 19, and Hatice Can, 15, both from south-east London, slapped and punched Rosimeiri Boxall just before she died in May last year.They blamed each other for telling Boxall, 19, to jump when she climbed up to the third floor kitchen window . Can shouted "serves you right, bitch" at Boxall as she lay dying.The pair, aged 17 and 13 at the time of Boxall's death, were convicted… -
Social networking sites criticised for failing to protect children
18 Nov 2009 | 4:29 amFacebook and MySpace condemned for not installing tool for reporting abuseHow easy is it to report abuse on Facebook?The head of a government body responsible for keeping children safe has criticised social networking sites for not doing enough to protect youngsters.Jim Gamble, chief executive of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (Ceop), said sites such as Facebook and MySpace had "no legitimate reason" for not using a new tool for reporting abuse.His comments came after Bebo introduced a "Ceop report" button for users to log abuse. Clicking on the tool, which appears automatically… -
Facebook launches safety tips as part of anti-bullying week
16 Nov 2009 | 4:55 amSocial networking site offers advice to prevent cyber-bullyingThe theme of this year's National Anti-Bullying-Week, which starts today, is cyber-bullying. In fact, after name calling cyber-bullying is the most common type of bullying, as a recent study for the Department for Children, Schools and Families revealed. It is an issue has to be taken seriously: 47% of 14-year-olds in the survey reported bullying. Its impact continues as kids get older: 41% of 15-year-olds and 29% of 16-year-olds report facing the problem.Alongside charities such as Bullying UK, Facebook is taking part in the… -
Cyberbullying is as common as name-calling, study shows
12 Nov 2009 | 3:51 amResearch and N-Dubz song encourage parents and children to speak out about bullyingHalf of all 14-year-olds are the victims of bullying, and cyberbullying is now one of the most common forms of abuse, a major survey of victimisation in schools shows. The study of 15,000 children by the National Centre for Social Research found that although many teenagers try to stop parents getting involved or informing the school, when they do so, the child is significantly less likely to be suffering from bullying two years later. Cyberbullying – by mobile phone, email and on websites – is now as… -
Pixie Lott and Mr Hudson in BBC's campaign to curb bullying online
12 Nov 2009 | 3:31 amRadio 1 enlists pop stars for drive to cut out bullying among teenagers - with a focus on social networking sitesBullying on the internet is a very real and brutal thing, and it is important to raise awareness of it. Now Radio 1, the station of choice for many teenagers, is teaming up with Facebook, MySpace, YouTube and other social networking sites to put online bullying under the spotlight and help young people make themselves "bullyproof". "Radio 1 and 1Xtra continually strive to raise awareness of issues that affect young people and we felt the issue of online bullying needed to be…
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World news: Burma | guardian.co.uk
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Free Aung San Suu Kyi, Obama tells Burma PM
15 Nov 2009 | 2:32 amUS president calls for release of Burmese opposition leader in landmark meeting with Thein SeinBarack Obama today urged Burma to release the democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi in a landmark meeting with the country's prime minister.He made the demand during a summit in Singapore with Thein Sein and nine other leaders of the Association of South-east Asian Nations (Asean).The meeting made Obama the first US president to be present in the same room as a Burmese leader since Lyndon Johnson met Prime Minister Ne Win in 1966.White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters that Obama had raised… -
China's role on world stage is no cause for alarm, says Obama
14 Nov 2009 | 4:06 pm阅读中文 | Read this in ChineseBarack Obama introduced himself as America's "first Pacific president" as he launched his four-nation tour of the region, vowing to deepen ties with Asia and arguing that China's rise should be welcomed rather than feared.Kicking off his visit in Tokyo, he also sought to thaw the chill in relations with his hosts, America's closest allies in the region. The new prime minister, Yukio Hatoyama, has vowed to make Japan less dependent on the US, but the two men agreed to put off the issue of resolving the future of US forces in Japan.However, police in China are… -
Allegiancy worries as Obama heads to Japan on east Asia visit
12 Nov 2009 | 4:36 amPresident's tour to strengthen ties with region comes as longtime ally Tokyo looks to end subservience to Washington阅读中文 | Read this in ChineseThe message from the White House is upbeat: the US is a Pacific nation determined to strengthen its ties with Asia. But Barack Obama will face tough challenges over the economy, trade and Japan's alliance with Washington from the moment he arrives in Tokyo tomorrow at the start of his first presidential visit to the region.Until recently, the US could depend on Japan – its closest Asian ally for 50 years – to smooth its path into trickier… -
Burma claims it will release Aung San Suu Kyi
9 Nov 2009 | 8:02 amDiplomat says jailed opposition leader will be allowed to organise her party for elections next yearBurma's opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, may soon be released so she can play a role in next year's election, a senior Burmese diplomat has said."There is a plan to release her soon ... so she can organise her party," Min Lwin, a director-general in the foreign ministry, to ld the Associated Press. He gave no details and it was unclear whether Aung San Suu Kyi would be allowed to campaign or stand for election.Despite the conciliatory remarks, the country's constitution includes provisions… -
Aung San Suu Kyi meets senior US diplomat in Burma
4 Nov 2009 | 3:20 amBarack Obama's policy of engagement with Burma makes modest progress with rare meeting with opposition leaderBarack Obama's policy of engagement with Burma made modest progress today after the detained democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, made a rare exit from the home that has been her prison for much of the past 14 years to meet senior US officials.The Nobel peace laureate met Kurt Campbell, the US assistant secretary of state for east Asia, at his hotel in the commercial capital, Rangoon, US embassy officials said, although they refused to comment on the substance of the two-hour…
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Politics: Byelections | guardian.co.uk
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Glasgow North East byelection: City preparing for far-right rally as fears grow of Scottish rise in neo-nazi groups
13 Nov 2009 | 9:19 amTensions surge after BNP comes fourth in Glasgow North East byelectionPolice in Glasgow were preparing for angry confrontations between anti-racist campaigners and supporters of the far-right English Defence League tomorrow as fears of a rise in activity by Scottish fascist groups grew.Tensions over the activities of racist and neo-nazi organisations surged after the British National party achieved its best result so far in a Scottish election, coming fourth in Glasgow North East with only 62 fewer votes than the Tories.The BNP result – which saw the party lose its deposit by only 20 votes… -
Labour hails 'thumping' victory in Glasgow North East byelection
13 Nov 2009 | 8:41 amParty increases share of vote to 60%, pushing Scottish National party into distant second placeMinisters today hailed Labour's win in the Glasgow North East byelection as evidence that the party could defy its poor UK-wide poll ratings and win a fourth consecutive general election.Labour increased its share of the vote to 60%, pushing a deeply demoralised Scottish National party into a distant second place with 20%.Gordon Brown said the byelection – which could be the last before next year's general election – had produced a "tremendous result"."Willie Bain was a great candidate and will… -
Scottish secretary: SNP hopes demolished by thumping Labour victory in Glasgow North East byelection
13 Nov 2009 | 4:26 amScottish secretary Jim Murphy says 60% of vote gives Labour 'shot of confidence' for general electionThe SNP's claims that it could win 20 seats at the general election have been demolished by Labour's "thumping" victory in Glasgow North East, the Scottish secretary, Jim Murphy, claimed today.Murphy said the landslide byelection result, which saw Labour increase its lead over the SNP and win 60% of the vote, had given the party's hopes of winning a fourth term at the general election "a real shot of confidence", he said.Speaking as he celebrated near Labour's campaign offices with Willie… -
Labour won, but it did not inspire| James Mitchell
13 Nov 2009 | 4:00 amThe Glasgow North East vote came down to a simple bidding war on localness. There should be more to politics than thisThe SNP has had some sensational byelection victories over the years, but we shouldn't forget that these were exceptional – that's what made them sensations. The SNP victory over a year ago in Glasgow East suggested that the nationalists could win anywhere in Scotland, but Glenrothes put that to rest. An unpopular government at the end of a long period in power is always vulnerable to a strong challenge but however much Labour may be unpopular across Britain as a whole, it… -
Video: Labour triumphs in Glasgow North East byelection
13 Nov 2009 | 1:16 amVictorious new MP Willie Bain and other candidates discuss last night's byelection result in Glasgow
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Politics: Vince Cable | guardian.co.uk
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Banks should pay new £2bn tax, say Lib Dems
17 Nov 2009 | 2:18 amVincent Cable, the Lib Dem Treasury spokesman, says funds raised by the proposed 10% levy on bank profits could be used to tackle the structural deficit in the national economyAlistair Darling was today urged by the Liberal Democrats to raise an extra £2bn a year from the banks by imposing a new tax on them.Vincent Cable, the Lib Dem Treasury spokesman, also claimed that his plan, which would involve a 10% levy on bank profits, would help to stop banks paying excessive bonuses.He urged the chancellor to include the plan in his pre-budget report, which will be unveiled on Wednesday 9… -
Free Radical by Vince Cable | Book review
13 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmVince Cable's memoirs may be hubristic, but Roy Hattersley is happy to forgive himThere is much to like about Vince Cable and much to admire. But nothing reveals the secret of his success as graphically as his persona. While Nick Clegg, his party leader, subscribes to the David Cameron theory that successful politicians ought to look and sound like Rolls-Royce salesmen, Cable has the demeanour of a Yorkshire undertaker on a day trip to Bridlington. His willingness to answer to the name of "Vince" is more proof of disdain for fashion. He is the politics of substance made flesh. His popularity… -
Letters: There's no 'irony' in the Lloyds job cuts
11 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmVince Cable is reported as saying that the latest job losses at Lloyds are a "terrible irony" (HBOS rescue adds 5,000 job cuts to Lloyds toll, 11 November). The words "terrible" and "irony" do not do justice to describing the fact that the economic pressures in the fallout of the recent banking crisis are being absorbed by the taxpayer. But then the word "taxpayer" does not do justice to the fact we are talking about flesh and blood, about people as members of a wider society who pay the double whammy, firstly in contributing as a taxpayer to bailout the money marketers, and then, for many,… -
Lloyds Banking Group to cut another 5,000 jobs
10 Nov 2009 | 1:18 pmUnions accuse the bank of 'corporate arrogance' as HBOS takeover claims more victimsLloyds Banking Group was accused of "corporate arrogance" today after cutting a further 5,000 jobs, taking the total cuts among leading high street banks in the past 12 months to 42,000.The latest job losses at Lloyds are a direct result of the rescue takeover of HBOS last year. They were described by Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman Vince Cable as a "terrible irony"."The takeover was a political decision to avoid total nationalisation and people are now paying for it with their jobs," he said.Lloyds and… -
Darling under pressure as he spends £38bn more on banks
2 Nov 2009 | 12:27 pm• Treasury to spend £6bn to buy more shares in Lloyds • £25bn from the taxpayer will take state holding in RBS to 84%Alistair Darling could spark a row with opposition MPs tomorrow as he tries to disguise the extent of the government's latest bailout of the banking system amid widespread public anger at the banks.As the chancellor commits as much as £38bn more of taxpayers' money to Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group, the City is braced for series of announcements that could force a reshaping of Britain's high-street banking.Darling will try to position the restructuring…
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Politics: David Cameron | guardian.co.uk
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My expenses are above board, says MP who quit Commons watchdog
20 Nov 2009 | 4:46 amTory David Curry stood down as head of standards and privileges committee pending inquiry into second home claimsThe Tory MP in charge of the Commons standards and privileges committee, who stood down pending an inquiry into his second home allowance claims, today insisted his expenses were "very modest" and "completely above board".David Curry resigned from the watchdog yesterday – after less than a month in the post – amid allegations he claimed almost £30,000 towards the cost of a property his wife did not allow him to use."My expenses are very modest," Curry said today. "They are… -
Cameron: Tory government would promote Mumsnet
20 Nov 2009 | 1:42 amHealth visitors would be encouraged to tell mothers and fathers about websites offering advice on parenting, Conservative leader saysDavid Cameron yesterday said a Conservative government would promote Mumsnet and other "good parenting websites" as part of a drive to encourage "social action" as an alternative to state action.The Tory leader said health visitors would be encouraged to tell parents about websites such as Mumsnet and that information about these resources would be made available in all maternity units, early years settings and family information services.A Tory government would… -
Letters: Selected views
19 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmIt's not just in comedy that the BBC is too compliant (Operation compliance, 19 November): in its efforts to be impartial in news programmes, it can end up being very partial. While waiting for the results of the recent byelection, the impression was given that nothing mattered to the people of Glasgow North East except the BNP; and this week Newsnight failed to adequately explain the content of the Queen's speech, preferring to focus on MPs' expenses yet again.Michael BathRochester, Kent• On the front page (The right stuff?, 17 November) you print a large photograph of David Cameron… -
David Cameron takes the biscuit with third session on mumsnet
19 Nov 2009 | 10:54 amTory leader wows website beloved of modern mothers and declares oatcakes (with butter and cheese) as his favourite biscuitBy the time the Tory leader logged on to mumsnet with the words "Hello, this is David Cameron signing in," there were already more than 250 questions waiting for him. Only one or two of them appeared to be about biscuits.The mumsnet live chat has been a staple of political discourse for some time; the website's 850,000 regular users represent a key voter demographic: modern mothers. A chance to win them over en masse is not be passed up, and Cameron has been here twice… -
Has Cameron sealed the deal with women? | Helen Wilkinson
19 Nov 2009 | 9:31 amThe Conservative leader can chat about biscuits with the women on Mumsnet, but he may not be their cup of tea on policyWhat a difference a political generation makes. In 1997, Tony Blair and New Labour capitalised on and came to embody the gender and generational shifts sweeping Britain best symbolised by the iconic photograph of the PM surrounded by New Labour's army of 101 MPs, alongside skilful exploitation of photo opportunities of the first dual earner career couple and a growing family to grace No 10.Now it is David Cameron – a generation younger than Gordon Brown (by 15 years) –…
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Global: Cartoon | guardian.co.uk
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Martin Rowson on EU leadership
20 Nov 2009 | 4:14 pmExperts agree politicking has triumphed over ambition in the appointment of two new leadersMartin Rowson -
Famous Belgians, and Herman Van Rompuy | Patrick Blower
20 Nov 2009 | 11:00 amPatrick Blower: People may complain they'd never heard of the new EU president – but now he can be added to the list of famous BelgiansPatrick Blower -
Kipper Williams: JP Morgan Blue Blood
20 Nov 2009 | 12:41 amBlue-blooded City broker Cazenove bought by US bank in £1bn deal -
Steve Bell on Hamid Karzai's Afghan presidency
19 Nov 2009 | 6:13 pmAfghanistan's president begins second term promising a clean government and better national security Steve Bell -
Steve Bell's If ... I is not a Daddy's Boy!
19 Nov 2009 | 1:29 amSteve Bell's If ...Steve Bell
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World news: Catholicism | guardian.co.uk
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Senior Catholic warns off Anglican church's women priest opponents
20 Nov 2009 | 10:31 amConverts to Rome cannot pick and choose, says Vincent Nichols, as Rowan Williams and pope prepare to meetAnglicans should not become Catholic to protest against female clergy or sexual ethics, the archbishop of Westminster said today, as he warned traditionalists against adopting a "pick and choose" approach to the religion.The Most Rev Vincent Nichols, the most senior Catholic in England and Wales, was speaking ahead of tomorrow's meeting in Rome between Rowan Williams, the archbishop of Canterbury, and Pope Benedict XVI. The pair will discuss the recent initiative by the Vatican to allow… -
I was ready to give up alcohol – until I read the latest research | Alexander Chancellor
19 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmApparently, the more you drink the greater your protection against heart disease. Does that mean we should all be drinking at least a bottle of wine a day?The case against drinking alcohol has been promoted for so long and with such vigour that even I have started to wonder whether I shouldn't perhaps give it up altogether. I have occasionally done this before without huge difficulty, but have never found it at all easy to drink in what is officially regarded as "moderation" – that is, the maximum of 21 units of alcohol a week (equivalent to less than three bottles of wine) that men are… -
Rowan Williams urges Rome to rethink position on female bishops
19 Nov 2009 | 11:50 amThe archbishop of Canterbury today pleaded with Roman Catholics to set aside their differences with Anglicans over the issue of female bishops, insisting there was more uniting the denominations than dividing them.Rowan Williams was giving a lecture in Rome before Saturday's meeting with the pope, their first encounter since the Vatican's surprise announcement of a special institution for traditionalist Anglicans wanting to convert to Catholicism.In his address at the Gregorian University, Williams said the Anglican communion was proof that churches could stay together in spite of their… -
Backlash | Andrew Brown
18 Nov 2009 | 3:26 amAs the details of the pope's offer to disaffected Anglicans sink in, hostility grows to the proposalsTen days after the publication of the details of the pope's offer to disaffected Anglicans, and it's clear that one effect of his attempt at unity has been increase unhappiness and disunity almost everywhere. Within the Church of England, sentiment has hardened against the Anglo-Catholics. That was obvious, and predictable. What they want, which is an autonomous church which inherits a share of the Church of England's buildings and pension fund, is not something the rest want to give them. Now… -
Theology's unintended consequences | Peter Singer
17 Nov 2009 | 2:05 amIn the tumult of events such as Hurricane Katrina, the niceties of the Catholic doctrine of 'double effect' can easily be lostOf all the arguments against voluntary euthanasia, the most influential is the "slippery slope": once we allow doctors to kill patients, we will not be able to limit the killing to those who want to die.There is no evidence for this claim, even after many years of legal physician-assisted suicide or voluntary euthanasia in the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland, and the American state of Oregon. But recent revelations about what took place in a New Orleans…
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Life and style: Celebrity | guardian.co.uk
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A peek at the diary of Morrissey | John Crace
20 Nov 2009 | 4:12 pm'I'm too old for all that standing up and singing lark'My manager rings. "I've got you a gig in Eastbourne tomorrow.""Not interested," I say. "My back's killing me and I'm too old for all that standing up and singing lark.""It'll be fine. It's at an old people's home and there'll be only 30 there. Or 29, if nice Mr Briggs doesn't make it through the next 24 hours.""Sounds more like it. They won't be all pissed and rowdy, will they?""Nah – they're given their meds at 6.30pm, so they'll be good as gold.""I still want a rider in the contract. Just in case. Anyone caught bringing Horlicks into… -
Q&A: Hugh Hefner
20 Nov 2009 | 4:10 pm'My most treasured possession? A rotating round bed'Hugh Hefner was born in Chicago in 1926. He served in the army during the second world war, and went on to study psychology at university. In 1953, he launched Playboy magazine, and by 1971, when Playboy Enterprises became a public company, it was selling 7m copies. He remains editor-in-chief. He is twice divorced and has four children. His illustrated autobiography is published this month by Taschen.When were you happiest?Now: I just passed my 83rd birthday and look back on a life well lived.What is your earliest memory? -
Levi Johnston poses for Playgirl
19 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmThe father of Sarah Palin's grandchild hits New York City in styleWhat? You want me to write Lost in Showbiz? Excuse me, do you not see I am, ahem, reading the new Playgirl, in which Bristol Palin's ex, Levi Johnston, shows the world just what kind of man he is? You say this isn't professional behaviour? Well, if you're going to be demanding . . . can I at least talk about it? Yay!!Yee haw, Lost in Showbizzers! Greetings from the land of the free and the home of the brave, a description that Levi has amply proved in Playgirl, "free" and "brave", being surely the best adjectives to apply to… -
Do lesbians rule Hollywood? Ask Jane Lynch
19 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmThe Glee and Role Models star is one of only a few gay women on our screensWe all know that Hollywood is run by a cabal of homosexuals (or Jews, or liberals, or something), right? Well, apparently, it's not the homosexuals that you think, because it's not gay men – but (cue threatening music, speedy close up and dramatic turn of the head) gay women.According to the New York Times, America is happier to watch gay women than gay men, citing the inevitable example of Ellen DeGeneres, whereas the American equivalents of, say, Graham Norton are notable by their absence. As though it weren't hard… -
Tom Cruise and Scientology: there's more
19 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmA new book claims the Top Gun star had a tendency to chat to ashtrays, bottles and other inanimate objectsJust a teeny tiny amount of space left to say, hey, guess what? Tom Cruise? He's a bit fricking weird! Yuhdoansay.In Blown For Good, the latest book by an escapee from the Galactic Confederacy, AKA Scientology, Marc Headley claims that Cruise would talk to inanimate objects "for hours". No, not Nicole Kidman's face, but ashtrays, bottles, books. "You tell the ashtray, 'Sit in that chair.' Then you actually go over and put the ashtray in that chair. Then you tell the ashtray, 'Thank you,'"…
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Society: Child protection | guardian.co.uk
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Building a world fit for children | Marie Staunton
20 Nov 2009 | 6:00 amTwenty years after the launch of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, we must do more to listen to vulnerable childrenTo 13-year-old Mumo Katumo, the anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) is an utter irrelevance. For the past year Mumo and her family have been struggling to stay alive in the drought-ridden Masinga district of eastern Kenya with little food or water and with no hope of going to school.Mumo describes the pain of her hunger: "You go numb. You lose the ability to do anything. Sometimes I think it is like the feeling of dying."Yet the convention was… -
Enshrining children's rights | Jasmine Whitbread
20 Nov 2009 | 12:00 amWhy does a bill to incorporate the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child into UK law stand little chance of being passed?All political parties say they want to improve life for children in this country. Conservatives say they want to make the UK the most "family-friendly country in the world", while Gordon Brown says, "Our country's future lies with the hopes and dreams of children."Yet on the 20th anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), it's clear there is much anxiety about the state of children and childhood in Britain. The Baby P horror, Shannon Matthews –… -
Children's Rights Alliance | The UN gave children rights - it's time we consulted them
19 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmAsk children instead of ignoring their feelings, says reportToday is the 20th anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.But according to a hard-hitting report by the Children's Rights Alliance, young people's rights to privacy and family life are being breached by local authorities who do not consult them appropriately about the decision to take them into care.Children's rights experts are concerned that tragedies such as Baby Peter may be prompting local authorities to take an aggressive stance, particularly towards young, single mothers.The report argues that children's… -
Southport woman faces child sex charges
19 Nov 2009 | 1:05 amCharges follow investigation into Colin Blanchard, who recently admitted child sex abuse with nursery worker Vanessa GeorgeA woman will appear in court today charged with child sex offences following the investigation into paedophile Colin Blanchard.Blanchard, 38, nursery worker Vanessa George, 39, and Angela Allen, 39, admitted a string of offences at Bristol crown court last month.Merseyside police said last night an unnamed 43-year-old woman, from Southport, had been charged with a number of offences related to possessing and making indecent images of a child and sexual activity with a… -
Councils 'lost' 145 child asylum seekers last year, Care Leavers' Association reports
18 Nov 2009 | 11:50 amCharity's FoI request reveals young people left care homes and were never seen againAlmost 150 children and young people went missing without trace from local authority care homes last year, according to returns from local councils. Most were juvenile asylum seekers who had arrived in the UK alone.The pattern of disappearances suggests they were victims of trafficking operations and were eventually forced into marriage, domestic servitude or sexual exploitation in Britain, the Care Leavers' Association (CLA) warned.The organisation, which submitted freedom of information requests to more than…
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Film | guardian.co.uk
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With Law Abiding Citizen, payback is making a comeback
20 Nov 2009 | 4:15 pmWhy does recession bring with it a thirst for dumb revenge dramas?Law Abiding Citizen, which I should say at the outset is a terrible, terrible movie – either the stupidest of the year so far or the most unintentionally funny – takes the urban revenge movie and grafts on to it certain depressing innovations from other genres, including the serial killer-as-genius trope from The Silence Of The Lambs, and the post-Saw/Hostel enthusiasm for torture-porn and mega bloodshed. Let's just say it doesn't tell us much except that the revenge movie is back with, um, a vengeance.Gerard Butler plays a… -
This week's new cinema previews
20 Nov 2009 | 4:15 pmA Serious Man (15)(Ethan & Joel Coen, 2009, US) Michael Stuhlbarg, Sari Lennick, Richard Kind. 105 mins.A "proper" Coens movie after the brothers' recent, atypical efforts, and it's one of their, and the year's, best, striking that contradictory, tragicomic, mundane-surreal tone only they can achieve. Harking back to their own late-1960s youth, it's a portrait of one man's suburban hell, with Stuhlbarg's Jewish physics professor plagued by all manner of uncertainty: domestic, religious, scientific. He doesn't even know whether to laugh or cry. The result is a procession of unforgettable… -
The second outing of John Hurt
20 Nov 2009 | 4:11 pmHe got his big break playing Quentin Crisp in The Naked Civil Servant and now, 34 years later, John Hurt is at it againThere's something disturbing about John Hurt. That familiar Mount Rushmore face seems to have ironed itself out. It was once compared to a komodo dragon – even his lines seemed to have lines – but today he looks peachy as a schoolboy. You've been on the Botox, haven't you? He roars with how-dare-you laughter. "Nah! Hahahaha! No. Don't say that. That would be awful. Not in a million years would I do that." He's got a point: take away the cracks and creases, and his… -
How Paranormal Activity became a frightening success
20 Nov 2009 | 4:10 pmSocial networking sends $15,000 shocker inspired by Fawlty Towers into box-office hall of fameThere is nothing remotely scary about the beige library in the Soho Hotel. It's calm, quiet, bland. Yet towards the end of a low-key interview with Oren Peli, who's in London for less than 24 hours to promote his smash-hit low-budget horror flick Paranormal Activity, there's a loud creak in the corner of the room and I find myself leaping out of the armchair. Peli sits deep in the sofa. He doesn't move. I think I've been hearing things. Peli simply smiles. He nods; he heard it too.Weeks after… -
This week's DVD and Blu-ray releases
20 Nov 2009 | 4:07 pmTerminator – The Sarah Connor ChroniclesTerminator SalvationDVD & Blu-ray, Warner, SonyIf nothing else, watching McG's Terminator Salvation at least puts Christian Bale's infamous on-set meltdown into perspective; if you had to pretend to be angry for so long in front of the camera then you'd probably end up angry in real life. Bale's angry John Connor is a one-note performance, the problem being it's the wrong note. That's not the only drawback: McG has a similar one-dimensional take on the material. He seems to think the Terminator films are about robots and explosions and nothing else.
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Music: Classical music | guardian.co.uk
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Elisabeth Söderström obituary
20 Nov 2009 | 4:07 pmSwedish soprano whose perceptive singing and vivid acting made her a great heroine in operas by Tchaikovsky, Richard Strauss and JanacekOne of the most perceptive and admired sopranos of the postwar era, Elisabeth Söderström, who has died aged 82, had a lengthy career that carried on into the 1990s, when she was well into her 60s. In everything she attempted, her vibrantly beautiful singing was enhanced by her good looks and vivid acting.With her sensitive demeanour she was particularly successful at portraying the troubled women who abound in opera, such as Leonore (Fidelio), Tatyana in… -
This week's music previews
20 Nov 2009 | 4:06 pmMonotonix, On tourGarage rock is a truly international language, spoken in the UK and Scandinavia, as well as the USA. To that list, we can now add Israel: with Monotonix, the country brings its own spin on this most basic way of making yourself understood. If Monotonix were guests in your home, you'd be horrified. No respecters of personal space or private property, the band are hairy, sweaty and in your face, invading the crowd, shedding clothes, even drinking your drink. Truth be known, it's the only way to experience them. This tour is nominally to support album Where Were You When It… -
Philharmonia/Maazel | Classical review
20 Nov 2009 | 2:45 pmColston Hall, BristolLorin Maazel may have been a big name in conducting, but it is perhaps an indication of the wealth of young, exciting conductors around at present that this performance with the Philharmonia, with whom he first worked 50 years ago, should prove so uninspiring. Conducting without a score, Maazel looked as if he were doing everything anyone could possibly require: beating time and turning to cue instruments with brisk efficiency, with the occasional flamboyant gesture thrown in, but he made little audible impression on the sound being produced.Kodály's Dances of Galanta… -
BBCSSO/Altrichter | Classical review
20 Nov 2009 | 2:01 pmCity Halls, GlasgowCzech music looms large on the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra's current schedule in the shape of its Bohemian Rhapsodies series. In a joint commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution and the 50th anniversary of the death of Bohuslav Martinu the Czech-themed programmes feature what is believed to be the first complete cycle of Martinu˚'s piano concertos to be undertaken in the UK.Not that there is anything stylistically Czech about Martinu's First Piano Concerto. Far from it, the work, written after the composer had emigrated to Paris, shows him turning… -
Even Elgar couldn't play the trombone | Tom Service
20 Nov 2009 | 4:51 amElgar's comic struggles with the trombone give hope to all us fellow enthusiastic but incompetent musiciansA heartwarming story in the Independent today: Elgar was a rubbish trombonist. Sue Addison, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment's principal 'bone player, has been researching the story of Sir Edward's trombone before she plays the instrument in public for first time since the composer's death in 1934, in a performance next week of The Dream of Gerontius.Not that Elgar himself could ever have mastered his own trombone parts: contrary to popular belief – OK, "popular" in…
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Politics: Nick Clegg | guardian.co.uk
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Mandelson 'slashes' adult education spending
19 Nov 2009 | 3:19 amCourses for people with learning disabilities and evening classes for the elderly are being cut and funds redirected to reskill the unemployedLord Mandelson's department has been accused of slashing spending on courses for people with learning disabilities and evening classes for the elderly, to fund re-training of people in the recession.A new skills budget for 2010/11, published this week without fanfare, reveals a £150m cut in funding for qualification-free courses often taken by people with learning disabilities and older people who want to develop a new talent without getting a… -
Steve Bell: David Cameron says Queen's speech will be 'shamelessly self-serving'
17 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmTory leader says Gordon Brown's legislative programme – to be set out by the Queen tomorrow – will be divisive and short-termistSteve Bell -
David Cameron says Queen's speech will be 'shamelessly self-serving'
17 Nov 2009 | 2:03 amTory leader says Gordon Brown's legislative programme – to be set out by the Queen tomorrow – will be divisive and short-termistJackie Ashley: David Cameron was wide of the markDavid Cameron has claimed that tomorrow's Queen's speech will be "the most divisive, short-termist [and] shamelessly self-serving ... in living memory".The Conservative leader made his comments after it emerged that the government will make social care for the elderly the centrepiece of the announcement by introducing free home care for some of the most needy pensioners.The Queen's speech sets out the government's… -
Harriet Harman accuses Nick Clegg of 'political posturing' over call to scrap Queen's speech
16 Nov 2009 | 5:34 amLabour deputy leader rejects Clegg's claim that the majority of bills in the Queen's speech will not become law, and calls on the Lib Dems to support themHarriet Harman today rejected a claim from Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat leader, about the measures in the Queen's speech having no chance of becoming law before the general election.Labour's deputy leader said that the majority of bills in the speech would become law and that the Lib Dems should be supporting them instead of engaging in "pointless political posturing".In an article in the Independent, Clegg said that the Queen's speech… -
Scrap Queen's speech in favour of reform, urges Nick Clegg
16 Nov 2009 | 12:49 amRather than promising a raft of bills that will never become law, the government should devote the next few months to cleaning up Westminster, says Lib Dem leaderGordon Brown was today urged by the Liberal Democrat leader, Nick Clegg, to scrap the Queen's speech and to instead to devote the final months of this parliament to cleaning up politics.In an article in the Independent, Clegg said that the Queen's speech would be based on "a complete fiction" because the government would find it difficult to pass any of the bills proposed before the general election, which has to be held by 3 June at…
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World news: Colombia | guardian.co.uk
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Venezuela blows up border bridges with Colombia
20 Nov 2009 | 12:20 amTensions raised between two countries as troops dynamite rural walkways Venezuela claims are used by smugglers and militiaVenezuela has blown up two pedestrian bridges on its border with Colombia in the latest sign of deteriorating relations between the Andean neighbours.Soldiers destroyed the walkways because they were being used by illegal militia and drug traffickers, said Eusebio Aguero, an army general based in the border state of Táchira."They are two foot bridges that paramilitary fighters used, where gasoline and drug precursors were smuggled, subversive groups entered. They are not… -
BP faces damages claim over pipeline through Colombian farmland
11 Nov 2009 | 3:57 pm• Group says project harmed crops, livestock and fish • Original assessment allegedly warned of risksNinety-five Colombian farmers are suing the oil company BP in the high court in London for allegedly causing serious damage to their land, crops and animals.In the first case of its kind, the farmers are claiming that BP Exploration Company (Colombia) Ltd, which joined forces with Colombia's national oil company and four foreign multinational corporations in a consortium to construct the 450-mile (720km) Ocensa pipeline, caused landslides and damage to soil and groundwater, causing crops… -
How Pablo Escobar's son atoned for the sins of his father
7 Nov 2009 | 4:07 pmColombian drug baron Pablo Escobar was gunned down in 1993. In an exclusive interview, his son tells Uki Goñi why he had to seek reconciliation with the children of Pablo's victimsJuan Escobar was a teenager when he first challenged his father, the most notorious and brutal drug lord in Colombia's history. "I confronted him about the deaths attributed to him on the TV news," he recalls now. "He started calling me 'my 14-year-old pacifist son'. But no one could stop my father. Not all of Colombia, together with the help of the CIA. So what could the son of Pablo Escobar do?"Nearly two decades… -
Colombia agrees deal to step up US military presence
30 Oct 2009 | 7:40 amVenezuelan president Hugo Chávez describes agreement as threat to region's securityColombia and the US today signed a pact to expand Washington's military's presence in the country.The Venezuelan president, Hugo Chávez, said the agreement was a threat to the region's security.The US ambassdor, William Brownfield, signed the deal with the Colombian foreign, justice and defence ministers at the foreign ministry in Bogota, Ana Duque, a US embassy spokeswoman, said.Officials said the agreement would increase US access to seven Colombian bases for 10 years.The Colombian foreign ministry said the… -
Trading on thin ice | Kevin Gallagher
27 Oct 2009 | 2:00 pmThe US-Colombia free-trade agreement is dangerous, outdated and out of touch with trade treaties across the globeAs negotiated by the Bush administration, the United States-Colombia Free Trade Agreement could cause or accentuate a financial crisis. Such a possibility would not only harm Colombia's development prospects and further politically destabilise an important US ally, but also jeopardise the very US exporters and workers that the agreement at least in theory would boost. The US-Colombia pact is stalled in Congress as the Obama administration rethinks the Bush approach. Obama has cited…
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Stage: Comedy | guardian.co.uk
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This week's comedy previews
20 Nov 2009 | 4:07 pmStephen K Amos, DVD/On tourSeemingly poised for stardom with his own BBC2 series due in 2010, Stephen K Amos's debut DVD, Find The Funny, gives those new to his charms the chance to find out what the rest of us have been sniggering to ourselves about all these years. Intermingling tersely insightful stories of prejudice (sexual and racial) with audacious audience interaction, Amos can switch from debonair elegance to spit-and-sawdust crudity. The DVD sees him testing his steel against Sydney's firmly on side Aussie punters, yet no one comes up with anything to match the crassness of Prince… -
Michael McIntyre: a comedian for the Cameron age
20 Nov 2009 | 6:14 amLoved by the masses, but loathed by his peers – does Michael McIntyre's conservative humour explain his meteoric rise?Love him, loathe him, have genuinely violent feelings towards him, you just can't ignore Michael McIntyre. Currently touring the sold-out arenas of the UK, and with standup's fastest-selling DVD ever, modestly titled Hello Wembley, 2009 looks set to be remembered by historians as a year dominated by a rubber-faced unusually-tanned comic who invented the concept of the "man drawer".McIntyre is big. Big in a way few standups ever manage and perhaps only Peter Kay has achieved… -
The lost art of telling a joke
19 Nov 2009 | 5:18 amPrevious generations could access any number of groanworthy gags to lighten the atmosphere: where has that skill gone?As the current obsession with offensive comedy and its boundaries rumbles on, commentators and pontificators are wheeling out their best and worst gags by way of example, left, right and centre. The question "when is a joke not a joke?" has ruffled a few feathers within the industry – and plenty more outside it – but as a nation have we forgotten how to tell a good gag?Time was, you could go to a comedy show and hear a string of jokes worth scribbling down to recycle and… -
Daily Show's John Oliver gets own Comedy Central series
18 Nov 2009 | 8:27 amJohn Oliver, 'British correspondent' of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, to host six-part Comedy Central standup seriesThe Daily Show with Jon Stewart's British comedian, John Oliver, has landed his own show on US cable channel Comedy Central.Oliver, who is "British correspondent" on Comedy Central's satirical news show, will host a six-part standup series, John Oliver's New York Stand-Up Show, to be produced by the UK independent production company, Avalon.The series, which will begin on 8 January next year, will feature some of Oliver's favourite comedians including Kristen Schaal, who… -
Chris Addison: Into the bear pit
17 Nov 2009 | 1:30 pmThe Thick of It is a savage send-up of Labour, politics and spin. So would its star feel uneasy inside Parliament?It's a ridiculous building, isn't it?" says Chris Addison. We're hurrying past the Houses of Parliament. "It needn't have looked like something built by and for a toddler. But it does. It looks like a play castle for a three-year-old."We're trying to get inside this play castle to hear shadow business secretary Kenneth Clarke's speech to the press gallery's lunch club. The idea is to give Addison, who plays the baby-faced political adviser Ollie Reeder in The Thick of It, the…
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Society: Communities | guardian.co.uk
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Politicians must acknowledge the value of volunteering
20 Nov 2009 | 4:57 amDon't pay us lip service, recognise the part we play in regenerating communities, says Brenda GrixtiI hope politicians who champion a bigger role for volunteers in regenerating neighbourhoods are not just paying lip service.When I first became involved in community work I was a single parent. There was nothing for me to do in the neighbourhood where I lived. I felt alone and isolated.I had a few skills but lacked confidence in myself. I thought that anybody who wore a suit was more important than me, but later I thought if I don't do anything nothing will change.Volunteers were needed at a… -
15 years of Lottery funding
19 Nov 2009 | 3:29 amSince The National Lottery began in 1994, over £23bn has been raised for good causes. More than 330,000 grants have been awarded to projects in the arts, sport, heritage, health, education and the environment. Here are some of them -
Taking the risk out of being a good Samaritan
18 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmWhen Mark Wells was suffocating in a storm drain, neighbours ignored his cries for help. But how can we overcome our fear of helping others in danger?When Mark Wells shouted, "Help me, help me, please!" in the middle of the night, neighbours were too frightened to intervene. One neighbour heard his "pleading" tone, but his friend dismissed it as a drunk. In the morning, Wells was dead: he suffocated after falling head-first into a storm drain metres from his home in Newport on the Isle of Wight.The coroner did not blame residents for ignoring the 32-year-old's cries, saying it was "a sad… -
Share savings communities make on public services, minister urged
18 Nov 2009 | 2:57 pmThe government is being urged to reward community groups that can provide services more efficiently than the state with half the value of the savings they make.In a report to the chief secretary to the Treasury, Liam Byrne, the Young Foundation today recommends ways the government could work better with community organisations. The Labour party is attempting to reclaim community and voluntary movements as its territory after the Tory leader, David Cameron, made a speech on the issue last week.Byrne is expected to act on some of the proposals from the social innovation thinktank as he tries to… -
Faith is a fact and we must work with it | John Denham
18 Nov 2009 | 3:00 amAC Grayling caricatures my work with faith groups. But it would be foolish not to engage with them at some levelAC Grayling's hyperbolic rant about my panel of faith advisors reminded me of something. But it took me a few minutes to realise that it was of those dogmatic, overbearing and arrogant preachers who exist in most faiths and of whom we would both disapprove. It certainly failed to engage in any serious consideration of the relationship between government and faith.I'm a secular humanist and have been all my adult life. As communities secretary I am formally responsible for the…
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Politics: Conservatives | guardian.co.uk
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Chief constables could resign over Tory police plans
20 Nov 2009 | 11:59 amCouncillor accuses Acpo president Sir Hugh Orde of being 'patronising' after he says it is critical that police forces stay free of political influenceThe head of Britain's senior police officers sparked a political row today by savaging Conservative plans for elected commissioners.Sir Hugh Orde, who as the incoming president of the Association of Chief Police Officers has proved himself an outspoken figurehead, said the Tory proposals would damage the fight against crime and cause resignations from the service.He warned that some of his members would quit because they believe the plans… -
Climate change denial MEP attacks church
20 Nov 2009 | 7:11 amRoger Helmer says Anglican hierarchy has dropped the gospel in favour of 'the new religion of climate alarmism'A Tory MEP has accused the Church of England of having "abandoned religious faith entirely and taken up the new religion of climate alarmism instead".Roger Helmer, who resigned from the Tory frontbench in Europe when the Westminster leadership dumped its promised referendum on the Lisbon treaty, used a magazine article to urge the Church to "get back to the gospel".Referring approvingly to the work of another writer who said bishops were spending more time "preaching climate change… -
My expenses are above board, says MP who quit Commons watchdog
20 Nov 2009 | 4:46 amTory David Curry stood down as head of standards and privileges committee pending inquiry into second home claimsThe Tory MP in charge of the Commons standards and privileges committee, who stood down pending an inquiry into his second home allowance claims, today insisted his expenses were "very modest" and "completely above board".David Curry resigned from the watchdog yesterday – after less than a month in the post – amid allegations he claimed almost £30,000 towards the cost of a property his wife did not allow him to use."My expenses are very modest," Curry said today. "They are… -
Cameron: Tory government would promote Mumsnet
20 Nov 2009 | 1:42 amHealth visitors would be encouraged to tell mothers and fathers about websites offering advice on parenting, Conservative leader saysDavid Cameron yesterday said a Conservative government would promote Mumsnet and other "good parenting websites" as part of a drive to encourage "social action" as an alternative to state action.The Tory leader said health visitors would be encouraged to tell parents about websites such as Mumsnet and that information about these resources would be made available in all maternity units, early years settings and family information services.A Tory government would… -
The pro-Israel lobby and antisemitism | Antony Lerman
20 Nov 2009 | 1:00 amC4's Dispatches has been branded 'antisemitic', but surely Britain's Jewish community can cope with reasoned scrutiny?The serious charges levelled by critics at the Dispatches documentary investigating the UK pro-Israel lobby amount to accusations of gross irresponsibility, or worse. But who is being irresponsible here? Those who say the film will lead to increased antisemitism, displays "1930s style prejudice" and the return of antisemitic politics, and will reinforce Jews' fear of antisemitism? Or the filmmakers whose principal conclusion is: "we have found a worrying lack of…
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Environment: Country diary | guardian.co.uk
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Country diary: New Forest
20 Nov 2009 | 4:06 pmNew ForestThere is something enchanting about a group of scarlet-capped fly agaric fungi nestling within a circle of silver birches. The fungus is among the brightest of autumnal sights. With its red top seemingly sprinkled with finely chopped cheese, this poisonous species is associated with birch, and advances out on to the heaths as the trees colonise them. In time, this forms new woodland. If the amount of grazing needed across the forest is to be maintained, such invasive growth must be kept in check. That explains the large pile of birch logs stacked close to Wittensford, near Brook.The… -
Country diary: Shetland
19 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmShetlandThe gales have died away to a steady wind and at last the rain has stopped. The silvery lines of the drainage channels carry away as much as they can but still there are pools of standing water everywhere. Beyond the sound of the wind is the constant muted roar of a sea no longer wild but still powerful. Unexpectedly, the morning brightens as, to the south, the cloud thins and – from a sky as lovely as a moonstone – a veiled sun shines weakly, illuminating the haze of saltwater suspended in the air around the margins of the bay and lighting the day to an unreal milky beauty.In the… -
Country diary: Highlands
18 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmHighlandsScotland's traditional iconic birds and animals have included salmon, red grouse and red deer, but there is another that has come on to the scene: the red squirrel. The Highlands may well be one of the last main strongholds in the UK, but these squirrels could be descendants of those reintroduced in 1844. This reintroduction took place on the Beaufort estate to the west of Inverness, following a period when the red squirrel could possibly have been extinct in the Highlands. Now the Highland Red Squirrel Group is highlighting the cause of the red squirrel, its current status and its… -
Country diary: Tamar valley
17 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmTamar valleyIn readiness for their TB test, a neighbour's bull and cows are guided to the cattle yard. They saunter beneath branches up the steep lane running with water. Downhill, the Radland millstream gushes across its slaty bed after gales and heavy rain. Green and yellow leaves lie beneath hazels showing catkins, and the undergrowth remains green with ferns, brambles and moss masking the collapsed banks of overgrown market gardens and derelict mill ponds.The stream muffles the sound of the wind after joining the larger stream which powered Glamorgan mill and Barret's mill further… -
Country diary: Somerset
16 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmSomersetThe rainwater spouting from Bruton's gargoyles and gullies reminded me of a day in the 1960s when we salvaged what we could from Mill Cottage, down by the river, where murky floodwater was flowing in above the windowsills and the sofa was afloat.But in the hills to the east, where the river Brue rises, the flood barrage, recently raised by two metres, has for many years successfully protected the town in the valley from floods. So, although the flow under Church bridge was fast, its level was low. I set out up the incline of Patwell Street to retrace what, 50 years ago, was a favoured…
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Business: Credit crunch | guardian.co.uk
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ABC at the TUC | Stephen Beer
18 Nov 2009 | 8:00 amIn his speech to the TUC, Rowan Williams called for 'self-critical awareness and concern for balanced universal welfare'"Without a stable economy, the rest is idle dreaming." So argued Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, in a speech at a TUC/Guardian conference on the economy on Monday. Entitled "Beyond Crisis", the conference was about developing a progressive answer to the challenges faced by the financial meltdown and the consequent recession. Rowan Williams was the keynote speaker. In a thoughtful speech, he argued for the promotion of virtue in society. However, the way markets… -
Goldman Sachs boss says sorry over financial crisis
18 Nov 2009 | 3:10 am'We participated in things that were clearly wrong and have reason to regret,' Lloyd Blankfein said. 'We apologise.'The head of Goldman Sachs has apologised for the Wall Street titan's role in helping to create the financial crisis.After being ridiculed for saying he was doing God's work, and having seen his company labelled as a bloodsucking vampire squid, Lloyd Blankfein yesterday delivered a mea culpa to a conference in New York."We participated in things that were clearly wrong and have reason to regret," Blankfein said. "We apologise."As the world's most successful investment bank,… -
Financial Services Authority will get powers to investigate hedge funds
17 Nov 2009 | 10:54 am• Treasury will create a consumer protection agency • Critics argue that tighter rules could hinder recoveryThe Financial Services Authority is to be handed powers to demand information from hedge funds and other firms it does not directly regulate in a package of measures being outlined by the government.The new powers to force firms beyond its remit to cooperate with its investigations will be included the Queen's Speech along with measures intended to make it easier to intervene in banker's bonuses.The regulator is expected to be allowed to tear up contracts signed after 1 January if… -
UBS reveals investment banking 'revolution' to regain profits
17 Nov 2009 | 10:52 am• Investment banking unit almost sank business a year ago• Transformation will build UBS for 'sustainable profit'UBS plans to revamp itself by expanding the investment banking unit that almost sank the business less than one year ago, the Swiss bank revealed today.After suffering about $50bn (£30bn) of writedowns and losses in the financial crisis, the Swiss bank said its fixed income unit – which trades loans, bonds and other credit products – will help drive profitability in the medium term.UBS, which last had an annual pre-tax profit in 2006, will carry out a "revolution" in the… -
Pioneer of personalised genetic tests files for bankruptcy
17 Nov 2009 | 9:34 am• The business has debts of $314m with assets of just $70m • Firm's biobank has genetic information on 140,000 IcelandersA pioneering biotechnology company that spearheaded genetic research on common diseases and offered personalised medical tests has filed for bankruptcy.The Icelandic firm, deCODE Genetics, was one of the first in the world to market DNA tests for disease risk directly to the public, and had invested heavily in basic research to uncover the genetic origins of conditions such as breast and prostate cancer, heart disease and diabetes.It has been in serious financial…
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Sport: Cricket | guardian.co.uk
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Stuart Broad closes on return in sign of changing fortunes
21 Nov 2009 | 11:15 am• Bowler could return for latter stages of ODI series• South Africa all-rounder ruled out of remaining gamesThe England cricketcamp has had the look of a field hospital in recent weeks so the sight of Stuart Broad running in to bowl at Centurion, coupled with the news that South Africa's Jacques Kallis would miss the remaining four matches of the one-day international series with a rib injury, suggested that the recent high winds in these parts had blown around the fortunes of the two sides.Broad (shoulder) will miss Sunday's game, as will Graeme Swann (side) and Alastair Cook (back), but… -
Jacques Kallis to miss one-day series with fractured rib
21 Nov 2009 | 4:30 am• Kallis suffered fractured rib during Champions League• All-rounder could struggle to recover in time for first TestSouth Africa's Jacques Kallis will miss the entire one-day international series against England because of a fractured rib. The Proteas coach, Mickey Arthur, admitted Kallis may not recover in time to play in the first Test.It is thought Kallis suffered the injury during the Champions League in India last month, but it was only after a scan this morning that the true extent of the problem was uncovered. South Africa intend to call up an as yet unnamed replacement batsman. -
This week: Belle du Jour, Sarah Palin and the MCC
20 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmLucy Mangan on the people in the headlinesStripped blogger Belle de JourThe blogger-turned-bestselling-author who documented her secret life as a call girl revealed after five years of carefully maintained anonymity her true identity as scientist Dr Brooke Magnanti this week, apparently in a pre-emptive strike against an imminent Daily Mail exposé.For all those who had long held the dream that she would be prostitution's Neo – The One who would prove that the true reality of the world's oldest profession was that women who go on the game are as willing as they are wanton – things at… -
Northants did not want me enough, claims Monty Panesar
20 Nov 2009 | 2:30 pm• County 'would not help with my England career'• Spinner determined to win back Test and one-day placesMonty Panesar has said he left Northamptonshire to join Sussex because his former employers did not want him enough and were not interested in him furthering his international career. The England spinner, 27, who is currently in Johannesburg playing for Highveld Lions, joined Sussex on a three-year deal this week having endured a disappointing season in which he had lost his central contract."I felt Northants were no longer working with me to become an England player," he said… -
England washout denies Paul Collingwood chance to break record
20 Nov 2009 | 7:33 amSouth Africa v England, abandonedEngland's first one-day international against South Africa was washed out at the Wanderers today without a single ball being bowled. Following heavy rain overnight and throughout the day in Johannesburg, a final decision came after a scheduled inspection by the umpires at 5pm local time (3pm GMT).The second match is scheduled to take place at Centurion on Sunday when Paul Collingwood and James Treadwell will have another opportunity to reach contrasting career milestones. Tredwell, flown out two days ago as cover for injured off-spinner Graeme Swann, has been…
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UK news: Crime | guardian.co.uk
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Gangbos become the latest measure for fighting antisocial behaviour
20 Nov 2009 | 4:44 pmNew injunctions against gangs and action on wheelclampers included in Alan Johnson's crime billNew antisocial behaviour injunctions – dubbed gangbos – aimed at tackling teenage gang members as young as 14 are to be introduced as part of the new crime and security bill, the home secretary disclosed yesterday.The civil injunctions will include bans on meeting other gang members, wearing gang colours, going to certain locations or having a violent dog in a public place.Breaching a gangbo could require the offender to report to the police regularly, obey a curfew enforced by an electronic tag… -
'My son was in danger. So was I'
20 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmHe left Britain after his girlfriend Rachel Nickell was murdered 17 years ago, to escape the trauma and the press. This week André Hanscombe returned – to force the police to face their mistakesThe picture is attractive – pale skin, a drift of blonde hair, a wide, imperfect smile that makes her approachable and young, fragile – but it is very ordinary, too; a picture to be flipped past, privately, in an album, perhaps with an answering smile – do you remember that day? Yet it has joined a small handful of photographs that tell a particular story of late 20th-century Britain because… -
Policing Pledge: Police use TV to explain promises to public
20 Nov 2009 | 4:01 pmA £1.9m national advertising campaign explaining what the public can expect from their local force in England and Wales launches today -
Murder inquiry launched after teenager found fatally stabbed in street
20 Nov 2009 | 12:43 pmPolice say 19-year-old involved in altercation in north London before incidentDetectives launched a murder inquiry today after a teenager was found fatally stabbed in a north London street.Passersby found the 19-year-old, who has not been named, collapsed in Stoke Newington late yesterday and called the emergency services. Paramedics arrived shortly before 11pm and he was pronounced dead at the scene.Police said the incident followed an altercation between the teenager and two male suspects. They are looking for a silver vehicle that left the scene shortly afterwards and turned into Church… -
Murder trial told of girl's pregnancy fear
20 Nov 2009 | 12:37 pmA 15-year-old girl allegedly murdered for falling in love with an older man told a friend she thought she was pregnant and was going to run away, a court heard. Tulay Goren whispered the remark to Nadia Mahmood in a school assembly before she went missing, jurors were told. She disappeared in 1999 and has never been found. Tulay is alleged to have been murdered by her father, Mehmet, and her uncles Cuma and Ali because she fell in love with a 30-year-old man. Mahmood said: "I wasn't sure she was serious. It is the sort of thing teenagers sometimes say." The trial continues.Crimeguardian.co.uk…
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Stage: Dance | guardian.co.uk
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This week's dance previews
20 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmSvapnagata Festival, LondonAkram Khan and Nitin Sawnhey's festival climaxes with their joint creation, Confluence (Thu & Fri). Weaving extracts of their former works – including Zero Degrees and Bahok – with newly composed material, the choreographer and composer explore their cultural and psychological mix of influences. Before that (Tue & Wed), Moroccan-Flemish choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui joins forces with south Indian dancer Shantala Shivalingappa for a dialogue between male and female dynamics, and South African Gregory Maqoma performs Southern Comfort with Shanell Winlock, a… -
Epilepsy as live art isn't controversial | Allan Sutherland
20 Nov 2009 | 9:07 amRita Marcalo's plan to induce a seizure on stage challenges people's fears of the condition – and makes for witty artThirty years ago I tried to fundraise for Fall Down and Be Counted, a documentary about living with epilepsy, in which I went without sleep and medication in order to induce a fit for the cameras. This puts me in no position to disapprove of performance artist Rita Marcalo, who plans to induce an epileptic seizure as part of Involuntary Dances, a 24-hour event that presents "epilepsy as performance".Not that I do disapprove. I think what she's doing is terrific –… -
Epilepsy charity alarmed by dancer's plans for onstage seizure
19 Nov 2009 | 3:52 pmAn epilepsy charity says it is "very concerned" about a dance artist who is planning to induce a seizure on stage. Rita Marcalo has stopped taking her epilepsy medication before her show in Bradford next month. Marcalo, who is the artistic director of the Instant Dissidence dance theatre in Leeds, said: "Epilepsy is an invisible disability. I want to raise awareness of it." The audience will watch as she attempts to trigger a seizure using a range of stimuli. The charity Epilepsy Action called Marcalo's plans potentially very dangerous: "This is something we would strongly urge this person… -
Jimmy Clark obituary
19 Nov 2009 | 10:32 amHalf of a key American duo from the golden age of tap-dancingJimmy Clark, who has died aged 87, was the "straight-man" of the renowned tap-dancing Clark Brothers. As the last "brother" tap act from the golden era of swing, Jimmy and his brother, Steve, had an extraordinary career. They negotiated mob-run venues in the US and mixed with royalty in the UK, but seldom put a foot wrong. After one command performance, the Queen Mother came along the line and shook Steve's hand. Lord Delfont asked if she remembered the Clark Brothers. She replied: "Yes, but I can't understand how they keep dancing… -
Step-by-step guide to dance: Scottish Dance Theatre
19 Nov 2009 | 8:37 amAfter uncertain beginnings, Scotland's flagship contemporary dance group pulled itself up by the bootstraps and leaped towards worldwide acclaimIn short For years, Scottish Dance Theatre struggled to survive in the isolated and sometimes harsh terrain that was contemporary dance in Scotland. But with careful nurture of both the company and its environment, it has thrived, and blossomed. Backstory First, let's get the names straight. The Scottish Dance Theatre was founded by Royston Maldoom in 1986. Originally called Dundee Rep Dance Company, it's not to be confused with another company…
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Science: Charles Darwin | guardian.co.uk
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Face to faith: The real challenge to the biblical literalism held dear by creationists is in the Bible itself, says Judith Maltby
20 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmThe real challenge to the biblical literalism held dear by creationists is in the Bible itselfAn academic conference in Louisville, Kentucky, provided me with an opportunity to visit the Creation Museum in nearby Petersburg with a friend who is also an Anglican priest. Opened in 2007, this $25m museum's mission is not only to prove the veracity of a literal reading of Genesis but also to present Darwinism as one the most dangerous and corrupting ideologies yet known to humankind.The museum is not for woolly-minded creationists. The six days of creation are six 24-hour days (no fudge there)… -
Darwin at the movies: A festival of apes, aliens and troglodytes
20 Nov 2009 | 12:00 pmWould we have had Alien, Planet of the Apes and The Time Machine if it weren't for a certain bearded Victorian?Darwin, Evolution and the Movies is a one-off festival of film and live comedy to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the publication of Darwin's On the Origin of Species on 24 November 1859. Over this weekend the festival is running at three separate venues across London. Classic films you rarely get a chance to see on the big screen, such as 2001: A Space Odyssey and brand new shorts commissioned as part of Darwin200 make up this small but perfectly formed festival. If Darwin had… -
Biodiversity loss is Earth's 'immense and hidden' tragedy, Darwin's 'natural heir' warns
20 Nov 2009 | 8:36 amProblem of biodiversity loss has been 'eased off centre stage' by focus on climate change, according to Prof Edward Wilson, the ecologist described as 'Darwin's natural heir'The diversity of life on Earth is undergoing an "immense and hidden" tragedy that requires the scale of global response now being deployed to tackle climate change, according to one of the world's most eminent biologists.Prof Edward Wilson, an ecologist who has been described as "Darwin's natural heir" and hailed by novelist Ian McEwan as an "intellectual hero" and "inspirational" writer, told the Guardian that the threat… -
In pictures: Most beautiful and most wonderful | Darwin photo competition
20 Nov 2009 | 7:47 amWinning entries of a photographic competition celebrating the birth of Charles Darwin and his theory of evolution -
Darwinism, through a Chinese lens | Riazat Butt
16 Nov 2009 | 9:00 amOn my third day in Alexandria, I search in vain for Hindu creationists, but learn instead about Darwin's influence on ChinaAlexandria is the pearl of the Mediterranean.Steeped in history and knowledge, visitors gulp down colour, like donkeys gorging on oats. But it has come to feel like Birmingham. It's not just the endless El Geish Road, the lively and frustrating dual carriageway with its complex system of u-turns and an insurmountable central reservation that makes me feel like I'm covering familiar ground, but the topics for discussion at the conference on Darwin's legacy. I wanted to…
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Politics: Guardian diary | guardian.co.uk
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Hugh Muir's diary
19 Nov 2009 | 4:15 pmIn the coming year we shall welcome whatisname. Wears white. Rides a milk floatSharp-eyed Catholics were quick to notice that the Queen raved during Wednesday's speech at the prospect of her state visit to Trinidad and Tobago as well as greeting South Africa's president, Jacob Zuma. But one state visit she didn't mention was that of Pope Benedict XVI, who is due here next year – the first papal visit since 1982. It couldn't be that she is offended by the pope's new offer of house room to disaffected Anglicans; his poaching members of her church? No. She's gagging to meet him too. It was a… -
Hugh Muir's Diary
18 Nov 2009 | 4:15 pmThey're definitely the men to trust with the fate of the planet. Yeah, rightHow the Tories would protect the planet becomes a pertinent question now we know that the top 10 Tory bloggers are sceptical about climate change. And after a conference at the European parliament yesterday, there seems more cause than ever to worry. Organised by the Conservative MEP Roger Helmer, the scheduled speakers included Anthony Watts, described by our Monbiot as the "scourge of climate change science". Also Ross McKitrick, a Canadian professor who says data indicating global warming has been fiddled; Tom… -
Diary | Hiugh Muir
17 Nov 2009 | 4:15 pmThe sponsors pay for the booze. They pay for the nibbles. But at what cost?With Cameron still the daddy in the polls there are good times ahead for Serco, the all-singing multinational services company that makes hay from privatisation. You want an asylum seeker tagged, they're the ones to do it for you. Want someone to share the good practice developed at Yarl's Wood detention centre, where children have been denied urgent medical treatment, handled violently and left at risk of serious harm? Serco runs the place, so it can do that too. It controls the military's communication system,… -
Hugh Muir's diary
16 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmThe sounds of the Ku Klux Klan? Nonsense, just a bit of Arabian belly dancer warbling, that's allEngland's libel law "does not reflect the interests of a modern democratic society", said the writers' charity Pen and Index on Censorship last week. And there are some strange things going on in the land of litigation. But not much stranger than the battle that began in a south London employment tribunal yesterday. Two former employees of Hays, Britain's biggest recruitment firm, claim, among other things, that they were subjected to Ku Klux Klan-style chanting from a colleague. They… -
Hugh Muir's diary
12 Nov 2009 | 4:15 pmSleepy, ragtag and bobtail. Meet Nick's new far-right friends in EuropeIt may yet become a force to be reckoned with, but the consensus following yesterday's public launch of Nick Griffin's new Euro vehicle, the Alliance of European National Movements, is that the project could do with a little fine-tuning. Remarks by his new French chum, Bruno Gollnisch were inauspicious. "I am not a Holocaust denier," Gollnisch said: though recently he had to go to France's highest court to prove it. Proceedings were interrupted by a telephone call. It was Nick. He couldn't find the press room, but…
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Media: Digital media | guardian.co.uk
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Digital divide over filesharing plans
20 Nov 2009 | 9:03 amDigital economy bill proposals receive welcome from music and film, but anger from ISPs and privacy campaignersThe government's planned crackdown on unlawful online filesharing has been attacked by privacy campaigners and internet service providers but welcomed by executives and artists in the music business.Earlier today, the government published the digital economy bill, the result of more than a year's consultation and debate, which includes plans to send warnings letters to persistent unlawful file-sharers and paves the way for persistent illegal sharers to have their broadband cut off… -
Mobile workers of the world unite? With Worksnug there is an app for that!
20 Nov 2009 | 8:35 amMobile workers of the world can finally unite, as the neat augmented reality application Worksnug has just been approved by Apple for the iPhone. And you know what? Two days after its approval it is already a hit. Not only has Stephen Fry twittered about it, but it went straight in at number five in the iPhone application business charts. So what is it about the application that people seem to want so badly? Worksnug allows you to find wifi locations available nearby, from Starbucks to independent cafes, to libraries and shared offices, complete with reviews describing the atmosphere, power… -
Third of UK population on News International database
20 Nov 2009 | 6:33 amTimes and Sun publisher says database of 20 million people enables it to assess which are the most valuable customersA third of the UK population - around 20 million people - have a direct relationship with News International thanks to the publishers' customer database, a senior executive revealed today.Katie Vanneck-Smith, the managing director of News International's Customer Direct division, told the Manchester Media Festival that the company had been compiling the database for the past three years.Vanneck-Smith said that as a result one in three people in the UK are on a database from… -
Treasury secretary defends government's online piracy plans
20 Nov 2009 | 5:45 amStephen Timms claims piracy powers necessary to 'future-proof' government proposals to safeguard the UK's creative industriesRead the government's statement on the billRead the digital economy billStephen Timms, the Treasury secretary, has defended the government's controversial plans to give ministers sweeping powers to combat online piracy as necessary to "future-proof" its proposals to safeguard the UK's creative industries.The digital economy bill, published today, introduces a new system to combat online piracy on peer-to-peer sharing services. Persistent unlawful file-sharers will… -
BBC bows to SEO
20 Nov 2009 | 4:33 amBBC News website to feature longer headlines on story pages, making them easier to find on search enginesFrom today, the headlines of the BBC News website will become longer to make its stories easier to find on search engines. "We estimate that about 29% of BBC News website UK traffic comes from search engines.", says Steve Herrmann, editor of BBC News website. The BBC will therefore allow its journalists to create two headlines for a story. While the shorter one between 31 and 33 characters appears on the front page and the website indexes as well as on mobile phones, the longer one – up…
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Global: Tim Dowling | guardian.co.uk
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Tim Dowling: In hot water
20 Nov 2009 | 4:10 pm'The pipe is now jetting water 2ft into the air. There is no time to think. I reach for the pipe…'My children have invented a form of ping pong they can play without a table, on a netless court whose dimensions happily coincide with the layout of the sitting room. I find this perverse, because we have a full-size ping-pong table in the sitting room, which dominates the space and prevents access to the kitchen. For the purposes of their new game, it's not just an ironic, looming presence, but a physical hindrance: in order to play, they have to roll it out of the way."Why don't you… -
David Cameron takes the biscuit with third session on mumsnet
19 Nov 2009 | 10:54 amTory leader wows website beloved of modern mothers and declares oatcakes (with butter and cheese) as his favourite biscuitBy the time the Tory leader logged on to mumsnet with the words "Hello, this is David Cameron signing in," there were already more than 250 questions waiting for him. Only one or two of them appeared to be about biscuits.The mumsnet live chat has been a staple of political discourse for some time; the website's 850,000 regular users represent a key voter demographic: modern mothers. A chance to win them over en masse is not be passed up, and Cameron has been here twice… -
The worst Christmas present ever?
17 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmThe gift that could be even more depressing than an ironing-board coverIt is quite possibly the most depressing Christmas present ever devised, guaranteed to make you wish the giver had had the imagination and sense of occasion to get you an ironing board cover: thanks to the Good Gifts catalogue, your loved ones can now defray the national debt on your behalf, by making a donation to the Treasury in your name.Well, it's not something you'd do for yourself, is it? The "Whittle Down the National Debt" initiative is being billed as "a wonderful present for children and grandchildren", with £20… -
Enid and The Queen in 3D | TV review
16 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmIcy and unhinged, Helena Bonham Carter's portrayal of Enid Blyton was riveting, says Tim DowlingWatch Enid via iPlayerWe know we're not meant to like Enid Blyton from the beginning, when she threatens to fire her driver for having a cold. "Fit by Friday, or you're sacked," she says.That's all right – I don't like her anyway. I didn't like Noddy, I didn't like The Faraway Tree, and while I haven't actually read anything else, I'm not prepared to keep an open mind. It is no big disenchantment for me to discover she wasn't a very nice person, and I gather it wasn't much of a secret.Enid (BBC4)… -
Tim Dowling: It's raining wasps
13 Nov 2009 | 4:10 pm'Under the rafters, I see what looks like a bleached severed head, with wasps on it'I'm at my desk when I become aware of a strange, spreading heat in my forearm. At first I think my sleeve's on fire. The heat sharpens into pain, and I yelp. I raise my arm and a dozy wasp falls to the floor. I've been stung again.In the last few weeks I've noticed a marked increase in the number of wasps inhabiting my office: they bounce along the ceiling and buzz against the skylight, waiting for me let them out. Shining my bicycle light into the cavity under the rafters, I see what looks…
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Education: Early years education | guardian.co.uk
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Lack of household chores making children less responsible, claims survey
14 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmParents who don't give their children chores at home may be slowing their developmentChildren should be given chores to help them develop a caring attitude and keep them grounded, according to a survey that found parents are now reluctant to ask children to do household tasks.A study of the articles, advice and letters published in more than 300 parenting magazines between 1920 and 2006 has found that most modern-day children are only asked to take on trivial responsibilities, such as feeding a pet, clearing the table after dinner or tidying up after themselves."In earlier generations,… -
Letters: Britain at the nursery stage in early years provision
4 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmThe wilful erosion of state nursery schools predates the present concern over the single funding formula (Cash squeeze threatens free nursery places, 3 November). The Childcare Act 2006 has already imposed on local authorities a duty to fund pre-school education via private providers – critically undermining state nursery education. The redistributed monies won't make much of a difference to supply when so many private nursery businesses are struggling financially. Britain's reluctance to commit to a universal and equitably funded early-education system places it at the fringes of Europe. -
Mick Brookes of NAHT on cash cuts for state nurseries
3 Nov 2009 | 1:06 amMick Brookes, of the National Association of Head Teachers, on how cash cuts will close state nurseriesJon Dennis -
More Sure Start centres could harm rather than help, says report
3 Nov 2009 | 12:35 amExpansion of children's centres could widen gap between disadvantaged children and their better-off peers, study findsThe government's Sure Start children's centres do not always narrow the gap between disadvantaged children and their peers and in some cases may even widen it, a lead investigator on a major study has told a parliamentary inquiry into the flagship Labour policy.Iram-Siraj Blatchford, professor of early childhood education at the Institute of Education, said although there had been some progress, the problem stemmed from the expansion of the schemes to include universal as well… -
Funding changes raise fears for state nursery schools
2 Nov 2009 | 12:47 pm• Heads warn cash will be switched to private sector• Cutbacks predicted as free childcare pledge extendedFor the Halfpenny-Steel family the Bognor Regis nursery school is an extension of their living room. Their daughter Lyra May, three, went to the school's breastfeeding clinic as an infant, spent her first hours away from her parents there, made her first friends, and is now learning to recognise simple words under the tuition of the nursery's highly qualified teachers."It's a second home for my family. When we're both working we have to know our children will be loved, cared for and…
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Education | guardian.co.uk
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Graduate training schemes offer testing times
20 Nov 2009 | 4:06 pmGetting a place on a graduate training programme can be like tackling an assault course. One determined student talks to Nic Paton about clearing the hurdles ... and winningYou may not (yet) have to stand up and sing in front of a baying audience, but landing yourself a place on a graduate training programme does appear to be getting more and more like The X Factor.Long gone are the days of turning up for an informal chat, a quick tour of the office and a handshake with your putative line manager before being shown out of the building with a "see you in the autumn".Students applying over the… -
History? It's history | Andrew Martin
20 Nov 2009 | 2:00 pmIf the past is another country, Ed Balls has just confiscated the passports of our schoolchildrenEd Balls has announced that primary school history is to be subsumed into an "area of learning" called "historical, geographical and social understanding". Personally I did prefer the words "history" and "geography", partly because they're shorter. Presumably Balls, who is highly educated, knows that the importation of a value word like "understanding" is a tactic associated with totalitarian regimes. So why does he do it?Balls says he is strengthening the role of history in primary schools; but… -
Parental choice on primary schools 'increases social divide'
20 Nov 2009 | 10:56 amPoor parents pick child's school because it is close to home, while middle-class parents go on good academic recordGiving parents a choice over primary schools increases the social divide, a study reveals.The majority of poor parents pick their child's primary school because it is close to their home, while nearly half of middle-class parents opt for a school for its academic record, researchers found.Since 1988, parents in England have had the right to express a preference of school. Successive governments have believed one benefit of this is to force under-performing schools to up their… -
University of California students protest against tuition increase
20 Nov 2009 | 9:24 amProtests rock UCLA's campus as the University of California approves a 32% increase in undergraduate feesRahsheeda Ali -
Cuts will cost universities their international reputations
20 Nov 2009 | 7:14 amFinancial crisis beckons as public spending cuts loom and universities face intense competition from overseasUniversities are facing a new funding crisis with looming public spending cuts and intense competition from overseas, according to the man employed by the government to allocate money to higher education in England.Sir Alan Langlands, head of the university funding council and a former chief executive of the NHS, warned that the UK risks losing its international reputation for higher education as other countries pump cash into universities to try to train people out of the recession.It…
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World news: Egypt | guardian.co.uk
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Crackdown in Cairo as football violence erupts
20 Nov 2009 | 9:53 am• Rioting sparked by Algeria victory spreads to Egypt• Fans attack embassies in wave of tit-for-tat reprisalsParts of Cairo are under police lockdown amid some of the worst football violence ever seen in the region.More than a thousand security personnel deployed to protect the Algerian embassy and other key locations came under attack from angry protesters after Egypt's contentious defeat to Algeria in a World Cup playoff match on Wednesday. Egypt recalled its envoy to Algiers and condemned the Algerian government for failing to prevent the destruction of Egyptian offices. The secretary… -
Arab unity put to severe test as Egypt and Algeria contest World Cup qualifier
18 Nov 2009 | 5:54 amWar of words could again spill over into violence as Arab rivals contest the last African slotArab unity faces a severe test tonight ‑ not over attitudes to Israel, Iraq, or any of the usual hot items on the Middle Eastern political agenda, but over the battle between the Egyptian and Algerian football teams for the last African slot in the World Cup. Not surprisingly, it's being dubbed "the mother of all matches".Passions are running at fever pitch in advance of the qualifier in Khartoum, where 15,000 police are on the streets, braced for trouble. Official calls for sportmanship have been… -
Heart disease was rife among ancient Egyptians
17 Nov 2009 | 1:51 pmX-rays of mummies reveal atherosclerosis, suggesting there may be more to heart disease than bad diet and smokingHeart disease plagued human society long before fry-ups and cigarettes came along, researchers say. The upper classes of ancient Egypt were riddled with cardiovascular disease that dramatically raised their risk of heart attacks and strokes.Doctors made the discovery after taking hospital X-ray scans of 20 Egyptian mummies that date back more than 3,500 years.The scans revealed signs of atherosclerosis, a life-threatening condition where fat and calcium build up in the arteries,… -
Nubian fury at 'monkey' lyric of Arab pop star Haifa Wehbe
17 Nov 2009 | 10:37 am• Black Egyptians sue and demand album be banned• Row casts fresh light on racism in regionOne of the Arab world's biggest pop stars has provoked a torrent of outrage after releasing a song which refers to black Egyptians as monkeys.Haifa Wehbe, an award-winning Lebanese diva who has been voted one of the world's most beautiful people, is now facing a lawsuit from Egyptian Nubians claiming the song has fuelled discrimination against them and made some Nubian children too afraid to attend school.The row has cast fresh light on the position within Egyptian society of Nubians, who are… -
Darwinism, through a Chinese lens | Riazat Butt
16 Nov 2009 | 9:00 amOn my third day in Alexandria, I search in vain for Hindu creationists, but learn instead about Darwin's influence on ChinaAlexandria is the pearl of the Mediterranean.Steeped in history and knowledge, visitors gulp down colour, like donkeys gorging on oats. But it has come to feel like Birmingham. It's not just the endless El Geish Road, the lively and frustrating dual carriageway with its complex system of u-turns and an insurmountable central reservation that makes me feel like I'm covering familiar ground, but the topics for discussion at the conference on Darwin's legacy. I wanted to…
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Education: E-learning | guardian.co.uk
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Social workers get their own TV channel
27 Oct 2009 | 5:03 amOne of the Social Work Taskforce's central preoccupations is how best to stimulate professionalism, confidence and morale among social workers. It's final report is due out this autumn. Now the Social Care Institute for Excellence launched Social Care TV, which it hopes will help tackle these issues, as well as provoke debate.While teachers have had their own TV channel for some while, this is the first time that social care has its own TV service. Available from SCIE's website, the programmes are aimed at social care staff, managers, commissioners and trainers.The real life stories and films… -
Teaching Awards: Becta award for next generation learning
26 Oct 2009 | 5:05 pmDan Lea is no geek, yet he manages to get his class recording and blogging – and he makes it look easyThey've only known him a few weeks, but as far as six-year-olds Sapphire Roll and Naila Haque are concerned, their teacher, Dan Lea, is the business. "Mr Lea is the best teacher in the world," they tell me. "And he is funny!"As Naila and Sapphire discuss just why he is so funny (it's the dancing and singing, apparently) their thoughts are recorded on a video camera by two classmates. In the corner, four children are playing the Elf Tales maths computer game. And at the front of the room,… -
'Robot' computer to mark English essays
24 Sep 2009 | 4:08 pm• Exam board denies system will be extended to GCSEs• Union fears 'a disaster waiting to happen'The owner of one of England's three major exam boards is to introduce artificial intelligence-based automated marking of English exam essays in the UK from next month.Pearson, the American-based parent company of Edexcel, is to use computers to "read" and assess essays for international English tests in a move that has fuelled speculation that GCSEs and A-levels will be next.All three exam boards are now investing heavily in e-assessment but none has yet perfected a form of marking essays using… -
Why e-assessment hasn't been quickly adopted
20 Jul 2009 | 4:05 pmAn expert says on-screen exams will soon be the norm. Don't hold your breath, says Warwick MansellKen Boston was bullish about the power of technology to transform the educational experience of millions of pupils. "On-screen assessment will shortly touch the life of every learner in this country," predicted Boston, at the time chief executive of the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, in a speech at London's Royal Festival Hall, setting out his organisation's "blueprint" for the use of technology in exams.But that was back in 2004, and few experts would say that he has been proved right. -
Obituary: Robin Mason
5 Jul 2009 | 4:01 pmAdvocate of e-learning in higher educationRobin Mason, who has died aged 63 from pneumonia as a secondary complication from a brain tumour, changed the face of distance education through her research at the Open University (OU) and her contribution to higher education policy documents. Coming to higher education later in life, Mason joined the Institute of Educational Technology at the OU in the early 1980s, and worked initially as a part-time project officer. When she embarked on her PhD on computer conferencing in 1985, her work became ground-breaking. She was attempting to link students by…
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Global: Barbara Ellen | guardian.co.uk
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It's about time we gave nurses a degree of respect
14 Nov 2009 | 4:07 pmThere's nothing wrong with giving our 'angels' some status and power - except in the minds of a retrograde bunch of ex-public schoolboysNever is our class system so starkly illuminated than when plans are afoot to give (mainly working class and female) nurses some status and power. Such as last week, when it was announced by nursing minister and former nurse, Ann Keen, that, from 2013, a nursing degree would become mandatory. Never mind that England is lagging behind here (all Scottish nurses have had nursing degrees since 2002), responses have ranged from pensive to downright apoplectic.One… -
That's enough slap and tickle, Sir Nicholas | Barbara Ellen
7 Nov 2009 | 4:08 pmI have a blurred memory from many years ago of molestation at work.Dragged unwillingly into a stationery cupboard, alcohol fumes everywhere, a couple of minutes of tussling, then falling out, possibly sprawling on to the carpet. But I think he was OK and he didn't seem to hold it against me. I tell you this to illustrate that I understand harassment at work isn't all one way and sometimes isn't "harassment" at all. That most women don't get upset about banter – the hurly burly of working life. Few want to navigate their days in the manner of politically correct robots, always on the hunt… -
If parents lie, whose fault is that, Mr Balls? | Barbara Ellen
31 Oct 2009 | 5:05 pmIt's the lack of good schools that's criminal, not the actions of desperate parentsDoes Ed Balls lie quaking in his bed at night, realising that many otherwise sane and reasonable parents would cheerfully boil him in tar if they thought it would get their child into a decent school?Does our schools secretary look at the recent sharp rise in appeals for primary places, and have any idea of the extremes people would go to in order to give their children the best start? Well maybe he does, and that's why he intends to criminalise them.An inquiry starting tomorrow will take a much more hardline… -
Leona Lewis: "I'm no pushover!"
24 Oct 2009 | 4:10 pmShe's topped the charts in 30 countries and was the first Briton to have a debut number one album in America. So why is Leona Lewis still seen as shy and retiring? The Hackney superstar reveals her steely side to Barbara EllenDoes Leona Lewis ever get fed up with being viewed as some kind of "anti-Amy Winehouse"? Maybe it is because they both attended the performing arts BRIT school in Croydon, but it seems, especially in Britain, Lewis and Winehouse are forever linked in the media eye as polar opposites.And while Winehouse doesn't exactly get an easy ride, Lewis, 24, is often saddled with a… -
Barbara Ellen on the New Dudes
24 Oct 2009 | 4:06 pmThe New Dudes are drunk, faithless, feckless and dark. But are they dangerous modern misogynists? Or desperate for female attention?In US TV producer Alan Wieder's midlife crisis memoir Year of the Cock: The Remarkable True Account of a Married Man Who Left his Wife and Paid the Price, we join him just as he is leaving the marital home, and does he ever need to talk about it.Here's Al on marriage: "A soul-destroying gulag, from which, after years of voluntary thralldom, I'd finally mustered the courage to escape. Every married guy I knew openly and quite pitifully fantasised about how…
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Society: Equality | guardian.co.uk
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Public pay is bloated. But don't forget the virus source | Polly Toynbee
20 Nov 2009 | 12:30 pmThe wild escalation of top salaries goes across both sectors – and so must the solution: a high pay commissionIf ever there were a need for a high pay commission to put some rationality into out-of-control top pay scales, this is it. The Equality and Human Rights Commission is looking for a new chief executive. Its chairman, Trevor Phillips, called in Hayes Consulting to establish what the salary should be. It suggested a staggering £200,000 – more than the prime minister. Why so much?It's a poisoned chalice of a job, under daily assault from a hostile press that mocks, abuses and… -
Rowan Williams urges Rome to rethink position on female bishops
19 Nov 2009 | 11:50 amThe archbishop of Canterbury today pleaded with Roman Catholics to set aside their differences with Anglicans over the issue of female bishops, insisting there was more uniting the denominations than dividing them.Rowan Williams was giving a lecture in Rome before Saturday's meeting with the pope, their first encounter since the Vatican's surprise announcement of a special institution for traditionalist Anglicans wanting to convert to Catholicism.In his address at the Gregorian University, Williams said the Anglican communion was proof that churches could stay together in spite of their… -
One for the lads, or lavs? | Open thread
19 Nov 2009 | 9:00 amToday is International Men's Day, but also World Toilet Day. Which one will you celebrate?Today is International Men's Day. The objectives of such an institution include focusing on men's and boys' health, improving gender relations, promoting gender equality and highlighting positive male role models. It is also World Toilet Day, which aims to raise awareness of the fact that 2.5 billion people worldwide are without access to proper sanitation, which risks their health, strips them of dignity and kills 1.8 million of them, mostly children, every year.Perhaps this coincidence was actually… -
The EU's gentlemen's club | Jon Worth
19 Nov 2009 | 8:30 amFrom Tony Blair to Herman Van Rompuy, the contenders for top European jobs are overwhelmingly maleRight now in Brussels the heads of the 27 national governments of the European Union's member states will be milling around.Gordon Brown will be lobbying for Tony Blair, Herman Van Rompuy will be trying to persuade people he is not as anonymous as many fear, and José Manuel Barroso will be pottering around pompously having already been nominated for another term as commission president. Everyone will agree on something, but no one will be happy.Stop. European Union politics should not be like… -
Positive thinking on maternity leave | Mary Fitzgerald
19 Nov 2009 | 7:00 amHarriet Harman shouldn't be forced on to the defensive in her pursuit of a more family-friendly employment arenaHarriet Harman's plans to extend maternity leave have sparked the predictable hysteria. There's a website called HarrietHarmansucks.com, and her cabinet colleague Lord Mandelson (with whom she reportedly has a chilly relationship) has toned down her initial proposals. Now the new issue of Prospect magazine carries a more nuanced response from LSE academic Catherine Hakim. Added maternity leave would not only be bad for employers and British business, Hakim says, but would actually…
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Environment: Ethical and green living | guardian.co.uk
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How can you make sure that a Christmas tree really is fair trade | Leo Hickman
20 Nov 2009 | 6:22 amIs there such a thing as a fair trade Christmas tree, and should I be worried about 'unethical' trees?Is there such a thing as a fair trade Christmas tree, and should I be worried about "unethical" trees?Tanni Foster, by emailYou can tell Christmas is almost upon us because the annual debate about the merits, or otherwise, of getting a Christmas trees has already begun in earnest, as evidenced below.I won't dwell here on that particular debate because I have discussed the various options a number of times before (in 2008, 2005 and 2004).But what does interest me is the brand new option of… -
Competition: Win a Wiggly Wigglers beehive composter
19 Nov 2009 | 12:30 amHere's the problem with compost bins: most of them are so ugly we tend to put them in a shady corner of the garden where they won't be noticed, but they produce compost much faster if positioned in direct sunlight. The Wiggly Wigglers beehive composter provides a solution - a compost bin that's handsome enough to stand in pride of place in your garden.We've got one beehive composter to give away. To enter, email your name, postal address and telephone number to jane.perrone@guardian.co.uk, with "Wiggly Wigglers" in the subject line. Entries will be accepted until the end of the day on Tuesday… -
Antisocial cycling is annoying - but not harmful | Debra Rolfe
19 Nov 2009 | 12:00 amInstead of getting worked up about the perceived dangers of bad cycling, let's focus on changing the bad driving that killed 2,538 people on UK roads last yearWhy do those of us who venture out on two wheels run the risk of being called lycra louts or being compared to the evil overlord of a galactic empire? Take MP David Curry, who once said "the only time I have been knocked down in my life was by a cyclist going like a bat out of hell ... dressed like Darth Vader, as they all do!" Sadly, however, the idea that cyclists are a threat to civilisation seems to show no sign of abating.Much of… -
Newcastle-upon-Tyne takes top spot as Britain's greenest city
18 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmIndustrial revolution power house shakes off dirty image with high scores on recycling, green space and tackling climate changeA city once wreathed in smoke and deafened by shipyard steel-hammers, has transformed itself into the greenest in Britain, according to the country's most comprehensive sustainability audit.Millions of pounds and a communal push for cleaner, brighter surroundings have returned Newcastle upon Tyne – almost - to the days when Thomas Bewick made his countryside engravings in the city centre and commuted home through meadows."We hope this inspires other cities to… -
Ethical and green Christmas guide
18 Nov 2009 | 3:02 amHow to be festive and green - from rentable Christmas trees and organic turkeys to original ethical gift ideas and tips on recycling electrical waste... From the Ecologist, part of the Guardian Environment NetworkFoodAvoid the last minute supermarket dash - head for your local farmer's market or farm shop instead to stock up on food for the festive season.A weekly veg box makes life easier and saves you lugging round bags of potatoes and carrots. It also saves you a potential drive to the market - a big chunk of your food-related emissions.Go for a free range, preferably organic, turkey -…
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World news: European Union | guardian.co.uk
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The EU's nice stich-up | Ilana Bet-El
20 Nov 2009 | 4:50 pmLady Ashton is apparently a perfectly personable woman, but she was only chosen because she ticked the right boxesIf someone held the patent for the word "nice" they would make a fortune today: the only thing anyone can find to say about Lady Ashton is that she's nice. Sometimes she's just nice, other times she's nice in comparison to Lord Mandelson, her predecessor as EU trade commissioner. She also has nice people skills, and is nice to work with. Perhaps a fashion journalist will cast her eye over her soon and pronounce her dress sense nice; but maybe not. Or maybe one of those "EU… -
Martin Rowson on EU leadership
20 Nov 2009 | 4:14 pmExperts agree politicking has triumphed over ambition in the appointment of two new leadersMartin Rowson -
Letters: Herman rains on Tone's parade
20 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmDo I detect a certain regret that Tony Blair failed in his bid to become president of the European council (Comment, Leaders, 20 November)? Is there a single person left in this country who does not share in the shame of the deceit over Iraq?Anthony MarrianLondon • It is a major missed opportunity for the future prosperity, and indeed safety, of Europe that Tony Blair has been deemed too big a politician for the fragile egos of European leaders. The excuse of Iraq has been used to justify ignoring a man who has both the strategic judgment and courage to represent Europe in the way that its… -
Letters: Hymn to Belgium's EU president
20 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmAs a Belgian, I am shocked by the disinformation around the candidacy and person of Mr Van Rompuy, especially by the British tabloids (The great EU stitch-up, 20 November). Their comments are an insult. Van Rompuy is not to be an executive president like the US president; he is the chairman, a consensus-builder of a Europe of nations. He is not in favour of a European national hymn, flag or tax. And even if he were, his personal opinion is irrelevant. I am shocked by British nationalism that would rather have a high-profile Briton as president, even if such a strong and flamboyant presidency… -
European Union: Now to make it work
20 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmAre Herman van Rompuy and Cathy Ashton the best of all available choices as the European Union council president and the high representative on foreign policy respectively? Undoubtedly not. Yet they are competent people and they are the choices that the EU has now made. Were Mr van Rompuy and Baroness Ashton chosen in the most persuasive way to win confidence across Europe and to impress the rest of the world? Certainly not that either. But in a Europe that recoils from the superstatism that direct election to such posts involves, they were chosen by the only process that existed.No doubt…
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Global: Competition | guardian.co.uk
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Win Fever Ray signed prints and tickets for their sold out London gig
20 Nov 2009 | 9:12 amWin Fever Ray signed prints and tickets for their sold out London gig -
Win a £4,000 family adventure holiday with Land of the Lost
20 Nov 2009 | 8:36 amWin a £4,000 family adventure holiday with Land of the Lost -
Win a fantastic designer cuff worth £450!
20 Nov 2009 | 4:00 amEnter our competition and be in with the chance to win a designer cuff worth £450 -
Competition: Win a Wiggly Wigglers beehive composter
19 Nov 2009 | 12:30 amHere's the problem with compost bins: most of them are so ugly we tend to put them in a shady corner of the garden where they won't be noticed, but they produce compost much faster if positioned in direct sunlight. The Wiggly Wigglers beehive composter provides a solution - a compost bin that's handsome enough to stand in pride of place in your garden.We've got one beehive composter to give away. To enter, email your name, postal address and telephone number to jane.perrone@guardian.co.uk, with "Wiggly Wigglers" in the subject line. Entries will be accepted until the end of the day on Tuesday… -
Win tickets to Earth: Art of a Changing World private view at GSK Contemporary
17 Nov 2009 | 7:58 amWin tickets to Earth: Art of a Changing World exclusive private view
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Education: Faith schools | guardian.co.uk
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Atheist billboards are misguided | Jan Ainsworth
19 Nov 2009 | 5:00 amIf parents wish their children to be brought up as Christians, or, for that matter, atheists, what right do others have to stop them?In their latest poster campaign, Ariane Sherine and members of the British Humanist Association appear to have decided that it is a Very Bad Thing that parents might try and bring up their children within a religious or philosophical framework of their choosing. They suggest it is wholly unacceptable that anyone might suggest that their own child might belong to a particular religion. While I know I risk offending the loyal and noble readers of Cif here, I… -
Hey, preacher – leave those kids alone | Ariane Sherine
18 Nov 2009 | 2:00 amThe final phase of the atheist bus campaign will challenge the idea that children can be labelled with their parents' religionThis week, the final phase of the atheist bus campaign will appear in London, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast – not on buses, but on billboards. Due to the amazing sums donated to the campaign fund by many Cif readers at the end of last year, we raised enough for a second wave of adverts – and the above posters will launch today.When, in this Cif piece back in October 2008, we asked how the extra funds should be spent, one of the issues which came up repeatedly in… -
Letters: The place of faith in state education
2 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmSimon Jenkins writes (Holy texts and lineage are no way to assemble state schools, 30 October) that he is against "eccentricity or exclusivity being validated by public money" in his attack on the right of parents to choose a state school for their child founded on the ethos that they hold central to their understanding of the world. His analysis is so prejudiced and, in places, inaccurate, it is difficult to know where to begin.But perhaps the crucial point is that people of faith are taxpayers too, many of whom would object to their faith being referred to as some form of eccentricity, or… -
Schools must be blind to religion | Seth Freedman
2 Nov 2009 | 7:00 amMy alma mater, JFS, is a model of exclusive, damaging social homogeneity. Its admissions policy can't be justifiedThe furore over my alma mater, JFS, is threatening to seriously undermine the concept of faith schools – and that can only be a good thing. Segregating children on the basis of their religion is a dangerous path to tread, and ought to be proscribed across the board in the interest of community cohesion. Abandoning faith schools will not impact on individuals' ability to freely practise their religions, but will send a strong signal that there are certain areas of public life in… -
Holy texts and lineage are no way to assemble state schools | Simon Jenkins
29 Oct 2009 | 1:31 pmThe primitive barring of a child on ethnic grounds is the nadir of the pursuit of 'choice'. Pupils should go local, warts and allSoon we shall cry, come back 11-plus, all is forgiven. The spectacle of the supreme court trying this week to decide whether racial purity should be the basis for admission to state education shows how close we still are to the dark ages. If I had to choose between putting my child through a test of the three Rs or trying to prove his mother's maternal bloodline, give me the three Rs any day.The case of the London Jewish Free School (JFS), now before the…
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UK news: Falkland Islands | guardian.co.uk
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The army psychiatrist: Second-hand trauma of war
6 Nov 2009 | 1:49 pmDr Jon Bisson is a former military psychiatrist who works at the Community Veterans Mental Health Service in Cardiff, and is a member of the UK Psychological Trauma Society. He is a reader in psychiatry and honorary consultant psychiatrist at Cardiff University.When I was a military psychiatrist I treated people who had seen service in Northern Ireland, the Falklands war and the first Gulf conflict. Today, at the Community Veterans Mental Health Service, I see individuals who have been traumatised in those three conflicts and also the current Iraq conflict.Among the veterans I see now, some… -
Obituary | TV executive and naturalist | Lord Buxton of Alsa
7 Sep 2009 | 10:50 amAnglia TV executive and creator of the long-running natural history series SurvivalAubrey Buxton, Lord Buxton of Alsa, who has died at the age of 91, combined a passionate interest in wildlife with a commanding role in television, frequently to their mutual benefit. Survival, the long-running ITV natural history series, which he created at Anglia TV in 1961 and oversaw as executive producer, received international awards as well as a Royal Television Society gold medal and the Queen's award for export in 1974.Born in Oxford, from public school at Ampleforth, Yorkshire, the young Buxton went… -
Falkland islanders say Argentina is waging economic warfare
14 Jun 2009 | 10:40 amThe Falkland Islands government has accused Argentina of waging a campaign of "economic warfare" against it.Speaking on the 27th anniversary of the end of the Falklands war, Mike Summers, a member of the Falkland Islands legislative assembly, said Argentina is deliberately hampering the islands' three main industries of fishing, tourism and oil and gas exploration.He said the British overseas territory's economic development is being held back by Argentinian policies aimed at forcing the islands to accept claims of Argentinian sovereignty. The Falkland Islands, or Las Malvinas, as the… -
Royal snub to Falklands war veterans
13 Jun 2009 | 4:01 pmMinisters and members of the royal family have angered Falklands war veterans by snubbing today's official memorial service for the 255 British servicemen killed in the conflict. Survivors are "appalled" that no minister or senior royal will attend the service at the Falklands Memorial Chapel in Pangbourne, Berkshire, which marks the 27th anniversary of the liberation of the islands from Argentinian troops. Their anger comes days after Prince Charles and Gordon Brown travelled to France for a high-profile anniversary service to remember those who died during the D-day landings in 1944. Scots… -
UK stakes claim to huge area of South Atlantic seabed
11 May 2009 | 10:11 amUN submission heralds battle with Argentina over mineral rightsA vast tract of the South Atlantic seabed – rich in oil and minerals – was formally claimed by the United Kingdom today in defiance of Argentinian opposition.The submission to the United Nations commission on the limits of the continental shelf has been issued two weeks after the government in Buenos Aires lodged its application to extend control over an almost identical area of underwater territory.The British claim is contained in a 63-page document that will be posted on the UN's website. It defines the precise limits of…
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World news: Famine | guardian.co.uk
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Ukraine's forgotten famine | James Marson
18 Nov 2009 | 12:00 amA political row over Russia's refusal to recognise the Holodomor is obscuring the horror of a famine in which millions diedAround a well-stocked Ukrainian dinner table one evening recently, I watched in surprise as a friend's grandmother carefully swept together the breadcrumbs on the table in front of her, then ate them from the palm of her hand."She knows the value of food," my friend explained. "She lived through the Holodomor."The Holodomor, or "death by hunger", was unleashed on the country in 1932-33 as part of Stalin's drive to collectivise farming across the Soviet Union. Forced grain… -
Gallery: Save the Children - Ethiopia's food crisis
23 Oct 2009 | 4:52 amSave the Children is appealing for $20m to support the millions of children affected by the latest crisis to hit Ethiopia -
How British TV reports famine
18 Oct 2009 | 4:12 pm25 years after Michael Buerk's broadcasts from Ethiopia, the documentaries have stopped, but the starvation hasn'tMichael Buerk describes them as "by far the most influential pieces of television ever broadcast". The first of his two BBC News reports that revealed the horror of mass death by starvation in Ethiopia aired 25 years ago this Friday, with the second a day later. They prompted a huge wave of private giving, shamed negligent western governments into action and ushered in a new era in the aid business.British television once played an exceptional role in questioning why governments… -
Millions will starve as rich nations cut food aid funding, warns UN
10 Oct 2009 | 4:08 pmAid agencies fear global disaster as support for World Food Programme hits 20-year lowTens of millions of the world's poor will have their food rations cut or cancelled in the next few weeks because rich countries have slashed aid funding.The result, says Josette Sheeran, head of the UN's World Food Programme (WFP), could be the "loss of a generation" of children to malnutrition, food riots and political destabilisation. "We are facing a silent tsunami," said Sheeran in an exclusive interview with the Observer. "A humanitarian disaster is unrolling." The WFP feeds nearly 100 million people a… -
Food, famine & climate change: How we feed the world on 85p
10 Oct 2009 | 4:05 pmAs successive droughts and financial turmoil push a billion people worldwide to the brink of starvation, Plumpy'nut, a fast-food wonder snack, is quietly saving children's livesFatima Ibrahim was having two of her children weighed, measured and fussed over when we found her with 30 other mums and more than 50 hungry kids at an emergency feeding centre in northern Kenya. Barwaco came in at 12.8kg and her brother Mohamed at 8.1, and both were crying lustily as people crowded round Dida Jirma, a young community doctor.Jirma noted the children's weights and height and measured the circumference…
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Life and style: Fashion | guardian.co.uk
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The Hermès scarf: Hip to be square
20 Nov 2009 | 4:12 pmDesired by many and beloved by elegant celebrities, the Hermès scarf is an iconic piece of fashion history. But how the deuce are you meant to tie it?Many designers strive to close the gap between fashion and art, but few succeed. With the creation of its famous scarf in 1937, the House of Hermès invented wearable art at one brilliantly simple stroke. Develop the finest screen-printing techniques possible, cultivate a stable of the most talented graphic designers and textile artists, unleash a riot of creativity and colour laced with motifs drawn from… -
How to dress: The cross-body bag comes of age | Jess Cartner-Morley
20 Nov 2009 | 4:11 pmThe It bag's time has come and gone – these days, we don't want to carry a bag to show off with, we want to wear itCast your mind back to Baden-Baden in June 2006 and the glory days of the Wag. Every evening, Coleen, Alex and Elen emerged from their hotel to do a lap of honour for the paps, riding as high and imperious on their Louboutins as the cavalry on their best horses. Each carried a handbag in the crook of her arm: the finest Balenciaga or Chloé that money could buy, ornamented with brass and brandished as proudly as the Victoria Cross.It was the era of the It-bag – an era… -
Alexis Petridis: grunge
20 Nov 2009 | 4:10 pmEek – could these big old lace-up work boots fashion's way of getting a foot in the door of the next revival?Of all the pleasures Twitter has to offer, the greatest may be the bloke who comments on current events in the style of Dr Samuel Johnson, passing opinion on everything from the BNP's leader – "raisin-ey'd tyrant Mr GRIFFIN" – to "BABOON-SLAYER, Fop, Macaroni, Dandy & Folderol, Mister AA Gill". He recently turned his gaze to men's fashion, recounting a visit to "Mister LIBERTY'S blast'd Haberdashery", where he found "all else clad as Lumber-Jacks": "I left thwart'd &… -
The Measure: Mimosa yellow, Wang's Rocco bag, Brioni fragrance, Madonna, Katy Perry, Russell Brand | Fashion
20 Nov 2009 | 4:06 pmWe're loving the new Brioni fragrance and Topshop's suede shorts, but as for Madge in Malawi and the Katy Perry/ Russell Brand union, give us a break alreadyGoing upMimosa yellow The hue for next spring. We so want the Smythson travel clutch Mulled wine The perfect weekend winter warmer. Just add a mince pie for total perfectionFragrance economics Loving Brioni's new men's whiff, but at £250 a bottle, we're measuring every squirtCinches and pleats Spring 10 trend flash! Gap's next season's women's slack is a pleated cord, and its new men's chino has a cinched backSuede Trouncing leather… -
Video: How to dress: Handbags
20 Nov 2009 | 4:06 pmJess Cartner-Morley, the Guardian's fashion editor, guides you through the latest trends. This week: handbagsJess Cartner-MorleyLindsay Poulton
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Features | guardian.co.uk
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'I'm proud we played well,' says defiant Martin Johnson
21 Nov 2009 | 1:11 pmEngland manager maintains team are making progressAfter a week in which England's coaching regime came under fierce criticism, Martin Johnson watched his team lose 19-6 to New Zealand at Twickenham then robustly defended his players and coaches. Manager Johnson insisted that, even if it was not evident on the field, his side were making progress off it."I'm proud of the effort the players and coaches have put in all week," Johnson said. "It's been a tough week with all the criticism flying around but I thought they came out and played well."We all know the barometer. If you play well and win,… -
A cut too far: the rise in cosmetic surgery on the vulva
21 Nov 2009 | 4:03 amLabiaplasties can be risky, yet the number carried out on the NHS rose by 70% last yearBefore she had even turned 10, Anna had started worrying that there was something physically wrong with her. "I would look at other girls in the shower, and think, 'They don't have what I have,'" she says, and wearing a pair of jeans became uncomfortable. The issue was her inner labia. Anna felt that they were too large, and as an adult she grew increasingly self- conscious. "During intercourse they would get caught up and go back into my body," she says. "I had one sexual partner who mentioned it… -
Climate crunch
20 Nov 2009 | 5:47 pmUnless they end in promises, and a treaty within months, Ed Miliband believes the Copenhagen talks will be a disaster. But can the British energy secretary, in Denmark for a frantic round of pre-summit diplomacy, win the argument?It's breakfast time in the biggest of Copenhagen's Scandic hotels. Over the obligatory croissants and coffee – and, for those who want it, an off-beam version of the English breakfast – 42 international delegations are preparing to go into a second day of talks. Phones tweet; hushed conversations within teams of negotiators form a low conversational hum.Look… -
Bryan Cranston: from Malcolm In The Middle to America's favourite meth dealer
20 Nov 2009 | 4:15 pmStar who beat Gabriel Byrne and Hugh Laurie to Best Actor Emmy on his role as the terminally ill, drug-dealing teacher at the heart of Breaking Bad, US telly's most unlikely successHe's wearing a box-fresh stripy shirt, sharp trousers, highly polished shoes. He has a decent head of hair. Leaning back into a leather armchair, this 53-year-old is clearly at ease with the world around him. His teenage daughter, tucked in the corner of an adjacent sofa and plugged into her iPod, smiles sweetly. Rarely has an actor been less like his on-screen persona. Is this what is was like meeting a charming… -
With Law Abiding Citizen, payback is making a comeback
20 Nov 2009 | 4:15 pmWhy does recession bring with it a thirst for dumb revenge dramas?Law Abiding Citizen, which I should say at the outset is a terrible, terrible movie – either the stupidest of the year so far or the most unintentionally funny – takes the urban revenge movie and grafts on to it certain depressing innovations from other genres, including the serial killer-as-genius trope from The Silence Of The Lambs, and the post-Saw/Hostel enthusiasm for torture-porn and mega bloodshed. Let's just say it doesn't tell us much except that the revenge movie is back with, um, a vengeance.Gerard Butler plays a…
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Film: Film blog | guardian.co.uk
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The view: John Woo's departure from Hollywood is a loss to us all
20 Nov 2009 | 8:31 amOnce hailed as the man to shake up Hollywood, the maestro of dizzying, exquisitely choreographed action movies has returned to the far eastLet's say from the start that the life of a major league film-maker, with a thriving career in several corners of the globe, is not one to be sniffed at. That said, it's hard not to feel some small twinge of fellow feeling for John Woo, Hong Kong's onetime bullet-spraying master of the action genre. You may not have heard his name for some time but he was, in the early years of this soon to be ex-decade, still being spoken of as the dominant force of the… -
Film oracle CinemaScore spells doom for The Box
19 Nov 2009 | 4:00 pmCinemaScore is the audience-reaction research tool of choice for the film industry - because of its uncanny accuracy. Not good news for Richard Kelly, whose latest film The Box has just been awarded a rare-as-Ed-Wood's-teeth F-gradeThere can be no doubt that Cameron Diaz's new film has flopped. The Box, a horror thriller adapted from a short story by Richard Matheson by Donnie Darko director Richard Kelly, took just $7.5m (£4.5m) in its first weekend of release in the US. The critics, too, were far from convinced.But that's not the worst of it. Many films are panned far more viciously. Many… -
The week in geek: should Khan be played by an unknown in Star Trek 2?
19 Nov 2009 | 9:08 amRumours abound that JJ Abrams - if he is to helm the revamped Enterprise's second outing - will cast Lost hunk Nestor Carbonell in the role made famous by Ricardo Montalban. Is that playing too safe?Directors have their favourites. Follow David Lynch on his latest journey to Planet Weird and you'll probably find Laura Dern landed some time before you; pick up a Sam Raimi flick and don't be surprised if he's found some way to shoehorn in Bruce Campbell.One of the things about last year's Star Trek revamp that impressed me most was that JJ Abrams didn't fall back on tried and tested actors from… -
Machan is streets ahead of any Hollywood product
19 Nov 2009 | 7:38 amThere is more ingenuity, guts and brilliance in the developing world as depicted in Uberto Pasolini's film than anything Hollywood can cobble togetherTomorrow sees the release of Machan, one of the most important films to come out of the developing world in recent years – and the best film about illegal immigration I've ever seen.It's a topic that's been addressed by prominent western directors in recent times, with mixed results. In 2002, Michael Winterbottom's docudrama, In This World, concentrated on the dangerous journey of Afghan immigrants to London, portraying the exploitation and… -
2012 brings Indian summer to UK box office
17 Nov 2009 | 7:38 amRoland Emmerich's disaster blockbuster heralds a period of sunny box-office receipts, with the vampires and werewolves of Twilight set to keep the winter chill at bay next weekThe winnerQuestion: when is a summer blockbuster not a summer blockbuster? Answer: when it's released in November, of course. Roland Emmerich's patented formula of awesome planetary destruction and human heroics always screams out for a summer release, but this year Sony chose not to throw his 2012 into a competitive market already crowded with Transformers, Terminators and Wolverine. And the strategy has paid off, with…
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UK news: Firefighters | guardian.co.uk
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Oil company Total admits Buncefield fire failings
13 Nov 2009 | 9:05 amFour years after largest explosion in peacetime Europe, company pleads guilty to health and safety breachesOil company Total UK has admitted health and safety breaches in connection with the explosion at the Buncefield oil depot that left more than 40 people injured and damaged hundreds of homes and businesses.The admission comes four years after the blast at the site in Hemel Hempstead believed to have been the largest explosion in peacetime Europe.Today at the Old Bailey Total entered guilty pleas to two charges under the Health and Safety Act and one charge of polluting water under the… -
Fatal fireworks explosion was manslaughter, court told
9 Nov 2009 | 11:22 amTwo firefighters were killed in blast caused by fireworks kept in illegal container, prosecution saysTwo firemen died in an explosion at a fireworks factory because of "gross negligence" in the storage of explosives, a court has heard.Retained firefighter Geoff Wicker, 49, and support officer Brian Wembridge, 63, were killed in the blast at the site at Marlie Farm in Shortgate, near Lewes, East Sussex, on 3 December 2006.A metal container illegally packed with fireworks exploded "like a bomb", hurling fragments far and wide, a jury heard.The two firemen, both long-serving members of East… -
Police investigating mother's death in fire want more help from public
8 Nov 2009 | 4:20 pm• Remains of firework found behind front door• Tributes paid to woman who died after saving sonPolice in Cornwall have appealed for more information after calling on the people involved in a firework-related house fire that killed a woman to "do the decent thing and come forward".Mary Fox, 59, died after helping her youngest son, Raum, 17, who has learning difficulties, to jump to safety from an upstairs window but was overcome by the blaze before firefighters could save her.Firefighters arrived within minutes of a 999 call at around 7.15pm on Thursday and found Fox dead in the room from… -
Woman dies saving son from house fire
6 Nov 2009 | 4:57 pmA woman who died in a house fire after pushing her teenage son to safety through an upstairs window may have been killed by a firework put through their letterbox, fire investigators said yesterday.Mary Fox, 59, managed to save her 17-year-old son, Raum, after the two became trapped in a bedroom on Thursday, but she was overcome by smoke and flames before rescue teams could reach her.Neighbours at the house, in Bodmin, Cornwall, alleged that a firework was put through the family's letterbox by a gang who had bullied her son because he has learning difficulties.One neighbour, Doreen Rowe, 59,… -
Police treat Bolton fire deaths as suspicious
10 Oct 2009 | 4:27 amCouple in their 50s had injuries 'inconsistent' with the house fire they died in, according to officersPolice are treating as suspicious the deaths of a man and a woman in a house fire.The pair, who were in their 50s, had injuries "inconsistent with fire-related injuries", Greater Manchester police said.Officers were called to a house on Darley Avenue, Farnworth, Bolton, following reports of a fire shortly after 5.15pm yesterday.A man was taken to the Royal Bolton hospital, where he died. A woman had died at the scene.Det Chief Superintendent Darren Shenton said: "A more detailed examination…
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Environment: Fishing | guardian.co.uk
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Commercial fishing threatens survival of albatross, conservationists warn
9 Nov 2009 | 3:31 amScientists call for new measures to protect the seabirds as experts warn one albatross drowns every five minutes after becoming entangled in fishing gearAlbatrosses and other birds are facing extinction as they become tangled in commercial fishing gear, conservation organisations warned today.Thirty-seven species of seabird are at risk and 18 of these species, including albatrosses, are under threat of extinction, the RSPB and BirdLife International warned.The birds take bait from hooks, get caught in the fishing lines and drown.The conservation groups are calling for action as scientists… -
Protected zones will help to save Britain's marine wildlife
7 Nov 2009 | 4:06 pmHarmful fishing practices will be banned from UK coastal waters under new legislation to protect endangered speciesAn exotic underwater world of seahorses, sharks and corals that surrounds the coast of Britain is to be given greater protection under new legislation coming into force this week.The long-awaited Marine Act will allow conservation groups to map sites of nature preservation for the first time. Future legislation to be enforced in these marine conservation zones will see an end to damaging practices such as scallop dredging and trawler fishing.Currently there is only one small… -
Common sense and the city: Jaime Lerner, Brazil's green revolutionary
5 Nov 2009 | 4:41 amThe ex-mayor of Curitiba used massive creativity and tiny budgets to create the world's greenest cityThere are times in life – admittedly very few indeed – when you really wish Boris Johnson was in the same room as you. Last night was one of them as the revolutionary Brazilian ex-mayor, Jaime Lerner, spoke at London's British Film Institute as part of its Of Dreams and Cities season."You have to keep things simple, and just start working ... You have a lot of complexity-sellers in this life. We should beat them, beat them with a slipper," said the 70-year-old former mayor of Curitiba, the… -
BBC's TV chefs attacked for putting eel on the menu
31 Oct 2009 | 5:06 pmMasterChef to adjust its policy after conservationists protest over cooking endangered speciesThe BBC is to change its policy on food served up on MasterChef after conservationists accused it of putting an endangered species on the menu.Three chefs in a recent episode of MasterChef: The Professionals were told to prepare two dishes using smoked eel as the main ingredient. But critics said that the eel is endangered, and the programme sent the wrong signal on sustainability and could have stimulated demand for eel among viewers.The European eel (Anguilla anguilla) is in dramatic decline, with… -
Tokyo festival to screen Japanese dolphin slaughter film
20 Oct 2009 | 6:16 amHollywood actors such as Ben Stiller campaigned for The Cove's inclusion, despite hunters' attempts to ban itA controversial documentary about Japan's annual dolphin slaughter is due to be screened in Tokyo tomorrow, despite last-ditch attempts by hunters to have it banned.The Cove, an award-winning movie directed by Louie Psihoyos, is the highlight of the Tokyo international film festival, whose organisers belatedly included it in the schedule only after pressure from Hollywood actors such as Ben Stiller.Fishermen in Taiji, the town featured in the film, have been in "continuous contact"…
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Life and style: Fitness | guardian.co.uk
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Off the ropes, and back into the ring – boxing makes unlikely comeback in schools and clubs
15 Nov 2009 | 2:37 pmA decade ago there were calls for the sport to be banned on safety grounds. Now even its harshest critics have been won overBoxing is undergoing a big resurgence, with tens of thousands of people taking part in schools and gyms across the country each week. The number of people registered with amateur clubs in England has nearly tripled since 2005, and the sport is likely to get a further boost from David Haye winning a world heavyweight title 10 days ago.The number of schools with boxing on the curriculum has jumped from 20 four years ago to 1,931 this year and the sport has become the toast… -
Beat the new year rush to join a gym
14 Nov 2009 | 4:07 pmAs winter looms, an indoor workout can appeal more than a run in the cold and wet. But don't cut corners on comparing gym memberships, and exercise your negotiating skillsIt's all very well to ditch your expensive gym membership for exercising in the great (free) outdoors but going for a run after work can seem less appealing as the days get darker, wetter and colder.Exercising indoors doesn't necessarily mean you have to sign up to an expensive big brand gym straight away; there are cheaper options to explore too.Negotiate on mainstream gym membershipsYou can avoid the new year rush to join… -
Bryan Habana: how I got my body
14 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmThe Springboks winger on injuries, six-packs and a very sweet toothBorn in Transvaal in 1983, Bryan Gary Habana was named after Bryan Robson and Gary Bailey by his Man United-loving parents, and dreamed of being a footballer. It was only after his father took him to watch the Springboks play Australia in the 1995 World Cup that Habana turned to rugby union. At 21, on his debut for South Africa at wing, he scored a try with his first touch of the ball; he now has 51 caps and in 2007 equalled Jonah Lomu's record of eight tries at a World Cupin South Africa's2007 winning campaign.There's a story… -
Beating the diabetes bulge | Neville Rigby
14 Nov 2009 | 6:00 amWith cases of obesity-related type 2 diabetes due to double by 2030, we must – and can – do better than drug therapyWe often hear about diabetes as one of the downsides of obesity – and now the United Nations even has chosen to highlight the issue by endorsing World Diabetes Day, marked every year on 14 November. But there is still a lot of confusion about the disease, its causes and its treatment.One of the odd things about diabetes is that it is, in some respects, more than one disease. Type 1 diabetes, or insulin dependent diabetes mellitus, is the sort that suddenly hits children… -
Get ski fit: core strength
11 Nov 2009 | 8:05 amTop ski coach and freeskier Warren Smith takes you through a series of exercises to get you fit for the slopes, improve your skiing and reduce your risk of injury. Part two works on core body strengthThe following series of ski fitness exercises are based around a new method of instruction, previously only available to elite athletes in national teams. Pre-ski training will not only improve your technique and fitness, but greatly reduce the risk of knee and back injury. Part one introduced the method and focused on the legs.Code body strength and developmentThese exercises will develop your…
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Life and style: Word of Mouth blog | guardian.co.uk
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Are pubs finally becoming hubs?
20 Nov 2009 | 1:45 amPub landlords are diversifying into weird and wonderful new areas. From takeaway chips to live theatre, is this the end of the boozer as we know it?Pubs ain't what they used to be. Despite the large profits reported by Fullers' this morning, the nation's boozers are still shutting at a rate of 52 a week, and for those still in business diversification is the current buzzword. This month a major industry review, Licensed Hospitality 2009, reiterated the point that if pubs are to survive they need to sell much more than just beer. The future, suggest People 1st and the British Institute of… -
Giles Coren's restaurant rant
19 Nov 2009 | 2:45 amWhat's compelled you to complain? Do you go in for table-thumping or seethe in silence then hit them with a dish best served cold?Giles Coren discovered yesterday that a fancy-pants restaurant had mistakenly charged him twice. History may never fully reveal what the critic said when he rang to complain, but a luckless underling reportedly suggested he 'calm down'. Knowing what we do, we can only imagine what stentorian rage must have howitzered down the wires.There's an art to complaining and an art to responding. "Don't be arsey," says Marina O'Loughlin of The Metro, rightly. "I complained… -
Will Cadbury be betrayed with a Hershey's Kiss?
18 Nov 2009 | 7:00 amWhat do you think of the prospect of Hershey and Ferrero buying Cadbury? Aren't the products of these suitors uniformly awful?I was born with chocolate in my nostrils. When the wind was in the right direction the heavy smell of melted chocolate would drift over our house from the Fry's factory in Keynsham. I never found a gold ticket or got invited into the factory by a dodgy old man in a tall hat but Fry's, who had merged with Cadbury's in 1919 were a huge employer in the area and were respected and loved as much as Willie Wonka might have been. I loved the idea of the great Quaker chocolate… -
Life out of the freezer
18 Nov 2009 | 2:45 amDo you know what's in your freezer and store cupboards? Could you dine in style for a week without shopping? A month?Egullet is challenging its readers to spend a week without shopping, but could you live on the contents of your freezer and store cupboards?As I tuck into another mystery curry hauled from the icy depths, I don't know whether I am up to this challenge. Like an ungracious teenager, my freezer seems to consume but never give back. I'm always buying in bulk, snapping up all those irresistible BOGOFs and making up double batches, but when it comes to retrieving something edible I… -
Taste test: homemade v high street lunches
17 Nov 2009 | 3:00 amWhat happens when you try to copy shop-bought foodstuffs in your own kitchen? This is no ordinary taste test ...Do you ever tuck into a shop-bought lunch and wonder how easy it would be to replicate at home? Too often in lunchtimes past, I've found myself with a ludicrously expensive supermarket salad, that seemed too exotically lovely to pass up but ended up costing nearly a fiver. Marks & Spencer's gourmet crayfish and mango salad with coconut & chilli dressing, at £4.48 for 365g, is just such a dish. Spending £100 a month on salad is, of course, ludicrous, so I decided, after some…
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Life and style: Food & drink | guardian.co.uk
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The search for Shackleton's spirit | Bill Mackintosh
21 Nov 2009 | 8:00 amThere's an obsession among whisky fans to try as many different drams as they can. But is an Antarctic expedition a step too far?How far would you go for a bottle of whisky? The off-licence at the corner of the road? The pub down the high street? For Richard Paterson, a wooden hut at the bottom of the world isn't a step too far.The 10,000 or so miles between his tasting laboratory in Glasgow and that hut 92 miles from the South Pole are all that stand between him and the chance to recreate a whisky that's no longer made.Paterson is the master blender for Whyte & Mackay whisky. He's a legend… -
How to bake: Flash loaf | Dan Lepard
20 Nov 2009 | 4:12 pmA crusty bread from scratch to completion in less than two hours? You betHow do you make crusty bread in less than two hours, from mixing to cooling, without it tasting blah? With lots of yeast, some grated potato, wholemeal flour and a dash of vinegar, that's how. Timing is essential here, so stay with it.400g strong white flour, plus extra for shaping and dusting125g wholemeal or rye flour2 tsp fine salt25g fat from your Sunday roast, butter or oil300ml-350ml very warm water175g raw potato, washed, unpeeled and grated2 tbsp malt vinegar2 sachets dry instant yeastOil, for kneadingPut… -
Restaurant review: The Vincent Rooms Brasserie | Matthew Norman
20 Nov 2009 | 4:11 pmThe dining room at Westminster Kingsway catering college puts many a fancy West End gaff to shameuite a treat today for those of you plagued by the nagging suspicion that simcha – the Yiddish term for the ethos ofthe elderly Jewish lady fussing over a child relative at a family function – is all too rarely allowed to infiltrate this page. For, reflecting on today's restaurant, I find myself mutating into Auntie Joan bending over my seven-year-old self at a barmitzvah, pinching a cheek and cooing, "Aaaaaaah, the ponum [facial expression]! I could eat him!"This is not a conventional… -
Wine: The best sub-£5 wine I've tasted all year | Victoria Moore
20 Nov 2009 | 4:10 pmEven more of a surprise, it's made with that old workhorse of a grape, carignanConfession: I opened this bottle to pour into a pan of cranberry confit (thanks, Delia) I was making to go with a duck terrine. As it glugged in, I paused. Even from a distance it smelled fantastic. I stopped, I tasted… and it turned out to be the best sub-£5 wine I've come across all year. It's an easygoing French red called Les Crouzes Old Vines Carignan Alain Grignon Wines 2008 (£4.99, The Co-op; 13% abv). Smooth, rounded and satisfying, it even tastes a bit like cranberry confit, minus the… -
Food for Fort: Coffee grinders, acerola juice and tutti-frutti revisited | Matthew Fort
20 Nov 2009 | 4:10 pmWhat's the best grinder for coffee beans? And where can you get acerola juice? Our resident greedy guts has the answersI've heard that electrical coffee grinders are too fierce, causing the grounds to spoil. Do manual grinders work effectively?The rituals around making coffee are among the most complex known to mankind, and in Ethiopia, where coffee originated, they make the Japanese tea ceremony seem a casual affair. Tim Hayward, who is to coffee grinders what Professor David Nutt is to drugs, says, "The big difference is between a burr and a blade grinder. The latter works the same way…
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Football news, match reports and fixtures | guardian.co.uk
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Chelsea 4-0 Wolves
21 Nov 2009 | 9:05 amThe only consolation for Wolves in the teeming west London rain was that they did not emulate their predecessors. The last time the Midlands club were in the Premier League they conceded five goals on each of the two occasions they faced Chelsea. The final tally was one fewer this time around, but that should in no way disguise the utter domination of Carlo Ancelotti's side on a day they revelled as champions-elect.A 12th consecutive home victory, a club record, was achieved with minimum fuss and remarkable class. The league leaders lacked key performers in Frank Lampard, Michael Ballack and… -
Liverpool 2-2 Manchester City
21 Nov 2009 | 7:05 amSo, does a draw at Anfield still count as a good result? Seven away teams managed it last season, after all, and although Mark Hughes argued beforehand that a sixth successive draw might not be a calamity in this most daunting of venues, that was before he knew his side would come back from a goal down to be in a winning position 12 minutes from time.To say Manchester City gave away their advantage cheaply is an understatement. For such an expensively assembled team, they displayed the experience and professionalism of schoolboys in allowing Liverpool to score straight from the restart, less… -
Rangers 3-0 Kilmarnock
21 Nov 2009 | 9:19 amRangers extended their lengthy unbeaten domestic record with a considerable degree of comfort as they secured the victory they required against Kilmarnock to go back to the top of the SPL.Three goals in 28 first-half minutes from Kris Boyd, Kenny Miller and Steven Whittaker snuffed out any hopes their Ayrshire opponents carried of achieving a rare success in Glasgow. If the scoreline flattered Rangers a little, that will be of no concern to their manager Walter Smith. The pressure in the title race now transfers to Celtic who face Dundee United at Tannadice today.The frustration experienced… -
Sunderland 1-0 Arsenal
21 Nov 2009 | 9:20 amIn the desert heat of Qatar, the cameras lingered on Darren Bent, on his knees in the Brazilian penalty area, appearing as forlorn, beaten and irrelevant as it is possible for a centre-forward to be.If Bent seems an improbable candidate for the World Cup, domestically he appears irresistible and has now scored against every member of the so-called Big Four before November is out. Against Liverpool, he required a deflection from a stray beach ball, here his header rebounded off his fellow striker, Fraizer Campbell, and landed at his feet to drive past Manuel Almunia. Centre-forwards have… -
Manchester United 3-0 Everton
21 Nov 2009 | 12:04 pmManchester United had won only two of their previous five Premier League matches, and were eight points behind Chelsea at kick-off, but they quickly trimmed that back to five with a comfortable victory over the basket case poor Everton resemble at present.It is interesting to note that, at this stage last season, United were running third, behind Chelsea and Liverpool, and they stayed there until the new year, when they hit the top on the back of an irresistible surge of 11 successive wins.Traditionally, they move up as the Christmas decorations come down. This time, however, there is no…
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World news: France | guardian.co.uk
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Bloggers lead a new French revolution | Guy Sorman
21 Nov 2009 | 2:00 amThe aristocratic habits of France's rulers don't die easily, even in Sarkozy's overexposed reign, but they are steadily being erodedNo tumbrils have appeared in Paris's Place de la Concorde, but a revolution may be under way in France nonetheless. The trial of former prime minister Dominique de Villepin and the conviction of former defence minister Charles Pasqua have taken place in recent weeks. Now even former president Jacques Chirac has learned that he is not immune from prosecution. Is France's "republican monarchy", to borrow a phrase from Jean-François Revel, about to be… -
Letters: Why Thierry is mal comme un perroket
20 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmOf course the English don't hate, despise nor fear the French, but an incident in a game of football in France requires a leading broadsheet English newspaper to cover the story by an article on its front page (Hands-on Henry becomes public enemy numéro un, 20 November), a half-page article on page 3, two letters about the incident on the letters page, an almost full-page article on the front page of the Sport section, plus three other articles spread over pages two and three of the Sport section. Some rules I learned as a boy on the fooball field: you play to the whistle; if you strike the… -
Down with the kids
20 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmMy son's school project on the Victorians taught me the dangers of the internet for researchOur six-year-old's school project this half-term is the Victorians. It's a big project, as of course the Victorians invented everything good that exists in the world, except for the modern and still relatively untested concept of letting foreigners run their own countries. The Victorians certainly invented everything our own kids love: trains, jelly babies and toilets. As our six-year-old pointed out, before the Victorian age you would have had to fly everywhere in planes, eat Smarties, and never do a… -
Thierry Henry says rematch with Ireland would be 'fairest solution'
20 Nov 2009 | 3:00 pm• Henry embarrassed at nature of France's victory• Arsène Wenger backs striker's plea for a rematchThierry Henry has admitted that replaying France's World Cup play-off against the Republic of Ireland would be "the fairest solution" following his handball in the build-up to Les Bleus' decisive goal, with his former manager at Arsenal, Arsène Wenger, insistent a rematch is the only way of restoring French credibility ahead of next summer's finals.Fifa has ruled that the 1-1 draw at the Stade de France on Wednesday cannot now be changed despite Henry's clear infringement before squaring… -
Thierry Henry's handball puts goalline referees on Fifa's World Cup agenda
20 Nov 2009 | 2:30 pm• Fifa to discuss introduction of extra assistants in March• Four home unions vital to fast-track plan for South Africa 2010Thierry Henry's handball against the Republic of Ireland could lead to Fifa fast-tracking the introduction of two additional referees in time for the World Cup in South Africa. One of Fifa's most senior officials yesterday confirmed the matter will be on the agenda at the law-making International Football Association Board meeting in Zurich next March.Despite calls for Wednesday's controversial game to be replayed, among them one from France's own finance minister,…
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Global: Jonathan Freedland | guardian.co.uk
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The long wait for Lords reform | Queen's speech | Jonathan Freedland
18 Nov 2009 | 10:40 amA Queen's speech bill on Lords reform will never be law; it is an indictment on New Labour that half our legislature is unelectedWhat began with a constitutional bang will end with a constitutional whimper. Whether more by inheritance (from John Smith) than by choice, Tony Blair began the New Labour era with a fusillade of reforms that changed the British political landscape forever. A new parliament in Scotland, an assembly in Wales, self-rule in northern Ireland, a mayoralty in London, the introduction of proportional representation for almost all UK elections bar the House of Commons –… -
Don't crown Cameron just yet. There's one way Labour could still trip him up | Jonathan Freedland
17 Nov 2009 | 10:00 pmBrown's political obituary is written. The new PM waits in the wings. But – don't laugh – some see cracks in that crystal ballDon't laugh, but it's possible that the Tories won't win the next general election. Sounds silly, I know, given that the polls, the press, why, the very scent in the air, insists that David Cameron is – in the words of today's Guardian front page – the "PM in waiting". Wherever he travels now, Cameron leaves audiences concluding that he looks the part: he has the manner, the confidence, that glow of imminent power. Even Labour ministers have succumbed to this… -
The coffins will keep coming until we conquer our amnesia on Afghanistan | Jonathan Freedland
10 Nov 2009 | 2:00 pmBarack Obama is about to make his most crucial military decision. He should remember what took us to war in the first placeThis is remembrance week, when we are supposed to wear a poppy or stand in silence and remember those who have fallen. And yet we seem to have a problem with memory – especially when it comes to peace and war. We tell ourselves we will never forget and yet, when we debate the war in which British troops are fighting and dying, we are saddled with a national amnesia.Part of the problem is distraction. In the last day or so we have been diverted by a row over the prime… -
Miliband critics a Con job | Jonathan Freedland
9 Nov 2009 | 9:33 amThose who have attacked David Miliband for criticising Kaminski do not represent the Jewish community – they're partisan ToriesJust as there are no MPs who are mere backbenchers – they are instead always "senior backbenchers" – so journalistic convention demands that any member of an ethnic minority who speaks out must immediately be anointed as a "leader".So it is that the Daily Telegraph today tells its readers that "David Miliband, the foreign secretary, has been accused by leaders of the British Jewish community of using antisemitism as a 'political football'."According to the… -
Obama's year of vitriol and rebuff at home, deadlock abroad. Not a bad start at all | Jonathan Freedland
3 Nov 2009 | 2:00 pmObama's victory speech at Grant Park may seem a distant mirage. But for all the failings, he can point to real progressOn that improbably warm night exactly one year ago, the crowd in Grant Park, Chicago, cheered itself hoarse as Barack Obama, the newly minted president-elect of the United States, stepped on stage and announced that "change has come to America".Of course they were cheering the passing of George Bush and the historic breakthrough of America's first black president. But the air that night was also heavy with imagining: the hordes in Grant Park, like those around the world…
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Politics: Freedom of information | guardian.co.uk
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Poll | Should the blogosphere be regulated?
18 Nov 2009 | 4:11 amBaroness Buscombe, chair of the Press Complaints Commission, is considering extending the PCC's remit to regulate bloggers. Should the blogosphere be regulated? -
Ordnance Survey maps to go free online
17 Nov 2009 | 11:48 amPM to open access to 2,000 data sets in victory for Guardian's Free Our Data campaignThe government is to explore ways of making all Ordnance Survey maps freely available online from April, in a victory for the Guardian's three-year Free Our Data campaign. The move will bring the UK into line with the free publication of maps that exists in the US.Gordon Brown announced the change at a joint event in London today with Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web, who is now information tsar advising on the handing over of private government data to the public.The government has… -
Watching the BBC's every move | Tim Montgomerie
13 Nov 2009 | 6:30 amUnder Cameron's 'transparency revolution' the public would be able to monitor the finances of the BBC and other public bodiesDuring the MPs' expenses row the large ticket and often complex abuses were often overshadowed by less costly but more offensive stories. The cleaning out of the moat around Douglas Hogg's castle, for example, and what must now be the most famous duck house in the world will live longest and largest in the public imagination.The same will probably be true for the BBC. Yes, we have the ugly stats. One hundred BBC executives are earning 10 times the national average wage. -
The power of tweets
30 Oct 2009 | 5:06 pmWhat have Jan Moir, AA Gill and Jimmy Carr got in common? They have all provoked storms of protest on microblogging website Twitter. But is this a new age of democracy, or a danger to free speech?One day a few weeks back, Scott Pack had an idea. Publisher at Harper Collins's The Friday Project, he was bringing out a book and he wanted the world to know about it. The book, The Atheist's Guide to Christmas, contained contributions from such present-day icons as Richard Dawkins, Charlie Brooker, Derren Brown, Ben Goldacre, Jenny Colgan, David Baddiel, AC Grayling and Ariane Sherine on (in… -
Quest to reveal MPs' expenses to become satirical BBC drama
30 Oct 2009 | 10:00 amBBC4 dramatisation will follow freedom of information campaigner Heather Brooke's tortuous battles with officialdomThe story behind the freedom of information campaigner Heather Brooke's five-year battle to force MPs to reveal details of their expenses is to be the subject of a satirical BBC4 drama.Brooke is acting as a story consultant on the drama, which has a working title of The Heather Brooke Story.She told the Guardian that her ideal choice to play her on screen would be the X-Files and Bleak House actor Gillian Anderson, who is a fellow American and a fellow redhead.Casting for the…
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Art and design: Frieze art fair | guardian.co.uk
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Contemporary art should lose the hype | Jonathan Jones
28 Oct 2009 | 4:24 amThe fanfare for this autumn's exhibitions belies the forgettable nature of much of the art – and drowns out any serious criticismSo, that happened. In a blinding flash of fuss, London's galleries and museums simultaneously launched their autumn events, greeted by the now traditional crop of seasonal arts features declaring the British to be a nation in love with modern art. But what does it all add up to? Get down to brass tacks and the most hyped event was a failure by Damien Hirst, a colossal self-exposure and an enormous joke on those of us who have tried to defend our youthful… -
In praise of… The Walthamstow Tapestry
20 Oct 2009 | 4:05 pmNinety-two years have passed since Duchamp signed the urinal. Brilliant as the joke was the first time around, in the long decades since, the standing of contemporary art has suffered from the "I could do that" reaction. The great thing about the transvestite potter Grayson Perry is that, for all his weird playfulness, he churns out a flood of original ideas – and executes them exquisitely. Few of us could fashion a Ming-style vase, and still fewer would ever think to emblazon it with a pleasing mix of medieval icons and photographs cut out of back copies of Smash Hits. Perry's Walthamstow… -
How Chris Ofili saved Frieze art fair for me | Jonathan Jones
20 Oct 2009 | 1:00 amAt a fair so full of disposable, fashionable art, only one painting – a work by Chris Ofili – has stayed with meThere was one thing I liked at the Frieze art fair, one thing which stayed with me: a tiny painting by Chris Ofili, all blue and dreamlike and strange, almost gothic – a fragment of a fantasy, a tentative trying out of something.Ofili is clearly going through a phase of experiment and transition – an anxious, difficult phase by the looks of this painting – and some might see it as a moment of weakness and failure. In fact, another Ofili painting, equally odd and different… -
Bleak times for young artists | Seth Freedman
18 Oct 2009 | 3:21 amThe risk-taking of art collectors during the boom years has come back to haunt the next generationTo the untrained eye, the first night of art.in.flux's Suspended in Process exhibition in London's West End looked like the archetypal lavish gallery opening. Scores of well-heeled aficionados swarmed contentedly around the works, their appetites sated both by the art on the walls and the bottles of beer in their hands.Yet behind the veneer of bustle in the crowded gallery the artists and curators were grappling with a far more sombre and down-to-earth reality in terms of the precarious state of… -
Frieze Art Fair | Art review
17 Oct 2009 | 4:34 pmRegent's Park, London NW1There is plenty to stare at in Frieze, and it's not just the art. On Thursday, during the VIP/press opening, it was hard not to be diverted from the multiple Hirsts, Wallingers, Quinns by work just as expensive and visually arresting. The cosmetic surgery on view varied from perma-surprise to Bride of Wildenstein, and the handbags were equally arresting: I met a fashion journalist friend who was noting Hermès bags in his notebook like a prisoner marking off the days before release.But if you could drag your eyes from the drag queens, the dealers, the bankers, the…
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Education: Further education | guardian.co.uk
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A million young people not earning or learning
19 Nov 2009 | 3:41 amNumber of school-leavers not in education, work or training tops a million for the first time, figures showThe number of school-leavers not in education, work or training has topped a million, the highest total on record, government figures reveal today, prompting accusations that ministers are failing to help young people during the recession.Almost one in five 16- to 24-year-olds in England are "neets" (not in education, employment or training), statistics from July to September show.This is the equivalent of 1.08m young people, or 18% of all 16- to 24-year-olds, the figures from the… -
Mandelson 'slashes' adult education spending
19 Nov 2009 | 3:19 amCourses for people with learning disabilities and evening classes for the elderly are being cut and funds redirected to reskill the unemployedLord Mandelson's department has been accused of slashing spending on courses for people with learning disabilities and evening classes for the elderly, to fund re-training of people in the recession.A new skills budget for 2010/11, published this week without fanfare, reveals a £150m cut in funding for qualification-free courses often taken by people with learning disabilities and older people who want to develop a new talent without getting a… -
Crib sheet email 17.11.09
17 Nov 2009 | 3:21 amGirly girls, distracting roommates and classroom shoot-em-upsTo get Crib sheet as a weekly email, click hereThis week's annual conference of the Girls' School Association is stirring things up in cyberspace. The most-read story on the education site quotes its president, Jill Berry, saying that while clever girls should aim high, there is nothing wrong with them working part-time or not at all when they have children. Maybe so, say web posters, but why aren't boys being told the same thing?Report cardArchitectural assaults One of Cambridge University's most beautiful rooms is having a lift… -
Could grammar schools have a radical new role?
16 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmThe former chief schools adjudicator suggests that grammar schools could be turned into sixth-form colleges, which look set to achieve the best results at A-levelStudents at the non-selective sixth-form college in Farnborough, Hampshire, achieved an average of 398 Ucas points last year – the equivalent of more than three As at A-level. At grammar schools, meanwhile, the average point score was 385, according to a Guardian league table created from a database into which schools entered their results.The full A-level results for schools and colleges will be published in January, but early… -
Will council funding bring a new wealth to colleges?
16 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmCentral control of 16-18 funding is over and colleges must look to their local authorities for cash. Will the change improve education?He who pays the piper, calls the tune … it's an adage well understood by colleges. Since 1991, when funding was taken away from local authorities, further education has been paid for by central government, and colleges up and down the country have ever since been scrambling to create courses that meet nationally set strategies.The paymaster, however, is about to change. The single pot of money that has funded all post-16 education – disbursed by the…
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World news: Georgia | guardian.co.uk
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The Tories' foreign foibles go far beyond just Europe | Geoffrey Wheatcroft
5 Nov 2009 | 12:30 pmCameron's volte-face on Lisbon is just the latest example of clumsiness beyond Britain's borders. There is, however, one ray of hopeSince becoming Conservative leader David Cameron has shown considerable skill on the domestic scene, impressing foe as well as friend. He completely outplayed Gordon Brown over the expenses scandal, and although only time will tell whether he really has an answer to the financial crisis, his initial response was politically adroit.But abroad it has been a quite different story – a series of missteps and own goals, culminating in the gruesome embarrassment… -
A weak response to Russian aggression | Giorgi Kandelaki
31 Oct 2009 | 7:00 amEurope's failure to recognise Russia's overly assertive foreign policy does its members, and Georgia, a gross disserviceWhen Russian Bolshevik forces invaded the independent Republic of Georgia in 1921, our first democratically elected leader Noe Zhordania wrote in the Times that "If Europe bears in silence the crying injustice committed against Georgia by the government of Soviet Russia then this will mean the sanctioning of the right of any great power to attack its neighbours and seize their territory."It is truly striking how those words have echoed down through European history to the… -
Hollywood starts shooting film on Russia-Georgia war
20 Oct 2009 | 9:04 amAndy Garcia plays Saakashvili in 'anti-war' film directed by Renny Harlin of Cliffhanger fameHis fans portray him as a plucky leader defending his small country from Russian aggression. The Kremlin depicts him as an unstable madman, fond of chewing his own tie. But now Hollywood is to give its own take on Mikheil Saakashvili, Georgia's controversial pro-US president, in a new movie set during last year's Russia-Georgia war.The leading US actor Andy Garcia plays Saakashvili in the film, which began shooting in Georgia earlier this week. Directed by Renny Harlin – whose previous credits… -
Andy Garcia plays Saakashvili in Renny Harlin's Georgia
20 Oct 2009 | 3:36 amHarlin's anti-war film about the 2008 war in the Caucasus began shooting in Georgia at the weekendAndy Garcia has stepped into the shoes of Georgia's maverick president, Mikheil Saakashvili, for a Hollywood thriller set against the backdrop of the 2008 conflict between Russia and the former Soviet republic.Directed by Die Hard 2's Renny Harlin, the picture began shooting at the weekend on location in Georgia. It is billed as an anti-war film about an American journalist and his cameraman who get caught in the crossfire and struggle with their duty to be impartial.Garcia, whose credits include… -
Georgia's internally displaced women
16 Oct 2009 | 7:10 amMeet Georgia's internally-displaced women and their children struggling to survive on £10 a month
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World news: Germany | guardian.co.uk
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Making allowances for childcare | Benjamin Dierks
21 Nov 2009 | 4:00 amCash incentives alone won't solve childcare – perhaps Gordon Brown should look at Germany's response to a 'stove premium'While Gordon Brown has had to rethink his plan to abolish tax relief on childcare vouchers, family policy in Germany took a different turn right from the start. It's the better-off who benefit most from the childcare regulations introduced by Angela Merkel's new coalition government.This is no accident. For years, it's been those on higher incomes that the government in Berlin wants to persuade to have more babies. The average German woman gives birth to 1.38 children. -
Tony Blair out of EU race, but Britain provides new foreign minister
19 Nov 2009 | 4:14 pm• Brown seals deal to give Ashton foreign portfolio• Blair's fears realised as Van Rompuy lands top jobWith its nondescript glass front, decorated with the red and white of the national flag, the Austrian mission to the European Union looks like another unremarkable diplomatic building in Brussels.But yesterday afternoon a key moment in British Labour history took place inside the building when Gordon Brown attended a meeting of EU centre-left leaders. In the space of a few minutes the prime minister acknowledged the inevitable and withdrew Britain's support for Tony Blair as the first… -
Leaders in last-minute attempt to decide top European Council roles
19 Nov 2009 | 7:59 amOpposing groups try to find consensus on who should take presidential and foreign minister roles ahead of Brussels summitThe leaders of Europe's main political tribes conferred in Brussels this afternoon in an attempt to hammer out a last-minute consensus on who should be the top two people running the EU's new Lisbon regime, ahead of a crucial Brussels summit.While Christian democratic government leaders, including the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, and France's president, Nicolas Sarkozy, gathered in Brussels, Gordon Brown found himself isolated at a session of the seven centre-left… -
Franco-German deal on European council president causes anger
18 Nov 2009 | 2:03 pmGermany and France are to strike a deal on who they want for the coveted post of first permanent European council president, Chancellor Angela Merkel announced today, sparking anger in other European capitals over a feared Franco-German stitch-up.With 27 EU leaders going into a special summit tomorrow increasingly at odds over the twin posts of European Council president and EU foreign minister, Merkel stated for the first time that she and the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, intended to agree on a common candidate, believed to be Herman Van Rompuy, the Belgian prime minister."Germany and… -
Rwandan rebel leaders arrested for Congo war crimes
17 Nov 2009 | 8:02 amIgnace Murwanashyaka and Straton Musoni suspected of 'carrying out crimes against humanity' in the Democratic Republic of the CongoGerman police today arrested two leaders of a Hutu rebel group on suspicion of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.Ignace Murwanashyaka, the 46-year-old head of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, and his 48-year-old deputy, Straton Musoni, were arrested in Karlsruhe, German prosecutors said in a statement.The pair are "suspected of carrying out crimes against humanity and war crimes" as members…
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Music: Glastonbury | guardian.co.uk
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Jarvis Cocker hints at Pulp 'reunion' for Glastonbury 2010
27 Oct 2009 | 3:27 amThe singer has suggested that his former band may follow in the footsteps of Britpop peers Blur by playing next year's festivalJarvis Cocker has hinted that his former band Pulp may reunite to play Glastonbury 2010. In an interview with the People, the singer said: "Glastonbury means an awful lot to me, I would love to play there again. We've talked about it, there we go, there'll be a band reunion." Though Cocker does not confirm that the band is Pulp, it seems the only obvious choice as he has never been a member of another group.The Sheffield band were together for more than 20 years… -
Lovebox and Bestival music festivals take 10:10 carbon pledge
24 Oct 2009 | 4:07 pmTwo of the UK's biggest music events, with combined crowd of nearly 100,000, agree to cut carbon emissions by 10%Nearly 100,000 music fans at two of the UK's biggest summer music festivals will be cheered to know that next year's pop-fuelled hedonism will come with a shrunken carbon footprint.The Lovebox festival in London and Bestival on the Isle of Wight have both promised to join the 10:10 climate change campaign and cut their carbon emissions by 10%. Glastonbury – said to be Europe's largest music festival, with a crowd of 177,000 – is also considering coming on board.The campaign,… -
Andy Williams to sing at Glastonbury, aged 82
11 Oct 2009 | 2:48 pmThe 81-year-old singer Andy Williams has announced plans to perform at the Glastonbury festival next year. The American crooner revealed that the event organiser Michael Eavis had invited him to perform at the Somerset festival's 40th anniversary. A packed audience at Cheltenham literature festival cheered when Williams said he had been booked. John Wilson, a host with BBC Radio 4's Front Row, said: "I had asked him if he had any plans to play any more gigs and he said he had been asked to play at the festival."Eavis has kept quiet over the line-up for next year's event, which sold out in… -
A band for every year of Glastonbury? This could go horribly wrong …
7 Oct 2009 | 5:11 amSpace, Jools Holland, a five-year-old Emily Eavis on violin: over the last 40 years the festival has played host to some woeful acts. Here is the worst possible anniversary lineup ...So Glastonbury 2010 has sold out in a day. You poor fools. What did it? Was it because it'll be the festival's 40th anniversary? Was it that Michael Eavis has promised "a band from each year of the festival's history"? Because, honestly, that's not really a guarantee of quality, is it? Yes, 2002's festival might be remembered for the White Stripes, but you might just as easily get Rolf Harris panting Stairway to… -
Glastonbury 2010 sells out in 24 hours
5 Oct 2009 | 3:00 amTickets for the 40th anniversary of Glastonbury festival have sold out within a day of going on saleTickets for next year's Glastonbury festival have sold out in less than 24 hours. Those who registered for early tickets hit the phone lines yesterday (Sunday 4 October) to secure entrance to a festival that has yet to announce its lineup and is still nine months away.Last year's festival took several weeks to sell out, whereas Glastonbury 2008 didn't sell out until the day of the event itself thanks to poor weather in previous years. This year's swift sales will have been helped by rumours…
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World news: Globalisation | guardian.co.uk
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Larry Elliott | Viewpoint | Painful death of the American economic dream
1 Nov 2009 | 4:06 pmThis crisis has been a long time in coming, and history suggests that the period of upheaval will be long and painful, just as it was between 1914 and 1945It wasn't really supposed to end up like this. When the Berlin Wall came crashing down 20 years ago, the cold war ended with triumph for the west. Instead of two superpowers, there was one. Instead of competing ideologies, there was capitalism, and a particularly brash form of capitalism at that.The elder George Bush said the world should learn how to do things the American way. "We know what works," he said. "Free markets work."The reach… -
David Dunkerley Obituary
13 Oct 2009 | 10:47 amAcademic fascinated by the sociology of employmentDavid Dunkerley, who has died of a heart condition aged 63, was a prominent British sociologist who researched a diverse range of subjects – from the world of work to recent studies of globalisation, European integration and civil society. David's initial studies were on the role of the supervisor, a topic on which he did his PhD and later wrote his book The Foreman (1975). He was also fascinated by the broader issue of the sociology of employment, about which he wrote in The Study of Organizations (1972) and Occupations and Society… -
Mandelson admits foreign ownership of firms disadvantages UK
25 Sep 2009 | 12:01 pmLord Mandelson's comments come too late to help UK industry, say unionsUnion leaders today accused Lord Mandelson of "closing the stable door after the horse had bolted" after the business secretary expressed concerns that foreign ownership of British firms might put the nation at a "disadvantage" over the long term.Mandelson's comments, made in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, appeared to signal a shift in the government's open approach to takeovers by overseas firms and come amid a rising tide of protectionism around the world.In the interview, Mandelson said Britain remained… -
The cure is working | Alistair Darling
30 Aug 2009 | 1:30 pmThe global economy is spluttering back into life. The Tories would have left it to choke to deathAs we see the first signs that countries are emerging from recession, G20 finance ministers in London on Friday will step up their efforts to secure the economic recovery and repair the world's failed financial system.In the UK we have already taken radical measures to get through the recession. We will do more. But neither the economy nor the banking system can flourish without international co-operation.Only 12 months ago, the world's financial system came close to collapse. -
Materialism a threat to planet and human identity, says Tony Blair
28 Aug 2009 | 11:00 amThe pace of modern life and the restless search for short-term material gain in a globalised economic system constitute a threat both to the planet and to human identity, Tony Blair has warned fellow Catholics.In a speech to the prestigious Communion and Liberation conference at Rimini in Italy the former prime minister and Middle East Quartet envoy also told people of all faiths around the world that their own conflicts and divisions "allow aggressive secularism in part of the West to gain traction" when the faiths should be united in standing up for justice and solidarity."This is surely…
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Education: Graduate | guardian.co.uk
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Graduate training schemes offer testing times
20 Nov 2009 | 4:06 pmGetting a place on a graduate training programme can be like tackling an assault course. One determined student talks to Nic Paton about clearing the hurdles ... and winningYou may not (yet) have to stand up and sing in front of a baying audience, but landing yourself a place on a graduate training programme does appear to be getting more and more like The X Factor.Long gone are the days of turning up for an informal chat, a quick tour of the office and a handshake with your putative line manager before being shown out of the building with a "see you in the autumn".Students applying over the… -
Unpaid interns earn their rights
13 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmAs an intern, the more work you do the more likely it is your employer will have to pay you'All our interns do is photocopy and stuff envelopes, so if you don't like it, I suggest you eff off."This is a toned-down version of what one graduate interning at a fashion PR company was recently told by her supervisor. She quit shortly afterwards – if, that is, you can quit from a job for which you are neither paid nor acknowledged.It reads almost like a scene straight out of The Devil Wears Prada, in which the protagonist Andy Sachs was at the beck and call of her editor's every whim and… -
Graduate careers: Civil engineering isn't a just a pipe dream
6 Nov 2009 | 4:07 pmThe UK produces woefully few civil engineers, yet it is a uniquely satisfying trade. Ian Wylie meets one man who is proud to say he has tunnel visionThere is just one question I want to ask Martin Kelly as a crane lowers our cage 40m down a huge concrete hole so we can admire the 4m-wide, 10km-long sewer pipe which he and his colleagues have been building. And that is: Why?Yes, it's a dirty job. When it rains hard in Belfast, as it so often does, the existing dysfunctional Victorian sewers sometimes spew their raw sewage onto the city's streets. And yes, someone's got to do it. But why you,… -
My job search
30 Oct 2009 | 5:06 pmWe follow the fortunes of four university leavers as they look for work. This week, one of our job seekers made his first sale and another made it on to a very short shortlistThe arts graduate Rebecca Burns Applications: 13; Replies: 6; Interviews: 0; Job offers: 0I have a new calling! OK, "calling" may be a little over the top, but my new objective is, nevertheless, very exciting. For the last three months I have been banging my head against the brick wall that is politics. In the last two weeks I have lost patience, gained sanity (and some wise counsel) and decided that I would… -
Graduate careers: Banking's back
30 Oct 2009 | 5:05 pmThe financial sector was humbled by the recession, but many of the big names have started recruiting again – and there's no shortage of applicants, says Simon CreaseyGiven all the opprobrium heaped on investment bankers over the past 18 months or so, you might think it would be the last industry embarking on a recruitment drive with university students.Investment banking was initially one of the worst hit sectors for graduate recruitment when the credit crunch first struck: the number of entry-level positions on offer reduced by 44% from 2007 to 2009.But against all expectations, major…
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News: Main section | guardian.co.uk
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Climate crunch
20 Nov 2009 | 5:47 pmUnless they end in promises, and a treaty within months, Ed Miliband believes the Copenhagen talks will be a disaster. But can the British energy secretary, in Denmark for a frantic round of pre-summit diplomacy, win the argument?It's breakfast time in the biggest of Copenhagen's Scandic hotels. Over the obligatory croissants and coffee – and, for those who want it, an off-beam version of the English breakfast – 42 international delegations are preparing to go into a second day of talks. Phones tweet; hushed conversations within teams of negotiators form a low conversational hum.Look… -
Mother of separated twins says she will not seek custody
20 Nov 2009 | 5:24 pmLavlee Mollik tells Bangladesh newspaper that she wants her daughters to live and be educated in AustraliaThe mother of conjoined Bangladeshi twins who were separated in an operation in Melbourne has said she does not want custody of the daughters she gave up for adoption and wants them to have new lives in Australia, according to reports.The twins, who turn three next month, had been joined at the top of their heads and shared brain tissue and blood vessels. They were separated on Tuesday after 25 hours of delicate surgery and then underwent an additional six hours of reconstructive work.The… -
Gangbos become the latest measure for fighting antisocial behaviour
20 Nov 2009 | 4:44 pmNew injunctions against gangs and action on wheelclampers included in Alan Johnson's crime billNew antisocial behaviour injunctions – dubbed gangbos – aimed at tackling teenage gang members as young as 14 are to be introduced as part of the new crime and security bill, the home secretary disclosed yesterday.The civil injunctions will include bans on meeting other gang members, wearing gang colours, going to certain locations or having a violent dog in a public place.Breaching a gangbo could require the offender to report to the police regularly, obey a curfew enforced by an electronic tag… -
Theatre review: The Roman Tragedies, Barbican, London
20 Nov 2009 | 4:40 pmBarbican, LondonShakespeare gets a close-up in Toneelgroep's compression of three plays – Coriolanus, Julius Caesar and Antony and Cleopatra – a remarkable six-hour marathon played without an interval. If that sounds like a penance, think again: this is an exhilarating pleasure. Director Ivo van Hove gleefully reinvents these tragedies of private obsessions and passions, political ambitions and expediency to make it seem as if Shakespeare is not only our contemporary but only finished writing the plays this morning. The final hour of the final play, Antony and Cleopatra, is about as good… -
Elisabeth Söderström obituary
20 Nov 2009 | 4:07 pmSwedish soprano whose perceptive singing and vivid acting made her a great heroine in operas by Tchaikovsky, Richard Strauss and JanacekOne of the most perceptive and admired sopranos of the postwar era, Elisabeth Söderström, who has died aged 82, had a lengthy career that carried on into the 1990s, when she was well into her 60s. In everything she attempted, her vibrantly beautiful singing was enhanced by her good looks and vivid acting.With her sensitive demeanour she was particularly successful at portraying the troubled women who abound in opera, such as Leonore (Fidelio), Tatyana in…
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Politics: Guardian diary | guardian.co.uk
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Hugh Muir's diary
19 Nov 2009 | 4:15 pmIn the coming year we shall welcome whatisname. Wears white. Rides a milk floatSharp-eyed Catholics were quick to notice that the Queen raved during Wednesday's speech at the prospect of her state visit to Trinidad and Tobago as well as greeting South Africa's president, Jacob Zuma. But one state visit she didn't mention was that of Pope Benedict XVI, who is due here next year – the first papal visit since 1982. It couldn't be that she is offended by the pope's new offer of house room to disaffected Anglicans; his poaching members of her church? No. She's gagging to meet him too. It was a… -
Hugh Muir's Diary
18 Nov 2009 | 4:15 pmThey're definitely the men to trust with the fate of the planet. Yeah, rightHow the Tories would protect the planet becomes a pertinent question now we know that the top 10 Tory bloggers are sceptical about climate change. And after a conference at the European parliament yesterday, there seems more cause than ever to worry. Organised by the Conservative MEP Roger Helmer, the scheduled speakers included Anthony Watts, described by our Monbiot as the "scourge of climate change science". Also Ross McKitrick, a Canadian professor who says data indicating global warming has been fiddled; Tom… -
Diary | Hiugh Muir
17 Nov 2009 | 4:15 pmThe sponsors pay for the booze. They pay for the nibbles. But at what cost?With Cameron still the daddy in the polls there are good times ahead for Serco, the all-singing multinational services company that makes hay from privatisation. You want an asylum seeker tagged, they're the ones to do it for you. Want someone to share the good practice developed at Yarl's Wood detention centre, where children have been denied urgent medical treatment, handled violently and left at risk of serious harm? Serco runs the place, so it can do that too. It controls the military's communication system,… -
Hugh Muir's diary
16 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmThe sounds of the Ku Klux Klan? Nonsense, just a bit of Arabian belly dancer warbling, that's allEngland's libel law "does not reflect the interests of a modern democratic society", said the writers' charity Pen and Index on Censorship last week. And there are some strange things going on in the land of litigation. But not much stranger than the battle that began in a south London employment tribunal yesterday. Two former employees of Hays, Britain's biggest recruitment firm, claim, among other things, that they were subjected to Ku Klux Klan-style chanting from a colleague. They… -
Hugh Muir's diary
12 Nov 2009 | 4:15 pmSleepy, ragtag and bobtail. Meet Nick's new far-right friends in EuropeIt may yet become a force to be reckoned with, but the consensus following yesterday's public launch of Nick Griffin's new Euro vehicle, the Alliance of European National Movements, is that the project could do with a little fine-tuning. Remarks by his new French chum, Bruno Gollnisch were inauspicious. "I am not a Holocaust denier," Gollnisch said: though recently he had to go to France's highest court to prove it. Proceedings were interrupted by a telephone call. It was Nick. He couldn't find the press room, but…
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Culture: The Guide | guardian.co.uk
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With Law Abiding Citizen, payback is making a comeback
20 Nov 2009 | 4:15 pmWhy does recession bring with it a thirst for dumb revenge dramas?Law Abiding Citizen, which I should say at the outset is a terrible, terrible movie – either the stupidest of the year so far or the most unintentionally funny – takes the urban revenge movie and grafts on to it certain depressing innovations from other genres, including the serial killer-as-genius trope from The Silence Of The Lambs, and the post-Saw/Hostel enthusiasm for torture-porn and mega bloodshed. Let's just say it doesn't tell us much except that the revenge movie is back with, um, a vengeance.Gerard Butler plays a… -
Bryan Cranston: from Malcolm In The Middle to America's favourite meth dealer
20 Nov 2009 | 4:15 pmStar who beat Gabriel Byrne and Hugh Laurie to Best Actor Emmy on his role as the terminally ill, drug-dealing teacher at the heart of Breaking Bad, US telly's most unlikely successHe's wearing a box-fresh stripy shirt, sharp trousers, highly polished shoes. He has a decent head of hair. Leaning back into a leather armchair, this 53-year-old is clearly at ease with the world around him. His teenage daughter, tucked in the corner of an adjacent sofa and plugged into her iPod, smiles sweetly. Rarely has an actor been less like his on-screen persona. Is this what is was like meeting a charming… -
This week's new cinema previews
20 Nov 2009 | 4:15 pmA Serious Man (15)(Ethan & Joel Coen, 2009, US) Michael Stuhlbarg, Sari Lennick, Richard Kind. 105 mins.A "proper" Coens movie after the brothers' recent, atypical efforts, and it's one of their, and the year's, best, striking that contradictory, tragicomic, mundane-surreal tone only they can achieve. Harking back to their own late-1960s youth, it's a portrait of one man's suburban hell, with Stuhlbarg's Jewish physics professor plagued by all manner of uncertainty: domestic, religious, scientific. He doesn't even know whether to laugh or cry. The result is a procession of unforgettable… -
World Of Lather
20 Nov 2009 | 4:15 pmThis month in soap, run, Roy, run! Tony's out to silence his confidant in Corrie; Ronnie finds a new sperm donor in EastEnders; and there's another fire in arson-prone EmmerdaleExciting times on Coronation Street. Maria knows that Tony killed her ex-husband, Liam. Again. Let's be frank: Maria knew this last Boxing Day when she punched Tony's face, then painted "MURDERER" on the side of Underworld in foot-high, blood-red letters. It didn't stop Maria forming a meaningful life-partnership with Tony months later and letting him prance off to baby yoga with her baby strapped to his chest. "Oooh,… -
The Hard Sell: Microsoft Windows 7
20 Nov 2009 | 4:15 pmSmarmy simpletons claiming they've had a hand in its creation … that'll really shift your software, Mr GatesFor the uninitiated, Windows 7 is Microsoft's latest version of an important computer technology that allows you to put a computerised photo of a cat into a virtual bin. What you'd reasonably expect in the ads is as many reasons they could fit into 30 seconds why you should dump the version they sold you three years ago. Instead, they're bombarding us with "members of the public" whose ideas have apparently been incorporated into the software. For this, read: "the most self-satisfied…
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Books: Harry Potter | guardian.co.uk
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Harry Potter and the chamber of lawyers
26 Oct 2009 | 8:15 amWarner Bros' lawyers have asked Ms Marmite Lover to rename a 'Harry Potter Dinner' at her Underground Restaurant. What alternative dishes can you suggest for 'Generic Wizard Night'?If you're planning any special Halloween parties or events this weekend, do be careful what you call them. I run an underground restaurant from my home every Saturday night with the help of my teenage daughter, and with much excitement we've been planning a Harry Potter themed evening for this coming Friday and Saturday, featuring butterbeer, pumpkin pasties and so on.I was a bit taken aback, last Friday, to… -
Muggle lawyers ban Harry Potter feast
24 Oct 2009 | 4:06 pmWarner Bros has banned a woman who runs a restaurant at her home in west London from hosting a Harry Potter Night to celebrate Hallowe'en.The owner of The Underground Restaurant, who uses the pseudonym Ms Marmite Lover, regularly holds themed evenings and for her latest event she had planned a menu of food and drink enjoyed by Harry Potter and his friends in the JK Rowling stories: from dandelion wine and pumpkin soup to Dumbledore's favourite sweets, such as mint humbugs. Guests were to be taken down Diagon Alley (the side of the house) before entering and would be met by a portrait of the… -
Media Monkey: The curse of being called Harry Potter
22 Oct 2009 | 2:55 amPretty much everyone knows who boy wizard Harry Potter is. Or do they? The real-life Harry Potter, 20, born eight years before JK Rowling's first book hit the shelves, has had to endure a bit of a nightmarish life thus far, says the Daily Express. He has been laughed at by police, mocked by a phone company and nearly sent off by a football referee who thought he was joking. He even had to show his girlfriend his passport to prove he wasn't having a laugh.Harry PotterHarry PotterJK RowlingMonkeyguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our… -
JK Rowling lost out on US medal over Harry Potter 'witchcraft'
29 Sep 2009 | 3:27 amNew book claims that Bush administration officials objected to giving JK Rowling a presidential medal of freedom on the grounds that her Harry Potter books 'encouraged witchcraft'A memoir by George W Bush's former speechwriter claims that Bush administration officials objected to giving JK Rowling a presidential medal of freedom on the grounds that her Harry Potter books "encouraged witchcraft".According to the liberal American blog Think Progress, Matt Latimer's Speech-Less: Tales of a White House Survivor reveals how politicised the medal, which is America's highest civilian honour, became… -
JK Rowling jumps on the Twitter bandwagon
28 Sep 2009 | 8:42 amThe Harry Potter author signs up to stop people impersonating her, but will not tweet often as 'pen and paper' is her priorityJK Rowling has joined Twitter – but the Harry Potter author says she won't let the micro-blogging site distract her from her writing.Rowling, who already has almost 45,000 followers, said she had decided to join after discovering that a host of fake JK Rowlings were using Twitter. "I am told that people have been twittering on my behalf, so I thought a brief visit was in order just to prevent any more confusion," she wrote."However, I should flag up now that although…
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Politics: Health policy | guardian.co.uk
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Unthinkable? Pricing drugs humanely
20 Nov 2009 | 4:06 pmAnother nasty decision for Nice this week, as the health service's rationing agency turned down Nexavar, which treats liver cancer. Everyone agrees it provides extra months, but it will not be administered – except to the rich – as it fails to provide enough extra months for the money. The watertight logic is that cash blown on one costly treatment cannot be spent on saving other lives. But that hardly makes things more bearable for people being told that the community is no longer willing to finance the union of their body and soul. The sanctity of life is compromised even though there… -
Free NHS from politicians, says former head
20 Nov 2009 | 6:00 amThe NHS should be freed from direct government control and run as a separate body without political interference, according to its former chief executive.In an article that will be interpreted as support for Conservative reform plans, Sir Nigel Crisp urges the Department of Health to focus on wider health issues while allowing the NHS to manage itself."The time is ripe for a new settlement between the department and the NHS that respects the distinct roles and capabilities of each partner," Sir Nigel writes in the British Medical Journal today."The department and ministers will have… -
Tories accused of scaremongering over Labour plan for national care service
19 Nov 2009 | 12:46 pmHealth secretary Andy Burnham says it is gutter politics to claim benefits for pensioners with disabilities will be cutThe government accused the Tories of "scaremongering" and "gutter politics" today for refusing to support its plans for a national care service.The shadow health secretary, Andrew Lansley, welcomed the broad thrust of the plans, saying they were a "step in the right direction", but said the Conservatives would not support them because they would lead to disability allowances being scrapped.The government wants to guarantee free home care for 280,000 pensioners and disabled… -
Eric Wilkes obituary
18 Nov 2009 | 10:54 amDame Cicely Saunders, founder of the modern hospice movement, once said that if she, in hospice terms, was the Archbishop of Canterbury, then my father, Eric Wilkes, was the Archbishop of York. Eric, who has died aged 89, opened St Luke's hospice, Sheffield – the first modern unit outside London as well as the first day hospice – in 1971. He was co-chairman (1984-93) of the national charity Help the Hospices. His Wilkes report on terminal care, published in 1980, recommended greater attention to the needs of dying patients and their relatives, and the diversion of healthcare resources to… -
Val Hatswell obituary
18 Nov 2009 | 10:47 amOur friend and colleague Val Hatswell, who has died aged 88, was an energetic, forthright and innovative woman who pioneered counselling in general practice in the UK.In 1974 Val convinced the GPs in the two practices in the new health centre in Alton, Hampshire, to set up a counselling service for our patients. This was at a time when doctors were not allowed to work with non-medical practitioners. After much negotiation, we persuaded the General Medical Council and the British Medical Association to allow us to share information about our patients with a counsellor, provided that the…
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Culture: Heritage | guardian.co.uk
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A love affair with a city like London demands much more than an air-kiss | Simon Jenkins
19 Nov 2009 | 2:30 pmI know people who swear by the charms of Lagos or Grozny. For them, as me, a city is where friends are. Take note, Jan MorrisI once sat next to a woman at dinner who asked me where I lived. When I replied, London, she frowned and said, how simply ghastly for me. "It is an awful place, absolute hell. I hate going there, the people, the traffic, the tube, the dirt. You must be dying to escape."Stung by hearing my beloved home so abused I asked where she lived. Gloucestershire, she replied. "How ghastly," I said, "it is an awful place, absolute hell. I hate going there, the people, the horses,… -
Museum 'of story and storytelling' planned for Oxford
19 Nov 2009 | 5:14 amAnonymous £2.5m donation paves the way for a major new children's attraction, due to open in 2014From Lewis Carroll's Wonderland to JRR Tolkien's Middle-earth, CS Lewis's Narnia and the parallel universes of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials, Oxford has played host to some of the UK's most enduring literary creations. Now a £2.5m donation from an anonymous private benefactor means the first steps have been taken towards the creation of a museum dedicated to storytelling in the city.The Story Museum has existed online for the past four years, holding events across Oxfordshire and running… -
Disappearing acts: Making a watch
18 Nov 2009 | 4:07 pmSimon Benney's watches are minutely engineered works of art. Master craftsman Alan Evans is one of the few silversmiths capable of making themJon Henley -
Abraham Lincoln letter goes up for sale
18 Nov 2009 | 11:37 amPresident's acknowledgement of a meeting with an eight-year-old boy could fetch £36,000The lesson of history for any small child is that if you are lucky enough to be presented to the future president of the US, then make sure you have evidence of the encounter before bragging about it to your classmates.George Patten, aged eight, discovered the bitter truth of that maxim in 1860 after he boasted at school about having met Abraham Lincoln, having been introduced to the then presidential candidate with his journalist father.The boy's friends thought he had made the story up, and bullied him. -
Letters: Lack of commitment to our world heritage sites
13 Nov 2009 | 4:06 pmJonathan Glancey's article (Bath keeps its world heritage status – just, G2, 11 November) appropriately looked at world heritage issues relating to central Bath, but did not draw attention to the real and current threats to Bath's landscape setting.A proposal to build a new park-and-ride, on meadows 200m from the world heritage site boundary, and visible from the Cotswold area of outstanding natural beauty and various conservation sites, has been passed by the planners. But when considered for call-in by the secretary of state for communities and local government, it was deemed not to…
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Life and style: Health & wellbeing | guardian.co.uk
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Experience: I hope I'm here for Christmas
20 Nov 2009 | 4:10 pm'I've been on the transplant list for more than two years'My mum already had two healthy daughters, so when I was born 22 years ago she felt something must be wrong with me because I was always sick and underweight. The GP eventually referred me to hospital when I was two, and blood tests confirmed cystic fibrosis, an inherited disease that affects the lungs and digestive system.Apart from having physiotherapy and taking 50 daily tablets, including vitamins and digestive enzymes, my illness wasn't intrusive during childhood. I hid the condition from my peers because I didn't want to be… -
This column will change your life: Terrible analogies
20 Nov 2009 | 4:10 pmAre our lives a journey, a river or even, perhaps, a pizza?According to an investigation I've been conducting – based on visiting a couple of those gift shops that sell fridge magnets, keyrings and wooden plaques with hand-painted slogans – life is like a river, but also like a pizza, a butterfly, a box of chocolates, a patchwork quilt and good wine ("best enjoyed with friends"). I've wondered about marketing a line of fridge magnets bearing the motto "Life is like a fridge magnet", but while researching this column I found that the clothing company Threadless had beaten me… -
Doctor, doctor: The gym exhausts me and a child fears his op
20 Nov 2009 | 4:10 pmIs age creeping up on me or should I eat more?I am nearly 55 and go to the gym around three times a week, where I work out for about 30 minutes. Following the exercise, however, I am exhausted for the rest of the day (I usually go to the gym during my lunch break). Should I eat more beforehand, or is it just creeping old age? I make a point of doing the necessary stretch exercises before and after each session. You should recover from your exercise within an hour or so, and then feel much the better for it – not exhausted. It's not a matter of loading yourself with… -
Unicef's state of the world's children report 2009: Where is the worst place in the world to grow up? Afghanistan
20 Nov 2009 | 7:46 amUnicef's 2009 state of the world's children report tells us what it's like to grow up in the poorest - and richest - places in the world. Find out which is which• Get the data• Afghanistan's civilian casualtiesA UN official confirmed today what many already suspected - that Afghanistan is the worst place in the world for children to be born.Launching Unicef's annual flagship report, The State of the World's Children, the organisation's regional director for South Asia, Daniel Toole, said: "Afghanistan today is without a doubt the most dangerous place to be born."Eight years after the US… -
Students taught how to grow marijuana in Detroit's new cannabis college
20 Nov 2009 | 5:27 amHorticulturalists, doctors and lawyers among instructors after Michigan legalises drug as a medicineIt goes without saying that there's no smoking in class. But there is a good deal of sniffing of leaves, discussion of the finer points of inhaling and debate over which plant gives the biggest hit.Welcome to Detroit's cannabis college, recently opened with courses on how to grow marijuana – and harvest, cook and sell it too – after Michigan legalised the drug as a medicine. Students get instruction from horticulturalists, doctors and lawyers as well as hands-on experience cultivating…
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Education: Higher education | guardian.co.uk
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University of California students protest against tuition increase
20 Nov 2009 | 9:24 amProtests rock UCLA's campus as the University of California approves a 32% increase in undergraduate feesRahsheeda Ali -
Cuts will cost British universities their international reputations
20 Nov 2009 | 7:14 amFinancial crisis beckons as public spending cuts loom and universities face intense competition from overseasUniversities are facing a new funding crisis with looming public spending cuts and intense competition from overseas, according to the man employed by the government to allocate money to higher education in England.Sir Alan Langlands, head of the university funding council and a former chief executive of the NHS, warned that the UK risks losing its international reputation for higher education as other countries pump cash into universities to try to train people out of the recession.It… -
Students taught how to grow marijuana in Detroit's new cannabis college
20 Nov 2009 | 5:27 amHorticulturalists, doctors and lawyers among instructors after Michigan legalises drug as a medicineIt goes without saying that there's no smoking in class. But there is a good deal of sniffing of leaves, discussion of the finer points of inhaling and debate over which plant gives the biggest hit.Welcome to Detroit's cannabis college, recently opened with courses on how to grow marijuana – and harvest, cook and sell it too – after Michigan legalised the drug as a medicine. Students get instruction from horticulturalists, doctors and lawyers as well as hands-on experience cultivating… -
Would you give a third of your salary away to charity?
18 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmOxford philosopher Toby Ord has pledged to do so – and wants you to join himAs far as I can tell, Toby Ord is not wearing a hair shirt under his nice overcoat. But then he isn't as worthy as I expected. A moral philosopher, Ord has pledged a third of his £30,000 salary as a research associate at Oxford University this year to charity, and will give away 10% for the rest of his working life. "I worked out my total future earnings would be around £1.5m," he says, as we sit on a bench under a horse chestnut tree. "I worked out how much I would need to live on and I realised I could give away… -
Universities forced to cover student loan gap
18 Nov 2009 | 1:08 amHardship funds handed out as Student Loans Company fails to deliver cash while giving £2m in bonuses to its own bossesMost universities in England have been forced to hand out emergency cash to students hit by the severe delays affecting this year's loans and grants, a survey has found. Three-quarters of universities polled said they had made extra payments from their hardship funds to help students pay the rent, buy books and feed themselves while they wait for the Student Loans Company (SLC) to work its way through the backlog of tens of thousands of student applications.The SLC has been…
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Politics: Simon Hoggart's sketch | guardian.co.uk
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Simon Hoggart's sketch: I'm an MP … get me out of here!
19 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmA handful of Labour MPs turned up on the day after the Queen's speech. And most of them could scarcely be bothered to stand up and ask a question. Nobody believes in this thing. It's not worth the parchment it's written on.David Heath, for the Lib Dems, called it an abracadabra Queen's speech. "Shazam! The deficit halved at a stroke. Shazam! Poverty abolished around the world. This is fantasy politics!"Other MPs were fractious about losing the public's attention. Nigel Evans thought it "bizarre" that more people were interested in how John and Edward performed on The X Factor than in the new… -
Caught in a place of fantasy
18 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmI've been going to state openings for decades, and they get weirder. Obviously the Queen is a little older each year, and today she seemed to have a sore throat, so her catchphrase, "my lords, pray be seated", was almost inaudibly whispered. But she's a trouper, that girl, and the show always goes on.The whole thing has a dreamlike, phantasmagoric, fairytale quality. The setting is out of some impossible fantasy, all red and gold, shimmering candelabras, scarlet and ermine, the vast double throne magnificent, gold-encrusted, yet curiously theatrical. Perhaps they bought it from Ikea and… -
Simon Hoggart's sketch: Hysteria over the wisteria
12 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmIt was the Threadneedle Spectator parliamentarian of the year awards today. Lord Mandelson was the big winner. (I wasn't a judge, so I am not to blame. Others know who they are.) He received his award for politician of the year from Boris Johnson.It was, Mandelson said, a great honour. He was the first winner since 2006 not to have been a member of the Bullingdon Club. Then he added: "This is another to add to the list of things I have in common with Boris. We both spent a long time in Brussels. We both had very public resignations. And we both have an overwhelming ambition to do everything… -
Simon Hoggart's sketch | Sober tribute, binge brawl, sober tribute
11 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmAt prime minister's questions yesterday MPs discussed the vandalisation of war memorials. They were against it. Yet the session had much the same feel, as marmoreal tributes to the fallen were interrupted by the usual sprayed graffiti of dodgy statistics and insults. It was as if a reading of "They shall grow not old …" was interrupted by football chants.Gordon Brown started. "We remember and honour their courage and the selflessness … each day we can be extraordinarily proud of their dedication, professionalism and bravery."David Cameron joined the sombre chorus: "On this Armistice Day… -
Simon Hoggart's sketch | This should not be allowed
10 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmIt was excruciating. You'd have needed a heart of Kevlar not to sympathise with Gordon Brown yesterdayas he used his press conference to try to portray himself as warm, caring, capable of grief, fully hooked up to a human nervous system.The prime minister has been caught in a ghastly trap by the Sun, which on Monday printed a letter he had written to the mother of a soldier killed in Afghanistan. It was full of spelling mistakes, apparently including her name – though it was difficult to tell, as he has handwriting like a spider suffering from existential angst.On Sunday night he had phoned…
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Life and style: Homes | guardian.co.uk
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Snooping around: Rural, urban and renovation
20 Nov 2009 | 4:12 pmThis week's gallery encompasses the Caribbean to Kingston … upon Thames -
Let's move to Cromer
20 Nov 2009 | 4:12 pmCromer is not just about the crabs, you know, says Tom DyckhoffWhat's going for it? Enduring mystery of life no 17,978: just what is it that separates Cromer from loftier spots such as Holt and Burnham Market one way and Southwold and Aldeburgh the other? A matter of yards, I tell you! Outside Cromer's city limits, property prices soar: beyond Blakeney, you can barely get a coal scuttle for a quarter of a million. Yet Cromer's bone structure is Southwold in all but property price and plum-mouthed inhabitants fresh from Hampstead. Gorgeous beach, cliffs high enough to be… -
Space solves: Washing at 30 degrees
20 Nov 2009 | 4:11 pmHow clean do clothes get at low temperatures, plus seeking a table with storage for our hall. Our experts have the answersHow clean are clothes washed at 30C or lower? Should we wash towels or underwear at higher temperatures?"Clothes washed at 30C and below will come out clean," says cleaning guru Stephanie Zia, "but dust mites, pet allergens, mould spores, pollen and bacteria will be completely removed only by heat – ie, at 60C plus. Mix a paste of detergent or oxygen bleach powder with a little water and apply to any stains before laundering. Which? magazine's 30C laundry test found that… -
All fired up: wood-burning stoves
20 Nov 2009 | 4:10 pmThey keep our homes warm in style, and are a renewable energy source to boot. What's not to like about wood-burning stoves, asks Dominic Murphy Why buy one? It's potentially carbon neutral. Although burning logs releases CO2, this is the same amount as was absorbed while the wood was growing. If a new tree is planted for each one burned, there is no overall increase in carbon emissions.A bit old-fashioned, no? So what if there's a touch of Heidi about some. There are plenty more with a contemporary feel – 007 just back from the ski slopes, say.Where do I start? Decide what sort of stove you… -
Homes wishlist: Rugs
20 Nov 2009 | 4:06 pmAdd a dash of colour to a plain old floor with our selection of jazzy rugs
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Life and style: Neil Spencer's horoscopes | guardian.co.uk
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Horoscopes
14 Nov 2009 | 4:07 pmAstrologist Neil Spencer reads your stars for the coming week★ SCORPIO 24 Oct-21 Nov Ready to rumble? Tomorrow's new Moon (7.14pm) rekindles your fires and makes this week the time for clear long-term strategies and bold action. This autumn's planets reward the brave. Venus's presence until December adds a touch of serendipity to your affairs and helps detox stagnant romances and relationships. A determined de-clutter of your personal space helps achieve the same aim.★ SAGITTARIUS 22 Nov-21 Dec Archers are good at arriving at blunt truths. Whether this is the right time to air them is… -
Horoscopes
7 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmAstrologist Neil Spencer reads your stars for the coming week★ SCORPIO 24 Oct-21 Nov You should be where you like to be: intense and in control, rapping out orders to minions while patching up fallouts within the family; November is optimum time for peace-making. Venus, now in your skies, adds class, a cue to parade killer outfits, throw extravagant parties and dance with a dagger in your teeth. Be it Scorpio-style high drama or cool calculation, it's your season.★ SAGITTARIUS 22 Nov-21 Dec Grab any downtime while you can; you'll be hopping to others' tunes in a mere week's time. Inner… -
Horoscopes
31 Oct 2009 | 5:05 pmNeil Spencer reads your stars for the coming week★ SCORPIO 24 Oct-21 Nov One intense week is blowing in. If tomorrow's full Moon raises your worst suspicions about liberty-takers (ie who is having a pop at you and why?), growl quietly. You're pretty much indestructible at present and need to keep even difficult people onside during an auspicious November that promises both personal space and professional prestige. Self-reliance reigns - communications are way better by Thursday.★ SAGITTARIUS 22 Nov-21 Dec Good health and a freewheeling attitude will see most Sagittarians through life;… -
Horoscopes
24 Oct 2009 | 4:05 pmNeil Spencer reads your stars for the coming week★ SCORPIO 24 Oct-21 Nov Mars, Scorpio's governor, represents courage and flamboyance. As the red planet just took up residence in your career zone for several months (not usual), it's clear you don't get many brownie points at work without showing bravado. While you must also be strategic – this is a lengthy campaign – fly your colours defiantly. You're regenerating. Romance? Halloween is the time to wear your heart on your sleeve.★ SAGITTARIUS 22 Nov-21 Dec Since the Archer's planet, Jupiter, is in the pink this week, try and follow… -
Horoscopes
17 Oct 2009 | 4:33 pmNeil Spencer reads your stars for the coming week★ Libra 23 Sep-23 Oct Talk about a moment of destiny. This morning's new Moon is a clear signal to jettison all that's outworn - cherished but useless possessions, empty friendships, illusionary ideas – and start over again. These are early days in the quest for a more independent, empowered life, but potent ones nonetheless. Nothing less than total commitment, whether to public crusades or personal passions, will deliver. Lazy Libra? Not now!★ Scorpio 24 Oct-21 Nov Once the Sun reaches your skies at dawn on Friday, information now hidden…
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World news: Human rights | guardian.co.uk
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Chinese activists detained after seeking Obama meeting
20 Nov 2009 | 6:26 amTwo lawyers say discussion of rights and religious freedom was suppressed during US president's 'disappointing' visitTania Branigan Beijing Two Chinese rights activists said todayyesterday that they were briefly detained by police after seeking a meeting with Barack Obama in Beijing. They added that US influence over China on human rights had declined. Jiang Tianyong and Fan Yafeng were arrested by plain-clothed police officers after gathering with others at a hotel near the US embassy on Wednesday."We had wanted to discuss [with Obama] the deterioration of religious freedom in China, as well… -
Building a world fit for children | Marie Staunton
20 Nov 2009 | 6:00 amTwenty years after the launch of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, we must do more to listen to vulnerable childrenTo 13-year-old Mumo Katumo, the anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) is an utter irrelevance. For the past year Mumo and her family have been struggling to stay alive in the drought-ridden Masinga district of eastern Kenya with little food or water and with no hope of going to school.Mumo describes the pain of her hunger: "You go numb. You lose the ability to do anything. Sometimes I think it is like the feeling of dying."Yet the convention was… -
Say no to asbos for downloaders | Charlotte Gore
20 Nov 2009 | 2:30 amThe internet is such a huge part of life that Mandelson's plans to cut people off for copyright breach is a clear restriction of libertyAt 33 years old I'm more Generation X than Generation X-Box. I'm too old to be one of the new wave of "digital natives" who've never known life without the internet, but I'm just about young enough (and geeky enough) to consider myself an enthusiastic immigrant. I moved in about 13 years ago, and if I could swear an oath of allegiance to some Head Of The Internet State, I wouldn't hesitate.Sadly there is no president of the internet, which is a shame because… -
Britain's torture cover-up continues | Clive Stafford Smith
20 Nov 2009 | 2:00 amThe latest high court opinion in the case of Binyam Mohamed reveals Britain's commitment to covering up complicity in tortureIn the government's desperate commitment to cover up British complicity in torture, the drip-drip-drip of evidence seeping out continues. The sixth opinion released by the high court in the case of Binyam Mohamed gives us another insight into the government's bizarre notion of the threat to national security that compels secrecy.Today, the two judges reluctantly complied with David Miliband's demand that certain evidence of torture should remain secret, at least pending… -
Enshrining children's rights | Jasmine Whitbread
20 Nov 2009 | 12:00 amWhy does a bill to incorporate the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child into UK law stand little chance of being passed?All political parties say they want to improve life for children in this country. Conservatives say they want to make the UK the most "family-friendly country in the world", while Gordon Brown says, "Our country's future lies with the hopes and dreams of children."Yet on the 20th anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), it's clear there is much anxiety about the state of children and childhood in Britain. The Baby P horror, Shannon Matthews –…
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Politics: Identity cards | guardian.co.uk
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Tories warn Mancunians not to fork out for ID cards
16 Nov 2009 | 10:20 amThe Conservatives have warned Manchester residents not to spend £30 on an identity card when the scheme is launched in the city this month. Meg Hillier, a Home Office minister, said ID cards would be available from 30 November to anyone who lives or works in Greater Manchester, adding that they would prove useful in daily life from opening a bank account to entering a nightclub. But the Tory immigration spokesman, Damian Green, warned Mancunians not to waste their money, saying a Conservative government would scrap "this expensive, intrusive and unworkable scheme".Identity cardsDamian… -
The Home Office's broken biometrics| liberty central
1 Nov 2009 | 4:00 amThe FBI considers facial recognition technology to be inaccurate – so why is our government investing in it?If our last two prime ministers are to be believed, and our last five home secretaries, the solution to all the problems of crime detection, counter-terrorism and the delivery of efficient public services is … biometrics. They're certainly labelling our money into biometrics. But no one ever asks, do biometrics work?Speaking at the Biometrics 2009 conference in London, James A Loudermilk II (the man behind the FBI's automated fingerprint identification system) outlined the plans for… -
Big Brother, we're watching you | Alexander Deane
28 Oct 2009 | 12:00 pmOur research showsthat four out of five Britons believe their freedoms are disappearing. Left and right must fight this togetherIt is the instinct of politicians and bureaucrats to expand their power base but British citizens are becoming increasingly concerned about the way in which the state accumulates and retains personal information on their lives.Under the present government, the number of CCTV cameras, the number of laws allowing the state to enter your home, and the number of people being placed under surveillance have all risen considerably.The country's security context has of… -
Labour can unify liberty and security | Charles Clarke
21 Oct 2009 | 3:30 amWe have made Britain safer but a fourth term must consolidate counter-terror laws and reform the database stateAs we get closer to a general election, Labour needs seriously to assess what we have done since 1997 and then to put forward recommendations about what needs to be done now.In the areas of security and liberty many would argue (and I agree) that there has been too much legislation. Despite that, our political opponents intend to campaign on a raft of radical measures, such as the creation of a new bill of rights and elected police commissioners. These measures will certainly consume… -
What would the Conservatives do for law and order?
7 Oct 2009 | 4:06 pmThe Tories plan to take a hardline approach to crime and punshment, and they want to build 5,000 more prison placesAs the general election approaches you can expect to hear rather less about "hug a hoodie" and rather more about "mug a hoodie" when it comes to the Conservatives' approach to law and order. This is because the shadow home secretary, Chris Grayling, a former TV executive, has been licensed by David Cameron to "harden up" the party line.The language he uses is a million miles away from the social justice approach encapsulated by Cameron in his "hug a hoodie" speech. Grayling talks…
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Global: Gallery | guardian.co.uk
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Spacewalkers work on the international space station
21 Nov 2009 | 8:40 amConstruction and maintenance continue on the orbiting lab as Nasa's Atlantis shuttle visits -
24 hours in pictures
21 Nov 2009 | 6:58 am1 November 2009: A selection of the best images from around the world -
Lauren Luke's beauty buys: best blues
21 Nov 2009 | 4:00 amA bolt of blue can brighten the greyest winter day, says Lauren. Here are six well worth a shotLauren Luke -
In pictures: Behind the scenes in Copenhagen with Ed Miliband
20 Nov 2009 | 5:31 pmWriter John Harris and Guardian photographer Martin Argles shadowed the energy and climate change secretary, Ed Miliband, for 40 hours during his trip to an intergovernmental meeting in Copenhagen ahead of the main conference there in December -
The stars of Channel 4 drama The Queen on playing the monarch
20 Nov 2009 | 4:56 pmShould they copy the high-pitched voice? How did they get the walk right? And why does the monarch rarely bend forward? The five stars of Channel 4's drama documentary The Queen talk about how they found their inner Elizabeth
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World news: India | guardian.co.uk
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Recession, what recession? Number of Indian billionaires doubles
19 Nov 2009 | 7:28 amNews of increasing wealth of country's richest sparks debate about polarisation of societyIn India, the rich just got richer. Despite one of the worst global recessions in history, the number of billionaires in the subcontinent has almost doubled since last year.Figures show that there are now 52 billionaires in India, compared with 27 last year. Over the course of the year, the stock market has gained more than 75% and the economy has grown at almost 7%, pouring billions of dollars into the bank accounts of India's richest people.But with 0.00001% of India's population now accounting for… -
Vedanta employees arrested during India chimney collapse inquiry
17 Nov 2009 | 10:28 am• Three arrested at Balco subsidiary power plant• Project manager among those chargedThree officials at a subsidiary of the mining company Vedanta Resources have been arrested in India following the collapse of a chimney in one of its power stations which killed 41 people.The incident occurred in September at Vedanta's Bharat Aluminium Company (Balco) power plant in Chhattisgarh, central India, during heavy storms.After a two-month investigation, local police have arrested Balco's vice-president, who was also the plant's project manager, its associate general manager and a graduate… -
Sheila Unwin obituary
15 Nov 2009 | 10:31 amAt the age of 86 Sheila Unwin fulfilled her lifelong ambition and wrote a book called The Arab ChestMy mother, Sheila Unwin, who has died aged 89, was an expert in Swahili and Arab culture. At the age of 86 she fulfilled her lifelong ambition and published The Arab Chest, a personal yet academic account of her quest into the origins of these brass-studded wooden pieces of furniture found all over the Gulf and East Africa.This fascination began as long ago as the late 1940s when, after the second world war, she and my father went to Tanganyika to work on the ill-fated Groundnut Scheme, the… -
Video: 'This is India's most magical festival'
11 Nov 2009 | 11:05 pmSarah Phillips travels to the city of Jodhpur for the Rajasthan International Folk festival, which celebrates India's musical heritageSarah PhillipsLaurence Topham -
Man jailed over 'incomprehensible' and racist murder
11 Nov 2009 | 12:39 amChristopher Miller sentenced to 18 years in prison for killing Indian naval officer Kunal Mohanty in GlasgowAn unemployed man has been jailed for at least 18 years for the "incomprehensible" racist murder of an Indian naval officer in central Glasgow.Christopher Miller was found guilty of the unprovoked murder of Kunal Mohanty, 30, who had been staying in Glasgow to sit his captain's exams at the city's nautical college in March this year.Miller, 25, had confronted Mohanty as he was walking to a fast food restaurant near the Citizen's theatre in the south side of Glasgow, and had slashed his…
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World news: Indonesia | guardian.co.uk
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Prince Charles announces funding scheme to protect rainforests
19 Nov 2009 | 12:17 pmA global emergency funding scheme to drastically reduce the destruction of tropical rainforests over the next five years was announced by the Prince of Wales today, with the US pledging $275m (£165m) towards rainforest protection.The plan relies on developed countries paying rainforest nations such as Brazil and Indonesia to reduce rates of deforestation and thereby cut carbon emissions.Currently, the lucrative trade in logging, cattle grazing and palm oil, means tropical forests are worth substantially more dead than alive to developing countries. The plan, agreed by 35 governments of the… -
Helping Islam's green shoots grow | Nazry Bahrawi
17 Nov 2009 | 4:00 amIndonesian Muslims are leading the religious environmentalism movement, but they could improve their treatment of animalsIn battling climate change, Indonesian Muslims have led their counterparts elsewhere in promoting the idea that Islam must not be a fair-weathered faith when it comes to environmental degradation.They did so without the prodding of a grand conservation blueprint such as that unveiled at this month's UN-funded Alliance of Religions and Conservation meeting at Windsor Castle. Among the plan's many targets is the transformation of the 10 most sacred Islamic cities into… -
Asean needs a culture shock | Nazry Bahrawi
19 Oct 2009 | 4:00 amAsean countries need to instil a much-needed paradigm shift that will see its people define 'culture' beyond superficialitiesThis past month has seen Malaysia waging a culture war against Indonesia and Singapore, two fellow founding members of the Asean regional grouping.A regional food fight broke out when tourism minister Ng Yen Yen accused surrounding countries of hijacking Malaysia's popular dishes.Earlier, Malaysia had also unwittingly incensed Indonesians when a documentary about its tourism featured the traditional pendet dance commonly performed on the Indonesian island of Bali. In… -
Copenhagen comes closer, but a deal seems further away | Suzanne Goldenberg
16 Oct 2009 | 3:15 amBrazil, Indonesia and Norway have made positive steps in the past few weeks, illustrating the value of the bottom up approachIt sometimes seems as if the closer we get to Copenhagen, the further we get from a deal.There weren't many signs of progress at the last three big gatherings on climate change. Barack Obama disappointed at the United Nations by failing to press the Senate to move forward on climate change legislation, while Hu Jintao offered no specifics on how far China would go to reduce its future greenhouse gas emissions. At the G20 meeting in Pittsburgh, the industrialised… -
Indonesian man survives quake by sawing off own leg
9 Oct 2009 | 5:35 amPadang teenager resorted to self-amputation after getting trapped by falling girderAn 18-year-old construction worker trapped in the rubble of a building that collapsed during the earthquake in Indonesia escaped after sawing off his own leg.Ramlan, from Padang, was working on the seventh floor of a building under construction when the quake hit the city on 30 September.The teenager's leg was crushed beneath a falling concrete girder as he and his colleagues were attempting to flee the building, leaving him trapped and alone.Ramlan attempted to pull his leg free so he could escape to safety,…
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World news: Japan | guardian.co.uk
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Japanese economy heads back to deflation
20 Nov 2009 | 7:57 am• Finance minister admits 'sense of crisis' as prices fall• Government urges Bank of Japan to tackle deflationJapan's fledgling recovery is under threat from falling prices, the government said today, as it conceded that deflation had returned to the world's second-biggest economy after a three-year gap.The finance minister, Hirohisa Fujii, spoke of a "sense of crisis" over falling prices – the problem that plagued Japan during what's known as its "lost decade" of economic stagnation in the 1990s.Fujii's comments came as the Bank of Japan (BoJ) kept interest rates at 0.1% and upgraded… -
Letters: Close death row
19 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmThere's a deeply troubling pattern of US death-row prisoners waiving appeals after years in "lockdown" cells facing execution (The condemned cells of Texas, 16 November). Rather than pressing ahead with killing prisoners who give up, the US authorities ought to be asking if prisoners in solitary confinement are waiving appeals out of sheer desperation or mental illness. Research and anecdotal evidence points to this, and we've raised similar concerns about Japan's oppressive death-row system, where mental illness is rife. If the US is falling out of love with the grisly reality of capital… -
Sony pins profit hopes on next-generation 3D TVs
19 Nov 2009 | 4:22 amSir Howard Stringer's sweeping cuts and structural reforms have helped Sony achieve 80% of its ¥330bn savings target for this yearSony aims to finally meet its cherished profitability target in three years by staking a claim in the growing market for next-generation 3D televisions and lithium-ion batteries, the company said today.The consumer electronics and entertainment giant said it hoped to achieve a 5% operating profit margin by March 2013 and to send its struggling TV and video game businesses back into the black by the end of next year.Sony reported an annual loss of ¥98.9bn (£664m)… -
Tokyo is the new Paris, say Michelin
18 Nov 2009 | 7:53 amThe Japanese capital now has more 3-starred restaurants than its French counterpartTokyo is the gourmet capital of the world. So say the revered gastronomes at the Michelin Guide, who have awarded three stars to 11 restaurants in the Japanese capital, one more than in Paris.Yesterday's announcement, made days before the launch of the Michelin Guide Tokyo 2010, cements the city's deserved reputation as a spectacular place to dine."Tokyo has become the world culinary capital, ahead of Paris," gushed Jean-Luc Naret, the guide's director general.Tokyo is now the culinary bible's most decorated… -
Obama's critics should be bowing their heads
18 Nov 2009 | 6:22 amThe American right has worked itself into a lather over Obama's bow to Japan's emperor. They owe him an apologyTo most reasonable people, it was a well-intentioned show of respect to a head of state who greeted his guest on the steps of his home before ushering him inside for lunch.But Barack Obama's greeting to Japan's emperor, Akihito, at the weekend has worked the American right into a lather over what they see as their president's unseemly deference to a symbol of hereditary power.The outrage was initially confined to commentators such as William Kristol, who, in an interview with Fox…
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Music: Jazz | guardian.co.uk
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This week's music previews
20 Nov 2009 | 4:06 pmMonotonix, On tourGarage rock is a truly international language, spoken in the UK and Scandinavia, as well as the USA. To that list, we can now add Israel: with Monotonix, the country brings its own spin on this most basic way of making yourself understood. If Monotonix were guests in your home, you'd be horrified. No respecters of personal space or private property, the band are hairy, sweaty and in your face, invading the crowd, shedding clothes, even drinking your drink. Truth be known, it's the only way to experience them. This tour is nominally to support album Where Were You When It… -
High notes in America's Deep South
20 Nov 2009 | 4:06 pmBluegrass, fado, opera and jazz fuse together at Georgia's glorious medley of a festival. Kate Connolly falls in love with the music, history and mint julepsThe man who drives me from the airport to my hotel sings for much of the way; the receptionist croons Someone to Watch Over Me as I check in, and in one of the city's elegant squares a workman performs spirituals in his lunch break, while another strums on his guitar. That Savannah is a city that lives for and thrives on music is clear to me before I even hit the Savannah Music Festival.I arrive about a week into the proceedings,… -
Bill Frisell/Mike Gibbs/BBCSO | Jazz review
20 Nov 2009 | 3:05 pmLondon jazz festivalComposer Mike Gibbs's festival appearance surely made him part of the week's most unusual trio. There was guitarist Bill Frisell, drummer Joey Baron and Gibbs himself, represented by the massed ranks of the BBC Symphony Orchestra. In Collage for a Day, a much-anticipated festival highlight, Gibbs created a sumptuous yet flexible orchestral setting for some of Frisell's classic themes.The purr of the orchestra's strings softened and even romanticised the guitarist's trademark harmonically twisted country chords and jaunty rockabilly dances. But the graceful balance of order… -
Eberhard Weber: Colours | CD review
19 Nov 2009 | 2:40 pm(ECM)Nobody much noticed a little German record label called ECM, until the 1973 album The Colours of Chloe came out, introducing the Colours band of jazz bassist Eberhard Weber - who played an electric upright instrument with a characteristically plummy and reverberant sound. The music connected with both modern jazz and the looping thematic approach of Tubular Bells - and introduced a new setting for improvisation, over tone-shifts and moods rather than chord-changes and swing. It became the signature sound (and eventually the unfair caricature) of the ECM label. In the company's… -
Kit Downes Trio: Golden | CD review
19 Nov 2009 | 2:24 pm(Basho)British pianist Kit Downes, formerly of Empirical, is beginning to get the kind of enthusiastic attention Gwilym Simcock did on his emergence a few years before - but for a more economical jazz-derived style with a more audible connection to his Royal Academy teacher Tom Cawley's fascination with Brad Mehldau. This trio session, like the Simcock album, features drummer James Maddren, plus bassist Calum Gourlay. If Simcock has a flaw, it's that his erudition and virtuosity give him so many options, it's hard to be ruthless in editing them. Downes is more of a choosy, patient…
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Society: Joe Public blog | guardian.co.uk
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Politicians must acknowledge the value of volunteering
20 Nov 2009 | 4:57 amDon't pay us lip service, recognise the part we play in regenerating communities, says Brenda GrixtiI hope politicians who champion a bigger role for volunteers in regenerating neighbourhoods are not just paying lip service.When I first became involved in community work I was a single parent. There was nothing for me to do in the neighbourhood where I lived. I felt alone and isolated.I had a few skills but lacked confidence in myself. I thought that anybody who wore a suit was more important than me, but later I thought if I don't do anything nothing will change.Volunteers were needed at a… -
Older people would benefit greatly from free telecare
17 Nov 2009 | 11:00 pmFree telecare for all older people could save billions of pounds on care spending – and give people a better quality of lifeToday's Queen's Speech trails a social care bill. The new legislation will implement the prime minister's recent party conference pledge of free personal care for those older people with the greatest needs. Still to come is a much broader strategy to support older people to stay in their own home through preventative, personalised care and support. July's green paper proposed the creation of a national care service to take this forward.One of the central planks of this… -
Rural housing crisis is pricing people out
17 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmThe countryside needs more social homes, says Peter HetheringtonThe rural drift in England continues to confound expectations, even during a recession. Last year, 65,000 people moved to the countryside – down by about 20,000 in a year, but still significant. If mortgages were easier to obtain, and private building takes off again, we can be sure more would go.Many families move in search of fresher air, an improved lifestyle and a perception, sometimes misplaced, that their kids will get a better education, while accepting that a longer commute is a price worth paying for a rural… -
Christine Lawrie | Crime reduction targets need a local focus
17 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmCrime reduction targets need a local focus, says Christine Lawrie"Professionals in the justice system have become distanced from the people they serve . . . leading to a deep frustration from professionals and distrust from the public." That was the conclusion in a report by the all-party parliamentary group on local government following its inquiry into local justice.All of the 42 probation "areas" – as each service is known – in England and Wales are assessed against around 70 Ministry of Justice targets. National agendas have their place, but it is doubtful whether many… -
Voluntary agencies could speed up adoptions, says charity
12 Nov 2009 | 5:38 amDirector of adoption consortium makes plea for more councils to consider voluntary agencies from the start of placement proceedings - rather than as a last resortMany children with an adoption recommendation are never found an adoptive family and grow up in care. These children are usually the hard to place – those above the age of four, children with disabilities or developmental delay, those from complex cultural backgrounds and groups of brothers and sisters who must stay together.This is why, every year, national adoption week asks adults across the country the same question: could you…
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Business: John Lewis | guardian.co.uk
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John Lewis starts Christmas season with bumper takings
15 Nov 2009 | 9:13 am• Department store's tills ring up 17% rise on 2008's figures• Online set to swell winter sales shopping from 25 DecemberRetailers can look forward to a much better Christmas than last year when credit-crunched shoppers had to be lured into shops with huge discounts, according to new data and sales forecasts for the festive season.The Christmas shopping frenzy has started with bumper sales figures, according to department store chain John Lewis. Figures released today showed that some £72m poured into the department store's tills during the week. The takings were 17% ahead of last year,… -
High street fears 20% VAT
15 Nov 2009 | 7:56 amProspect of sales tax increase could stamp out green shoots of recovery, say retailersRetailers are worried: just when it starts to look as though the worst might be over on the high streets, there are growing fears that an increase in VAT to 20% next year – and maybe even an extension of the tax to food, albeit at a lower rate – is heading their way.Last week, Sir Stuart Rose, the chairman of Marks & Spencer, said he "would not rule [an increase] out" because the UK is "skint as a country". On the same day, Simon Wolfson, the chief executive of Next – who has been tipped as a possible… -
Why vote when you can shop? | Paul MacInnes
15 Nov 2009 | 6:00 amWith Labour and the Tories basing their policies on John Lewis and easyJet, is it time to declare politics well and truly broken?As the general election approaches, the electorate is beginning to get a clearer idea of the platforms on which each party will stand. Or, in the case of the BNP, which platforms they'll leap from in the hope of gouging the nation's jugular with their teeth. On the blue side, you have David Cameron pledging cuts, freedom and more emphasis on the voluntary sector. On the red side, you have Gordon Brown with his record of stimulus, centralisation and PFI. Fortunately,… -
John Lewis greets Christmas with the gift of Guns N' Roses
14 Nov 2009 | 3:30 pmRetail chain chooses soft, folky version of the rock anthem Sweet Child o' Mine as the theme for its Christmas advertsIt's enough to make Guns N' Roses frontman Axl Rose's trademark bandana slip: the US rock supergroup's 1988 anthem "Sweet Child o' Mine" being used to sell fluffy sheepskin carpet slippers.The stadium rock staple, ranked 196th in Rolling Stone magazine's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, has been chosen as the backing track to the John Lewis department store's Christmas TV advertising campaign, which gets its first airing – in a prime X Factor slot – tonight.Unsurprisingly… -
Where to get this year's Christmas must-have toys for less
13 Nov 2009 | 3:32 amFrom Go Go Hamsters to Princess Peppa's Palace, we find the best prices for this year's must-have toysWill you get hold of Go Go Hamsters before they are all gone? It may still be six shopping weekends until 25 December, but if you want to obtain the best price for Christmas toys – and in some cases find them, before they sell out – then you'll have to act now.On Monday, Guardian Money went shopping for the toys that retailers say will be most in demand this Christmas. Go Go Hamsters, pictured, top the list. The moving/talking creatures sell for £9.99 at John Lewis, but they were out of…
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Politics: Boris Johnson | guardian.co.uk
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Just two companies still in contention to build Boris Johnson's "New Routemaster"
20 Nov 2009 | 5:44 amFirst there were six bus manufacturers in contention to build Mayor Johnson's signature "New Routemaster", then five, then four, then three. And now only two remain. Bus trade connoisseurs won't be surprised to learn that they are Wrightbus of Ballymena and Alexander Dennis of Falkirk, Guildford, Scarbrough and elsewhere. These are the UK's two most prestigous players. I've no idea which will prevail, but I believe I have the timetable for a decision. The companies' bids and final offers must be submitted by the end of this month. Submissions on styling and design are scheduled to be made on… -
Richard Rogers "frustrated" by Boris Johnson regime
20 Nov 2009 | 3:51 amFrom Building Design:London mayor Boris Johnson will attempt to draw a line under the bitter departure of architectural adviser Richard Rogers by appointing Tate boss Nicholas Serota in his place.Serota's appointment is now official, as are those of several other new members of the Mayor's Design Advisory Panel. BD used a Freedom of Information request to obtain correspondence between Rogers and the Mayor. Read the whole piece and learn that Rogers, who worked for the GLA for nine years for free, found Boris inaccessible and his deputies obstuctive. The article concludes:The revelations… -
GLA chief executive seeks new power of "review"
19 Nov 2009 | 11:30 pmAdam Bienkov, aka the Tory Troll, has an intriguing story about GLA chief executive Leo Boland:A leaked document sent to Tory Troll reveals that he is pushing for the rights to monitor and review all official scrutiny reports produced by the Assembly. According to the proposals, Boland would be able to: "Review draft scrutiny reports before their publication for the purposes of providing quality control and oversight of the written output from the Authority. This opportunity for review would be personal to the Chief Executive and would not be delegated to any other officer."Adam reckons this… -
Diamond Geezer endorses bendy bus successors
19 Nov 2009 | 8:20 amHis Saturday journey ended like this:On past Green Park, where a fallen plane tree has been encircled by red and white tape, and then the opportunity to peer over the Queen's back wall and eye up her tennis courts. You didn't get that view from a bendy. And, having ridden all the way to Victoria on the first day of both the new and the old services, I know which I prefer. Give me a 'normal' double decker any day. A seat, a view, and that special feeling of not being treated like cattle prodded aboard a box on wheels. Whether the expense of swapping 47 bendies for 68 double deckers is a good… -
Choice of BMW as 2012 Olympics car is not what Boris Johnson had in mind
19 Nov 2009 | 1:17 amAutocar's Hilton Holloway:The news that BMW has won the bid to become to official vehicle supplier to the 2012 London Olympics is a serious disappointment. Not because there's likely to be much wrong with the next-generation 1-series and 3-series, but because the Blue Propeller has succeeded in crowding out a much more innovative rival.Nissan was one of the 2012 bidders, promising to supply a fleet of 4000 vehicles, at least 2000 of which would have been the Nissan LEAF electric hatch. Had Nissan won, French electricity supplier EDF would have helped install charging points through the…
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Art and design: Jonathan Jones on art | guardian.co.uk
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Matisse: the true revolutionary
20 Nov 2009 | 7:11 amIt wasn't Americans such as Pollack and Rothko who revolutionised art – Matisse stepped away from the easel more than a decade before themIn the 1940s and 50s, art was revolutionised by a generation of young Americans who redefined what painting could be and, in doing so, laid the ground for today's art of installation, performance and space invasion. Jackson Pollock, Barnett Newman and Mark Rothko painted on such a scale and with such an enriched idea of space that they left the traditional idea of painting behind.At least, that's the official story. Pollock's champion, the critic Clement… -
Art snobs can keep Poussin | Jonathan Jones
19 Nov 2009 | 7:51 amNext to the sensuality of Botticelli or the danger of Cézanne, Poussin's haughty, bloodless landscapes leave me coldI have occasionally been accused of being an art snob, but I'm nothing of the kind. If I was (or ought one to say if one were?) I would like the artist Nicolas Poussin.For truly refined art lovers, this 17th-century master of landscape and classical myth – a Frenchman who drew inspiration from Italy and whose painting Et in Arcardia Ego is one of the most famous works in the Louvre – is the touchstone of high taste, the guardian of Parnassus. To admire and understand… -
Science Museum: close your climate change show | Jonathan Jones
18 Nov 2009 | 3:45 amThe museum's patronising poll against global warming ahead of Copenhagen has played right into the sceptics' handsIf you think exhibitions don't matter and museums are just middle-class entertainment, here's a story to make you change your mind.Currently at the Science Museum, red arrows printed on the ground point you past the rockets, steam engines and other relics of the carbon age towards a free exhibit called Prove It!. This is being promoted as a chance, in the run up to the Copenhagen climate talks, to weigh up the evidence on climate change and, if you are convinced, to give your… -
What artist Frank Auerbach dug out from London's primaeval clay | Jonathan Jones
17 Nov 2009 | 9:08 amArresting and forceful, Auerbach's paintings of postwar construction sites churn with the dark currents of modern lifeIn the classic 1950s sci-fi serial Quatermass and the Pit (written for the BBC by Nigel Kneale and later remade as a brilliantly lurid Hammer film), a London building site starts turning up prehistoric skulls that lead to a foul encounter with humanity's dark nature. In the original television programmes, the setting is explicitly postwar, with builders working on a West End bomb site.Painter Frank Auerbach gazed at those same huge construction sites in the late 1950s and… -
Turner and the Masters: the jewel in Tate Britain's crown | Jonathan Jones
16 Nov 2009 | 6:30 amIn the best of a brilliant run of exhibitions at the gallery, Turner's passion for 19th-century art steals the showThe newly appointed director of Tate Britain, Penelope Curtis, inherits a museum in very good order. Stephen Deuchar, who leaves at the end of this year to take over the Art Fund, completes his decade at the gallery on a high note, after this year's widely acclaimed Turner prize running alongside Turner and the Masters.When Tate Britain opened, it was attacked by many critics – including me. It seemed to have taken the "new art history" (which isn't very new any more) far too…
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Politics: Tessa Jowell | guardian.co.uk
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Response: Boxing is a dangerous sport and doesn't deserve state funding
19 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmIt is immoral to encourage young people to risk brain injury by repeated blows to the headYour article on the resurgence of boxing highlights an irrational, immoral and dangerous funding strategy that encourages people to risk their health (Off the ropes, and back into the ring – boxing makes unlikely comeback in schools and clubs, 16 November).You quote Rebecca Gibson of the Amateur Boxing Association saying that "the sport had benefited from the success of fighters such as Amir Khan and a jump in funding from £50,000 in 2005 to £4.7m this year". The government funding, via Sport… -
Electoral reform: Change or decay
13 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmThe government is running out of time. There are, it is estimated, 40 legislating days between the Queen's speech on Wednesday and the general election next May. The address from the throne could seal its fate, if it chooses to stick to the draft legislative programme and hunker down to protect its achievements. Instead it should use this last opportunity to demonstrate that it recognises it is time for a change, and to show that it has the appetite to make the change happen. There is one good way to do this. A proposal for a bill to enable a referendum on electoral reform would be both right… -
Tessa Jowell makes last-ditch push for electoral reform in Queen's speech
12 Nov 2009 | 12:27 pm• Minister also wants votes at 16 in wider package• Referendum would boost Labour, say pollstersTessa Jowell was among a number of cabinet ministers who today mounted a last-ditch effort to include a referendum on electoral reform in the Queen's speech next week.She saw the reform as part of a wider package including directly elected mayors, votes at 16 and primaries for the election of parliamentary candidates.Jowell, the Cabinet Office minister, urged her colleagues "to recognise that the prize to be won is as the progressive party". She said: "The challenge is which party is going to… -
David Mills, Tessa Jowell's husband, fails to overturn bribe conviction
27 Oct 2009 | 12:47 pmAn Italian court threw out an appeal today by Tessa Jowell's husband, David Mills, leaving the London lawyer one last chance to overturn his conviction for taking a bribe from Italy's prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi.Mills, who said his faith in Italian justice had become "a trifle strained", will now take his case to Italy's highest appeals court. The court of cassation, which sits in Rome, should have time to reach a decision before next April when the case would otherwise be "timed out" by a statute of limitations.The Olympics minister's husband was given a four-and-a-half year sentence… -
Court rejects David Mills appeal against sentence for 'accepting Silvio Berlusconi bribe'
27 Oct 2009 | 8:17 amJudges turn down first of two appeals permitted to husband of Olympics minister Tessa JowellDavid Mills, the estranged husband of Olympics minister Tessa Jowell, today suffered a further setback in his legal battle in Italy, after judges turned down the first of two appeals he is permitted under Italian law.Earlier this year, Mills was given a four and a half-year sentence for allegedly accepting a bribe from the Italian prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi. He was also ordered to pay a penalty of €250,000 (£227,000).Mills was found guilty of taking $600,000 (£366,000) to alter his testimony…
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UK news: 7 July London attacks | guardian.co.uk
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The nervous, noncommittal noughties can't end soon enough | John Harris
16 Nov 2009 | 1:00 pmIn a decade defined by fatalism and impotence, film-makers and writers have been quick to tap into our sense of impending doomJust to make sure filmgoers leave the present decade on a high, this month brings two suitably upbeat blockbusters. The first is 2012, which topped box office takings in the US and Britain at the weekend, and is directed by Roland Emmerich – who also brought us the aliens-blitz-Earth delight Independence Day and the eco-disaster movie The Day After Tomorrow. This time humanity's demise seems to be traceable to the horrors foretold in an ancient Mayan prophecy, though… -
International victims' relatives group aims to curb terrorism
8 Nov 2009 | 4:16 pmTwo relatives of victims of terrorist attacks are launching a support group today which aims to combat extremism by highlighting the universality of losing a loved one in such circumstances.Carie Lemack is an American who lost her mother in the September 11 attacks and Ashraf al-Khaled is a Jordanian who lost his father, father-in-law and mother-in-law when a suicide bomber attacked the hotel where his wedding reception was taking place in the Jordanian capital, Amman, on 9 November 2005.That shared experience of having lost loved ones in terrorist attacks will bring them together in Amman to… -
Living with the Infidels: Can a sitcom about terrorists ever be funny?
19 Aug 2009 | 4:10 pmAasaf Ainapore, creator of the controversial YouTube series, believes humour can be used to deter young people from extremismA group of young men share a flat. They are a rag-tag crew of fantasists, losers and schemers whose heads are filled with crazy dreams. In the flat above lives a beautiful blonde whose flirtations threaten the gang's friendships and plans. It could almost be a 70s sitcom, were it not for the fact that in Living with the Infidels – a new comedy series launched on YouTube – the men are Bradford-based jihadists and their crazy dream is a murderous terror plot.The… -
7/7 memorial: 'We want people to interact with it'
8 Jul 2009 | 12:48 amFamily members and designers react to the unveiling of the Hyde Park memorial to the victims of the 7 July 2005 London bombingsCaroline Davies -
Four years on, 7/7 memorial unveiled
7 Jul 2009 | 11:20 amSurvivors and bereaved of London bombings join politicians and royalty for unveiling of 52 steel pillars in Hyde ParkGallery: the memorial in picturesTall and proud they stand: 52 steel pillars, one for each life randomly cut down by the suicide bombers.Four years after 7/7 became shorthand for terror, the bereaved and the survivors of the London bombings gathered in Hyde Park to dedicate a striking memorial to the victims of mainland Britain's worst terrorist atrocity."It has such power," said Saba Mozakka, 28, whose mother Behnaz, 47, perished in one of four bombs detonated in 50 minutes.
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The Guardian and Observer Uganda project | guardian.co.uk
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Sand dams voted best solution in water crisis debate
20 Nov 2009 | 4:33 amTechnique developed by the Romans has potential to give up to 3 million people access to clean water in the drylands of Africa, says winnerAn ancient water-saving technique thousands of years old that could save millions of people from drought last night won the ringing endorsement of an audience at the Geographical Society in London.Sand dams, which are constructed out of concrete barriers 1-5m high and backfilled with sand, were voted as the best idea from five different proposals. Each idea had a champion who argued how they would use the virtual prize of $1bn at the Earthwatch debate… -
Activists denounce Uganda's homosexuality bill
20 Nov 2009 | 4:30 amUganda news round-up: Anti-homosexuality bill 'will harm country's fight against HIV/Aids'; first lady calls for men to better support their wives through childbirth; the World Cup comes to UgandaA Ugandan government bill that is advocating the death penalty for gay people will hinder the country's fight against HIV/Aids, legal experts and activists warned this week.Under the anti-homosexuality bill, now going through parliament, anyone repeatedly "caught" having sex with someone of the same sex faces the death penalty, while people who touch each other in a "gay way" could be jailed.A clause… -
Work on school latrine to go ahead
19 Nov 2009 | 2:02 amAttempts to recover the materials to build an Ecosan toilet at Obyarai school, stolen in May, failThe African Medical and Research Foundation (Amref) is to re-allocate funds to complete the construction of an Ecosan latrine at Obyarai primary school in Katine, after efforts to recover stolen building materials failed.The latrine was being constructed as part of the three-year Katine project being implemented by Amref and funded by Guardian readers and Barclays. The project is focusing on five components – education, health, water and sanitation, livelihoods and governance.In May, thieves… -
Queen's speech 2009: international development bill
18 Nov 2009 | 5:02 amEnshrines government's commitment to spend 0.7% of national income on aid in lawThe international development spending draft bill will enshrine the government's commitment to spend 0.7% of national income on international development from 2013.The government made the funding pledge at the G8 summit in Gleneagles in 2005. The government hopes that the unprecedented move to bind in law a commitment to future spending may encourage other donor countries to achieve the same target.The Conservative party has also pledged to meet the UN target of spending 0.7% of national income on international… -
What is the point of the world summit on food security?
18 Nov 2009 | 3:41 amThere may not have been a commitment from delegates at the FAO world summit on food security to substantially increase aid for agriculture, but that wasn't the point, said the head of the IFADAny thoughts that the world summit on food security, held in Rome this week, was a waste of time (and money) in the absence of any extra financial commitment to eradicating hunger, were swiftly pushed to one side by the president of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).Speaking to reporters yesterday, Kanayo Nwanze said the main purpose of the three-day summit, which ends today, was…
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Katine: Katine Chronicles blog | guardian.co.uk
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What is the point of the world summit on food security?
18 Nov 2009 | 3:41 amThere may not have been a commitment from delegates at the FAO world summit on food security to substantially increase aid for agriculture, but that wasn't the point, said the head of the IFADAny thoughts that the world summit on food security, held in Rome this week, was a waste of time (and money) in the absence of any extra financial commitment to eradicating hunger, were swiftly pushed to one side by the president of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).Speaking to reporters yesterday, Kanayo Nwanze said the main purpose of the three-day summit, which ends today, was… -
Coalition issues call for action to help farmers in developing countries
13 Nov 2009 | 3:53 amThe Farming First coalition wants world leaders meeting in Copenhagen next month to better support farmers on the frontline of climate changeA global coalition of farmers, scientists, engineers, businesses and NGOs is calling on world leaders to channel aid for agriculture through farmers' associations to ensure the money gets to those who need it – the farmers.Farming First, which represents 124 organisations, wants to see the creation of a dedicated "adaptation fund" for agriculture to help farmers get the money they need to tackle climate change. Farmers' associations, which provide a… -
Can you please everyone in Katine?
12 Nov 2009 | 6:58 amOver the past two years Amref has clearly made significant improvements in Katine. So why are some of the community unhappy? Joseph Malinga explainsIt is now two years since the launch of the Katine project, with its aim of improving education, health, livelihoods, water and sanitation and community empowerment in the rural sub-county.While the African Medical and Research Foundation (Amref), which is implementing the project, has made significant improvements over the last two years, some sections of the community do not seem entirely happy with the project. There are probably many reasons… -
How do you manage expectations in Katine?
11 Nov 2009 | 5:07 amAs the article about Mary Amulo and her husband illustrates, doing development raises expectations. But how do you make sense of them in a place like Katine, asks Ben JonesThe sociologist Norman Long describes development as an "encounter". For him a project involves people from very different worlds - the "developer" and the "developing" - meeting in a particular location. Long is interested in the complex sets of relationships, strategies and approaches that build up around this. It is an encounter filled with political and economic agendas; you get "actors" (the people and organisations… -
Local solutions needed to fight poverty in Africa
22 Oct 2009 | 4:54 amEconomist Benny Dembitzer outlined some of his solutions for ending poverty in Africa this week. But they seem to hinge on an illusive concept – that of nationhoodThe economist Benny Dembitzer this week laid out what, in his view, were the root causes of persistent poverty in the developing world, and challenged the international community to do more to avert social and economic disaster in large sections of the world.At a House of Commons' event on Tuesday, organised to coincide with the launch of his book, The attack on world poverty: going back to basics, Dembitzer listed the factors he…
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World news: Kenya | guardian.co.uk
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World Aids Day: Gideon Mendel talks to Kenyans with HIV
20 Nov 2009 | 4:11 pmTo mark World Aids Day, and a 10-year project with the Guardian, photographer Gideon Mendel travels to Kenya to ask young people with HIV what it means to themGideon MendelChris Fenn -
Kenya evicts thousands of forest squatters in attempt to save Rift valley
18 Nov 2009 | 2:48 pmTourism, tea and energy industries threatened after a quarter of huge Mau forest destroyed in 20 yearsSeveral thousand people who had settled illegally in Kenya's most important forest have left their homes at the beginning of an eviction plan designed to end rampant environmental degradation in the Rift valley.Security officers this week entered the Mau forest, the country's largest water catchment basin, in the first stage of a government operation that will eventually see up to 30,000 families leave. More than a quarter of the 400,000-hectare forest has been lost because of human activity… -
Ray-Jeana Scofield
12 Nov 2009 | 9:42 amMy friend Ray-Jeana Scofield, who has died of cancer aged 60, joined the staff of Aylestone school – a large, tough, ethnically diverse secondary school in the London borough of Brent – in the early 1970s. She brought to the school (now part of the Queens Park community school) her strong Welsh accent, a great sense of humour and a passion for being a good teacher.Her efficiency and dedication were impressive and she quickly became respected by the children, because they knew she was good at her job. As a colleague, she was one of the best – always sympathetic to those… -
Kenya's PM backs election violence trials at Hague court
9 Nov 2009 | 11:39 am• No official protection for accused, says Odinga• International prosecutor to investigate 2008 attacksKenya's prime minister, Raila Odinga, said his government "will not shield or protect" senior officials if they are indicted by the international criminal court for crimes against humanity committed during last year's post-election violence.In an interview with the Guardian, Odinga voiced support for the Hague-based court whose prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, said last week he would pursue a unilateral investigation into the 2008 bloodletting in which at least 1,133 people were… -
Kenyan officials face Hague trial over 2008 election killings
7 Nov 2009 | 4:07 pmInternational prosecutor ready to act against government officials accused over deaths of 1,133 peopleSenior Kenyan government officials suspected of committing crimes against humanity during last year's election violence could be indicted in The Hague as soon as next year, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court announced.Luis Moreno-Ocampo said two or three cases could be presented for trial by July 2010, well before the next presidential poll in 2012. The main suspects include powerful cabinet ministers on both sides of the coalition government.Ocampo was speaking in Nairobi…
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World news: Kosovo | guardian.co.uk
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Tomaz Humar obituary
16 Nov 2009 | 10:25 amCharismatic Slovenian climber who became one of the world's leading mountaineersIn the summer of 1988, the Slovenian mountaineer Tomaž Humar, who has died in a climbing accident in Nepal aged 40, was a Yugoslavian soldier stationed in the Kosovo town of Podujevo. Humar loathed Slobodan Miloševic´'s plans for ethnic Albanians and, when his conscription ended, told his commanding officer that he wanted to go home. Instead, he was detained and maltreated before being abandoned with an unloaded rifle among a community hostile to Yugoslavian soldiers. He never forgot the Albanian who took pity… -
A sigh of relief in Kosovo | Anna Di Lellio
16 Nov 2009 | 9:00 amAs Kosovan Serbs defy Belgrade's call for a total boycott of elections, obstructionism is starting to look an outmoded policyKosovo held the first elections after independence without incident, and apparently without any loser. The new state had to choose mayors and local assemblies, and although the turnout was low at 45%, it was higher than the last elections in 2007. With 36 municipalities up for grabs, there have been prizes for all, and revellers from all parties celebrated into the night.More notably, the new municipality of Gracanica elected Bojan Stojanovic, of the Serbian Independent… -
Ethnic Serbs urged not to boycott Kosovo elections
15 Nov 2009 | 10:15 amKosovo's prime minister urged minority Serbs not to boycott the country's first elections since independence from Serbia, calling today's vote a key test for his new nation.Some ethnic Serbs appeared to be heeding his call and participating in an election that saw no major unrest or allegations of fraud by mid-afternoon.Tensions between rival ethnic Albanian parties, fears of fraud and a likely boycott by the Serb minority have marred the run-up to the elections for city councils and mayors in 36 municipalities across Kosovo.The vote is the first that is being fully controlled by Kosovo's… -
Kosovo Serbs have good cause to boycott local elections| Ian Bancroft
14 Nov 2009 | 2:00 amMany Kosovo Serbs will boycott local elections tomorrow - and not without good causeThe first local elections since Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence from Serbia in February 2008 take place tomorrow, and calls for Kosovo Serbs to vote are growing louder. Urging the group to express their democratic rights and uphold community interests, these voices fail to consider an alternative perspective – that boycotting elections is an important democratic means of registering discontent with institutions and elections that many Kosovo Serbs regard as illegal and illegitimate.With the… -
Bill Clinton statue is already a relic | Slavenka Drakulic
6 Nov 2009 | 2:30 amThe former US president should have been too embarrassed to attend a ceremony in Kosovo with unpleasant historical echoesThe world still remembers how, with tumbling of communism, statues of Lenin, Hoxha and Ceausescu, plus countless Soviet soldiers and heroes tumbled as well 20 years ago. Indeed, falling statues of hated leaders became one of the powerful symbols of the age.But what should we make out of people cheering a newly erected 11ft high 2,000lb statue of another "beloved leader" now? No, not in North Korea, China or Cuba – but in a newly independent democratic Kosovo. Last Sunday…
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World news: Kurds | guardian.co.uk
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Turkey ends years of isolation for jailed Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan
17 Nov 2009 | 10:23 amTurkey on Tuesday transferred five inmates to the prison island holding Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan so he can end his isolation. The Council of Europe had demanded that Turkey end Ocalan's solitude, saying his mental state was deteriorating after years as the sole inmate of Imrali island, off Istanbul. The move also comes as Turkey takes steps to increase its minority Kurds' cultural and political rights in an attempt to end the 25-year insurgency by Ocalan's Kurdistan Workers' party, or PKK. The PKK is branded a terrorist organisation by the United States and the European… -
Iran executes Kurdish activist
11 Nov 2009 | 10:17 amEhsan Fattahian, charged with being an 'enemy of God', had admitted membership of a banned opposition groupIran has reportedly executed a Kurdish political activist charged with being an "enemy of God", ignoring pleas from international human rights groups for his death sentence to be revoked.Ehsan Fattahian, 27, was hanged today in the western city of Sanandaj, according to Ali Akbar Gharoussi, head of the judiciary in Kurdistan province.Mowjcamp, an opposition website, cited lawyer Mohammad Mostafai as saying there was no evidence that Fattahian had engaged in violence, as charged. -
The Kirkuk conundrum | Ranj Alaaldin
24 Oct 2009 | 12:00 amIraqi democracy is stuck in a constitutional hiatus over the Kurdish-dominated region that threatens to derail electionsIraq has once again met what very low expectations remain of it. Despite a 15 October deadline, the Iraqi parliament is yet to agree on a new election law for the national elections due to be held in January, and this may, as a result, throw its political, legal and constitutional framework into disarray.Disagreement among parliamentarians centres on whether to use an open- or closed-list voting system. Under the former, voters elect their own preferred candidates into… -
Turkey faces the tragedies of its past | Bülent Kenes
20 Oct 2009 | 4:00 amAnkara's willingness to address Armenian genocide allegations offers a new path to peace in the regionThe history of modern Turkey is partly a history of ignorance of its problems and of the belief that these problems will go away when they are ignored. The Kurdish issue has gained a chronic dimension because of the denial of the rights of Kurds for decades; during this process, all religious and ethnic minorities were repressed. The religious beliefs of conservative Muslims, who constitute the majority in the country, have been repressed by strict measures of secularism, whereas the state… -
Kurdistan rocked by oil revelation | Ranj Alaaldin
5 Oct 2009 | 12:00 amEmbarrassing claims highlight the Kurdish government's lack of transparency and slow progress in combating corruptionAfter electing a new prime minister last month, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and Iraq's Kurds are preparing themselves for a new era of politics. The success of the opposition party, Change, and its penetration of the two-party dominance of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and the Kurdistan Democratic party (KDP) means that accountability could be arriving in Iraqi Kurdistan.The countless challenges that lie ahead for the PUK-KDP-dominated coalition government…
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Politics: Labour | guardian.co.uk
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Calls from Angela Merkel told Tony Blair he would not get EU's top job
20 Nov 2009 | 3:34 pmTony Blair warned Gordon Brown a week ago that his campaign to become the first president of the European Council was doomed after a decisive intervention by the German chancellor Angela Merkel, according to senior Whitehall sources.To the dismay of key ministers, who wanted Brown to push for Britain to take an economic portfolio in the European commission once Blair's hopes were dashed, Brown insisted on maintaining his candidacy until moments before Thursday's European summit.The prime minister hailed the summit as a victory after Britain secured one of the two jobs created under the Lisbon… -
Lady Ashton: Principled, charming … or just plain lucky
20 Nov 2009 | 11:58 amCathy Ashton's meteoric rise has surprised many, but not those who know her bestWhen Cathy Ashton arrived in Brussels at short notice just over a year ago she had to attend to some urgent business: removing traces of her predecessor, Peter Mandelson.In her first act Ashton took down a large painting of a bare-breasted woman and a sailor by the Scottish artist John Bellany which had dominated Mandelson's office high up in the European commission's Berlaymont headquarters."Cathy really didn't like walking into her office to be confronted by a large pair of breasts, however artistic they may… -
My expenses are above board, says MP who quit Commons watchdog
20 Nov 2009 | 4:46 amTory David Curry stood down as head of standards and privileges committee pending inquiry into second home claimsThe Tory MP in charge of the Commons standards and privileges committee, who stood down pending an inquiry into his second home allowance claims, today insisted his expenses were "very modest" and "completely above board".David Curry resigned from the watchdog yesterday – after less than a month in the post – amid allegations he claimed almost £30,000 towards the cost of a property his wife did not allow him to use."My expenses are very modest," Curry said today. "They are… -
The pro-Israel lobby and antisemitism | Antony Lerman
20 Nov 2009 | 1:00 amC4's Dispatches has been branded 'antisemitic', but surely Britain's Jewish community can cope with reasoned scrutiny?The serious charges levelled by critics at the Dispatches documentary investigating the UK pro-Israel lobby amount to accusations of gross irresponsibility, or worse. But who is being irresponsible here? Those who say the film will lead to increased antisemitism, displays "1930s style prejudice" and the return of antisemitic politics, and will reinforce Jews' fear of antisemitism? Or the filmmakers whose principal conclusion is: "we have found a worrying lack of… -
Harman to be charged over car crash
19 Nov 2009 | 6:28 pmLabour deputy leader is accused of driving her car into a parked vehicle while talking on her mobile phoneHarriet Harman was facing the prospect of acute political embarrassment today after a decision to prosecute her for allegedly driving without due care and attention and driving while using a mobile phone.Once tipped to succeed Gordon Brown as Labour leader, Harman, 59, MP for Camberwell and Peckham, is confronting the potentially damaging prospect of court proceedings while serving as a cabinet minister.The law which banned driving while using a mobile phone was introduced by Labour when…
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Television & radio: Last night's TV | guardian.co.uk
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Unreported World
20 Nov 2009 | 3:15 pmThis Unreported World mini masterpiece follows members of the Malaysian government's militia who try to clear the streets of illegal immigrants they say are "overrunning" the countryUnreported World (Channel 4) is now into its 18th series of hunting down and highlighting what you have to hope are some of the most extreme examples of human misery and despair in various war-torn and poverty-stricken countries round the world. They have covered everything from the rape and disappearance of hundreds of women from Ciudad Juárez (in 2003's Mexico: The City of Lost Girls), and the truly… -
Confessions of a Traffic Warden and Wonderland: Can We Get Married? | TV Review
19 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmWhat's life like for our little-loved traffic wardens? Even worse than you thinkDurga Pokhrey is a Nepalese man who speaks four languages, adores Shakespeare and has a masters degree in Sanskrit literature. He has come to England because "in England there is the value of human beings. The English people are amiable . . . kindhearted, courteous. There is no assault, no murder. There is no violence in England." Durga is applying to be a traffic warden. Thus is the stage set for tragedy.Confessions of a Traffic Warden (Channel 4) went behind the scenes of Westminster… -
Celebrating the Carpenters | TV Review
18 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmRonan Keating sang Carpenters songs. What next – the Smurfs doing the Stones?I love television, I really do. It has given me so much over the years – company, laughter, guidance, a smattering of education and a wide variety of unrequited loves, from David Attenborough to Wentworth Miller. So I will forgive it almost anything.But not Celebrating the Carpenters (ITV1). Not a programme that chooses to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the release of the duo's debut LP by inviting the Saturdays to come on and cover Please, Mr Postman. Not a programme that allows Jamie Cullum to duet with… -
Which Way Home, Imagine: The Year of Anish Kapoor and Hi Society: The Wonderful World of Nicky Haslam | TV review
17 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmThis beautiful film illuminated the lives of young would-be immigrants to the US, says Lucy ManganThe freedom of the hobo is a seductive dream: hopping a freight train and riding the rails has long been a revered part of US mythology. Like most dreams, of course, it is best left just so. Made flesh, it is a nightmare.Which Way Home (More4) follows a handful of the hundreds of teenagers (usually boys, but sometimes girls, and sometimes younger) who have left their variously unhappy and poverty-stricken homes in South America to board (illegally) the series of freight trains that will take them… -
Enid and The Queen in 3D | TV review
16 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmIcy and unhinged, Helena Bonham Carter's portrayal of Enid Blyton was riveting, says Tim DowlingWatch Enid via iPlayerWe know we're not meant to like Enid Blyton from the beginning, when she threatens to fire her driver for having a cold. "Fit by Friday, or you're sacked," she says.That's all right – I don't like her anyway. I didn't like Noddy, I didn't like The Faraway Tree, and while I haven't actually read anything else, I'm not prepared to keep an open mind. It is no big disenchantment for me to discover she wasn't a very nice person, and I gather it wasn't much of a secret.Enid (BBC4)…
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Editorials | guardian.co.uk
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Unthinkable? Pricing drugs humanely
20 Nov 2009 | 4:06 pmAnother nasty decision for Nice this week, as the health service's rationing agency turned down Nexavar, which treats liver cancer. Everyone agrees it provides extra months, but it will not be administered – except to the rich – as it fails to provide enough extra months for the money. The watertight logic is that cash blown on one costly treatment cannot be spent on saving other lives. But that hardly makes things more bearable for people being told that the community is no longer willing to finance the union of their body and soul. The sanctity of life is compromised even though there… -
President Obama: A little less conversation?
20 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmIneluctably, a worm is turning deep inside President Barack Obama's policy of constructive engagement. Mr Obama needs something, somewhere to go right. He has filled audiences in Berlin and Cairo with hope. He has deployed his rich family history to shine a beam on all manner of problems. But there comes a point where vision must give way to results.A change of tone was implicit this week on his Asian tour. He found a steelier voice on Iran, warning that its refusal to accept the offer of enriching its uranium overseas could trigger international sanctions "within weeks", and he claimed that… -
European Union: Now to make it work
20 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmAre Herman van Rompuy and Cathy Ashton the best of all available choices as the European Union council president and the high representative on foreign policy respectively? Undoubtedly not. Yet they are competent people and they are the choices that the EU has now made. Were Mr van Rompuy and Baroness Ashton chosen in the most persuasive way to win confidence across Europe and to impress the rest of the world? Certainly not that either. But in a Europe that recoils from the superstatism that direct election to such posts involves, they were chosen by the only process that existed.No doubt… -
European Union: Fading presidential ambitions | Editorial
19 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmWho do you call when you want to call Europe? After five years of wrangling designed to deal with the Henry Kissinger question, the EU last night failed to provide a satisfactory answer. The first ever president of the European council is to be the haiku-writing Belgian prime minister, Herman Van Rompuy, who is still little known in his own country, let alone the wider world. And the continent's pioneering high-representative on foreign policy is the able but unknown Labour baroness, Catherine Ashton, who is as unelected as she is obscure. Neither will stop the traffic even in Brussels, never… -
Public finances: Broke but not bust yet
19 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmWith the biggest deficit ever for the month, the Red October headlines are easy to write. Interpreting yesterday's public finance figures is, however, more difficult. What really matters is the medium term, and – as the last two years of turbulence have shown – all we can safely say about this is that it is a known unknown.It may be impossible to postpone the tough fiscal choices for ever, but – despite the miserable new data – Britain is not quite bust yet. The deterioration has been rapid, but the cumulative debt burden remains smaller than throughout the 1950s and 60s. Besides, the…
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The Guardian newspaper: Editorials & reply | guardian.co.uk
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Unthinkable? Pricing drugs humanely
20 Nov 2009 | 4:06 pmAnother nasty decision for Nice this week, as the health service's rationing agency turned down Nexavar, which treats liver cancer. Everyone agrees it provides extra months, but it will not be administered – except to the rich – as it fails to provide enough extra months for the money. The watertight logic is that cash blown on one costly treatment cannot be spent on saving other lives. But that hardly makes things more bearable for people being told that the community is no longer willing to finance the union of their body and soul. The sanctity of life is compromised even though there… -
From the archive: Surviving Nazi leaders in the dock
20 Nov 2009 | 4:06 pmOriginally published on 21 November 1945NUREMBERG, NOVEMBER 20.When Lord Justice Lawrence, British President of the International Tribunal, opened the great Nuremberg war trial this morning he called it unique in the history of the jurisprudence of the world, and on that note proceedings are begun against the surviving leaders of the Third Reich arraigned as major war criminals.I learn authoritatively that Ribbentrop, taking advantage of the wide powers granted by the rules of the Court in calling witnesses for the defence, has applied through his counsel, Dr. Fritz Sauter, for a number of… -
Country diary: New Forest
20 Nov 2009 | 4:06 pmNew ForestThere is something enchanting about a group of scarlet-capped fly agaric fungi nestling within a circle of silver birches. The fungus is among the brightest of autumnal sights. With its red top seemingly sprinkled with finely chopped cheese, this poisonous species is associated with birch, and advances out on to the heaths as the trees colonise them. In time, this forms new woodland. If the amount of grazing needed across the forest is to be maintained, such invasive growth must be kept in check. That explains the large pile of birch logs stacked close to Wittensford, near Brook.The… -
Letters: Mapping out the future for cartography
20 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmIt's good news that the government is considering how to make mapping data freely available under public sector information regulations (A new landscape unfolds, Technology, 17 November). But care must be taken to make sure that the only data which is made available is data which is "owned" by government as a necessary monopoly – electoral boundaries, areas of special scientific interest, postcodes etc. Once this "elemental" government data is made available, then the independent mapping sector can merge it with non-government data (aerial photography, height data, coastlines, river courses… -
Letters: Well said, old mole
20 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmMarcel Berlins (16 November) is right that police cautions should not be used for serious offences. The Law Society continues to be very concerned about this deliberate practice by the Ministry of Justice. But if there is to be a change in approach, then the current policy of refusing to increase the legal aid budget cannot continue. It will become intolerable if more crimes are brought to court without meeting the costs of securing justice for all.Robert Heslett President, Law Society• In view of revelations at the inquiry into the death in army custody of Baha Mousa (Report, 17 November),…
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World news: Lebanon | guardian.co.uk
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Lebanon remains may be those of British journalist Alec Collett
19 Nov 2009 | 11:33 amFreelance writer was kidnapped at gunpoint in 1985 while writing about Palestinian refugees for the UNBritish investigators in Lebanon may be poised to solve a 25-year-old murder mystery after finding human remains believed to be of the journalist Alec Collett.Collett, a freelance writer, was kidnapped at gunpoint in 1985 while working on an article for the United Nations about Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. The following year his captors released a poor quality videotape showing a hooded figure who had apparently been hanged, but who was never formally identified.Collett was one of several… -
Body found in Lebanon could be British journalist
19 Nov 2009 | 2:55 amAlec Collett was missing after being abducted by Palestinian militants in 1985A body recovered in Lebanon could be that of British journalist Alec Collett, who was kidnapped by Palestinian militants more than 20 years ago.A forensics team excavating a site in the Bekaa Valley have reportedly dug up two bodies, one of which is undergoing DNA testing to determine if it is Collett, who was abducted in 1985 during the civil war in Lebanon.A video was later released showing the hanging of a hooded figure said to be Collett but the victim was never officially identified.The other body is said to be… -
Penwortham: the Beirut of Preston?
18 Nov 2009 | 6:08 amMayor says suburban ward has been likened to once wartorn Lebanese capital because of unruly teenagersBeirut, Baltimore, Gotham City ... some conurbations immediately conjure up images of violence and depravity. And now it seems we should add the small suburb of Penwortham, near Preston, to that list. Locals were shocked this week when their mayor, Jim Hothersall, mentioned the town in the same breath as Beirut on national radio.Speaking on Jeremy Vine's BBC Radio 2 show, the mayor elaborated on reports that police in Penwortham were advising homeowners not to answer the door to carol singers… -
Women worked to death in Lebanon | Dalila Mahdawi
10 Nov 2009 | 1:00 pmFour Ethiopian domestic workers are thought to have killed themselves in three weeks. Lebanon must protect these womenThey mop floors, take out the rubbish, walk the dog, buy groceries and care for the children, the elderly or disabled. Many a well-to-do and lower middle class Lebanese family relies on migrant domestic workers to take care of their household, but when it comes to providing for these women, not all return the favour.Migrant domestic workers – women who work as live-in or freelance housekeepers, cooks, and nannies – form a vital presence in Lebanon and elsewhere in the… -
Hezbollah gears up for new war
7 Nov 2009 | 4:06 pmFighters rearm and reinforce positions in valleys amid fears that Israel is about to launch attack on Islamic groupHezbollah is rapidly rearming in preparation for a new conflict with Israel, fearing that Benjamin Netanyahu's government will attack Lebanon again prior to any assault on Iran's nuclear facilities.Last week, Israeli commandos seized a ship in the Mediterranean loaded with almost 400 tonnes of rockets and small arms – which Israel claimed was being sent from Iran to its Hezbollah allies. In dramatic further evidence of growing tensions, the Observer has learned that Hezbollah…
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Letters | guardian.co.uk
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Your letters: Tell us what you think
20 Nov 2009 | 4:12 pmTell us what you thinkYour piece on carers was both moving and heartening. Perhaps funding for adequate respite care and a rise in carers' allowance will in future become a government priority – without this essential resource, the world would be a much harsher place for our disabled citizens.Sara Hallam OxfordChris Steele-Perkins overestimates the financial assistance available to carers via the benefit system. A 24-hour carer is almost certain to be claiming income support because it isn't possible to combine that level of caring with paid work. As such, they don't… -
Space solves: Washing at 30 degrees
20 Nov 2009 | 4:11 pmHow clean do clothes get at low temperatures, plus seeking a table with storage for our hall. Our experts have the answersHow clean are clothes washed at 30C or lower? Should we wash towels or underwear at higher temperatures?"Clothes washed at 30C and below will come out clean," says cleaning guru Stephanie Zia, "but dust mites, pet allergens, mould spores, pollen and bacteria will be completely removed only by heat – ie, at 60C plus. Mix a paste of detergent or oxygen bleach powder with a little water and apply to any stains before laundering. Which? magazine's 30C laundry test found that… -
Work and careers advice
20 Nov 2009 | 4:07 pmHow can I become a more public-spirited type of employee?I have for six years worked primarily in IT sales to the public sector. Though I have a successful record, I find the responsibility as head of sales for the small company I work at takes its toll in stress and pressure. I am 46 with no degree and I would like to work within the public sector, preferably in a business manager-type role. Though I have seen many state sector workers move the other way, I have always found the people and organisations I work with very interesting and feel a move towards a career with a more public-minded… -
Letters: Mapping out the future for cartography
20 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmIt's good news that the government is considering how to make mapping data freely available under public sector information regulations (A new landscape unfolds, Technology, 17 November). But care must be taken to make sure that the only data which is made available is data which is "owned" by government as a necessary monopoly – electoral boundaries, areas of special scientific interest, postcodes etc. Once this "elemental" government data is made available, then the independent mapping sector can merge it with non-government data (aerial photography, height data, coastlines, river courses… -
Letters: Well said, old mole
20 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmMarcel Berlins (16 November) is right that police cautions should not be used for serious offences. The Law Society continues to be very concerned about this deliberate practice by the Ministry of Justice. But if there is to be a change in approach, then the current policy of refusing to increase the legal aid budget cannot continue. It will become intolerable if more crimes are brought to court without meeting the costs of securing justice for all.Robert Heslett President, Law Society• In view of revelations at the inquiry into the death in army custody of Baha Mousa (Report, 17 November),…
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Politics: Liberal Democrats | guardian.co.uk
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Letters: Pointing in the right direction for electoral success
18 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmWelcome though the prime minister's promise of a manifesto commitment to a referendum on the voting system might be, it will do little to persuade electors that Labour is serious about change. The Guardian is right to argue that Labour should act while it has the opportunity to do so (Editorial, 14 November). Although it is not our job to tell parties how to win elections, polling we commissioned shows that party leaders seen to be serious about electoral reform are likely to be rewarded in votes.However, I must question your assertion that an election-day referendum risks confusion. There… -
David Cameron is on a roll, but he'd better keep his fingers crossed | Michael White
17 Nov 2009 | 3:01 amThe Tory leader is riding high in the opinion polls, but he isn't home and dry yetA good night for David Cameron? I think so. He emerges strongly from today's Guardian/ICM poll as a tougher, more decisive leader than Gordon Brown, more respected abroad than the prime minister, too.It doesn't matter how true it is. In polls it is perception that matters.The Conservative leader also demonstrated these assertive qualities by prevailing in his life-or-death struggle with the so-called "Turnip Taliban" who wanted to reject Elizabeth Truss, his high-flying candidate of flexible Notting Hill virtue… -
Banks should pay new £2bn tax, say Lib Dems
17 Nov 2009 | 2:18 amVincent Cable, the Lib Dem Treasury spokesman, says funds raised by the proposed 10% levy on bank profits could be used to tackle the structural deficit in the national economyAlistair Darling was today urged by the Liberal Democrats to raise an extra £2bn a year from the banks by imposing a new tax on them.Vincent Cable, the Lib Dem Treasury spokesman, also claimed that his plan, which would involve a 10% levy on bank profits, would help to stop banks paying excessive bonuses.He urged the chancellor to include the plan in his pre-budget report, which will be unveiled on Wednesday 9… -
Guardian/ICM polls: every one since 1984
16 Nov 2009 | 1:55 pmFull results on voting intentions going back to the beginning of our pollingThe Guardian and ICM have been conducting monthly polls since 1984. Here is the full data going back to then.Download the full dataDATA: Full ICM poll resultsVISUALISATION: see how the data looksCan you do something with this data?Flickr Please post your visualisations and mash-ups on our Flickr group or mail us at datastore@guardian.co.uk• Get the A-Z of data• More at the Datastore directory• Follow us on TwitterOpinion pollsLabourConservativesLiberal DemocratsHouse of CommonsSimon Rogersguardian.co.uk ©… -
Bosses at Student Loans Company paid £2m in bonuses
16 Nov 2009 | 7:23 amWhile students are left waiting for loan payments, bosses are enjoying their five-figure payouts, figures showAlmost £2m in bonuses was paid out to staff at the Student Loans Company (SLC) last year, it has been revealed today.Ten senior executives were handed five-figure payouts, though their administration has left thousands of students waiting for their loan and grant payments.The Liberal Democrats, who uncovered the sums, described them as outrageous and said rewarding failure was unacceptable.Figures released under the Freedom of Information act showed that SLC staff were given bonuses…
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World news: Libya | guardian.co.uk
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Lockerbie row reignited as Megrahi exceeds his life expectancy at time of release
20 Nov 2009 | 5:40 amThree months after the release of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, American families of victims question medical adviceThree months after the release of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, the families of American victims of the Lockerbie bombing have reignited a row over the medical advice that allowed him to be freed early from his 27-year sentence.Megrahi was released on compassionate grounds from prison in Greenock on 20 August after the Scottish justice minister, Kenny MacAskill, received advice that he was terminally ill with prostate cancer. It was said that the Libyan, who was convicted of carrying out the… -
Gaddafi hires 200 young Italian women – to convert them to Islam
16 Nov 2009 | 9:50 amLibyan leader goes to hostess agency to find audience for religious lecture in RomeWhen the hostess agency put out the call for attractive, well-dressed women, under the age of 35 and over 1.7 metres (5ft 7in) tall, it was inundated with responses from hundreds of Roman women.Most seemed to think they would be bringing a little glamour to a gala dinner with the Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi. Instead, they found themselves being lectured by him for two hours on the role of women and invited to convert to Islam. "We were at least expecting a snack", grumbled Silvia Figliozzi… -
Tories will not freeze relations with Libya if no compensation deal for IRA victims is reached
3 Nov 2009 | 6:48 amShadow Northern Ireland secretary says a Tory government would not review ties with Libya even if no deal is reached on compensating victims of IRA violenceThe Tories have warned unionists that they cannot unravel diplomatic ties with Libya even if Muammar Gaddafi's regime refuses to compensate the victims of IRA violence.Owen Paterson, the shadow Northern Ireland secretary, said it would be "incorrect" to assume a future Conservative government would review diplomatic and commercial ties with Libya if no deal is reached on the compensation issue.Paterson's warning came after two Democratic… -
Megrahi release surprised US, says ambassador
29 Oct 2009 | 9:59 amLouis Susman says US would have tried to extradite Lockerbie bomber if it had anticipated his release from Scottish prisonThe United States would have tried to extradite the Lockerbie bomber if it had realised sooner that he was going to be freed by the Scottish government, the US ambassador to the UK said today.Louis Susman said the release of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi on compassionate grounds had strained US relations with Scotland, but likened it to a "little fight" between a married couple.Speaking on his first official visit to Scotland since becoming ambassador, Susman said in an interview… -
We still need a Lockerbie inquiry | Pamela Dix
26 Oct 2009 | 4:00 amThe families of those killed in the bombing have not given up hope of an inquiry to help us learn the lessons of this tragedyFor 20 years, UK Families Flight 103 has been campaigning for a full independent inquiry into the events leading up to and after the Lockerbie plane bombing. In the request for an inquiry, the families group has clearly identified the areas of concern and the questions that need to be answered. This request is separate from the need for an independent, criminal investigation to bring to justice those responsible.The fact that so far the outcome of the criminal…
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Culture: Liverpool 2008: European capital of culture | guardian.co.uk
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Liverpool's showcase 2008 tourist centre 'in the wrong place'
11 Nov 2009 | 12:09 pmCentre built to welcome tourists for 2008 capital of culture year faces closure and relocation near new tourist areasLiverpool's showcase 08 tourist centre, built as part of its year as capital of culture, could soon be closed as it is deemed to be "in the wrong place".Pam Wilsher, acting director of tourism at The Mersey Partnership said that Whitechapel was not the right place for the city's main tourist information centre. She said it should be next to public transport links, and when the main tourist information point was in Queen Square, it had more visitors.A spokesman for Liverpool… -
Inequalities in Liverpool
2 Feb 2009 | 4:09 pmPhotographer Christian Petersen has documented life in the Everton area of Liverpool, singled out in a 2006 report as the poorest ward in the UK -
Red alert for capital of culture in thinktank's recession report
25 Jan 2009 | 4:01 pm• Liverpool, Belfast and Hull seen as cities most at risk• Downturn 'will reopen north-south divide'As European capital of culture, it attracted 15 million tourists, an estimated £800m boost to the local economy and plaudits from Andy Burnham, the culture secretary, who proclaimed it had forged a "renewed sense of pride and confidence".But Liverpool is due to come down to earth with a bump this year after a thinktank warned that it is among the three British cities that are most vulnerable to the recession. The Centre for Cities has placed Liverpool, Belfast and Hull on "red alert"… -
Andy Burnham: Liverpool's reign was a capital result for UK culture
12 Jan 2009 | 9:30 amLiverpool's year as European culture capital has done the city and the UK proud – and pointed to a world beyond LondonIt was my birthday last Wednesday. And, by a nice twist of fate, I got to spend it in Liverpool – the city where I was born 39 years ago.It ended a year I will never forget – when the prime minister handed me the incredible opportunity of being culture secretary in my home city's year in the spotlight as European capital of culture.I feel a huge sense of pride about the way Liverpool has shone in that spotlight. It has done the country proud – and silenced those many… -
Jonathan Jones: Should Britain have a new capital of culture every two years?
7 Jan 2009 | 4:01 pmShould Britain have a new capital of culture every two years? Jonathan Jones on the regeneration gameWe sniffed at the euro and decline to join. We carp at every new regulation. But finally, it seems, the EU has given us something we like. Liverpool's year as capital of culture has been judged such a success that culture secretary Andy Burnham wants Britain to nominate its own four- or possibly two-yearly culture capital, with cities competing for an accolade that will include hosting events such as the Turner prize and, of course, lots of colourful banners in the city centre.The idea that…
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Politics: Ken Livingstone | guardian.co.uk
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Liz Forgan defends "arms length" principle in context of Veronica Wadley row
13 Nov 2009 | 3:07 amLiz Forgan gave a speech last night at the Theatrical Management Association's Ambitions for the New Age conference. Here's part of what she said: I would like to end with a few words about something...which I think is both topically important and fundamental to our being able to reap the full benefit of the explosion of creative possibilities we have been talking about. That is the arms length principle by which government, national and local, contributes to the support of artists and the arts through a mechanism that is separate from day to day party politics. It is a principle which was… -
Who would be best Labour candidate to beat Boris Johnson?
3 Nov 2009 | 12:17 amProbably not, but I enjoyed writing the attention-seeking headline and it did seem worth a whimsical punt. As I wrote in comments yesterday, a Mandy for Mayor campaign isn't such a daft idea. Set aside those "Prince of Darkness" reservations for a moment and think ahead... By this time next year Labour will probably be out of power nationally and the old "New" Labour crowd be pushed aside. For Mandelson, City Hall could represent a final chance at a big job in politics. By the end of 2011, when mayoral campaigning will be well underway, prime minister Cameron could be beset by recessionary… -
Redmond O'Neill obituary
27 Oct 2009 | 11:11 amRedmond O'Neill, who has died aged 55 of cancer, and I first met in 1987 in the aftermath of the Remembrance Day bombing at Enniskillen, in Northern Ireland. He became my closest adviser on Irish issues and had the job of turning London's St Patrick's parade into a major official celebration.As we marched on the parade in 2002 we were both moved by emotion unleashed as London's Irish community were finally able to celebrate their culture. I heard the pride in his voice as he phoned family to say what an amazing day it was to be Irish in London.A lifelong revolutionary socialist and leading… -
Letters: Lessons from Europe on the far right
25 Oct 2009 | 5:05 pmI am an British MEP of Asian origin sitting in the same parliament as Nick Griffin. In most of the countries of the EU there are examples of how mainstream and popular the far-right message is, matured by proportional voting elections (Ministers warn of poll boost for BNP after Question Time, 24 October). So why did we not at least understand lessons learned by our neighbours?In France, the march of Le Pen was massively aided by the TV talk and current affairs circuit, rather than forensic one-to-one interviews. Today the far-right is in power or influencing government policy there and across… -
Ken Livingstone | The BBC's gift to the BNP
23 Oct 2009 | 11:00 amNick Griffin on primetime TV is a political advance for the BNP and a great disservice to Britain's anti-racist, democratic majorityThe defence for inviting the BNP is to "defeat their arguments" and "expose their real politics". But fascist political parties advance if they enter the mainstream of political life. The far right takes every inch.Nick Griffin's performance on Question Time was appallingly bad, but that is beside the point. The BBC has been shamed by this circus. Worse, the corporation has now established the principle that Griffin and his party are legitimate participants in…
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Society: Local government | guardian.co.uk
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Repair man charged with stealing £70,000 from parking meters
20 Nov 2009 | 6:51 amArthur Blay, 48, is accused of 24 counts of theft while maintaining parking machines for Bristol city councilA council parking machine repairman has appeared in court charged with stealing more than £70,000 from meters.Arthur Blay, 48, is accused of 24 counts of theft while maintaining parking machines for Bristol city council.He is alleged to have carried out the thefts between January 2003 and October 2008 on meters across the city.Blay, now living in Victoria Road, Fleur-de-lis, Gwent, is then said to have deposited the money in his bank account.He appeared at Bristol magistrates' court… -
GLA chief executive seeks new power of "review"
19 Nov 2009 | 11:30 pmAdam Bienkov, aka the Tory Troll, has an intriguing story about GLA chief executive Leo Boland:A leaked document sent to Tory Troll reveals that he is pushing for the rights to monitor and review all official scrutiny reports produced by the Assembly. According to the proposals, Boland would be able to: "Review draft scrutiny reports before their publication for the purposes of providing quality control and oversight of the written output from the Authority. This opportunity for review would be personal to the Chief Executive and would not be delegated to any other officer."Adam reckons this… -
Jewels reported lost five years ago found by embarrassed council
18 Nov 2009 | 8:49 amPowys county council, in Wales, solved five-year mystery when jewellery turned up during office moveA local authority has admitted its embarrassment after jewellery it reported as stolen five years ago turned up during an office move.Powys county council, in Wales, called in police when five boxes of jewels, containing rings, brooches and necklaces, that had been bequeathed to it disappeared after they were taken to county hall for cataloguing.The five-year mystery was solved last week when council staff found the jewellery in a strongroom at its offices in Llandrindod Wells.Councillor David… -
Chris Bull: partnership working can help protect public services facing spending cuts
17 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmChris Bull, chief executive of both the council and PCT in Herefordshire, explains how the county is proving that partnership working at a local level can help protect public services as the spending cuts clouds gatherRunning an all-purpose unitary council with an annual budget of £366m is a challenge in itself. But Chris Bull combines the role in Herefordshire with overseeing the county's NHS primary care trust, which has a similar budget. As chief executive of both, how on earth does he divide his time? "I never think of it like that," he says with a smile. "If I spent my time worrying… -
Speed cameras – the bigger picture | Geoffrey Alderman
17 Nov 2009 | 2:30 amThe London Safety Camera Partnership is dominated by bureaucrats, has no constitution and holds meetings in secretOn Wednesday the London assembly member Victoria Borwick will, on my behalf, put a series of questions to the mayor, Boris Johnson, relating to the present plight of the London Safety Camera Partnership, a road safety initiative designed to reduce speeding and the number of vehicles running red lights in the capital.The LSCP is a curious entity. It has no written constitution. Why not? The LSCP has not met since January. Why not? We are told that the LSCP is now in financial…
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UK news: Lockerbie plane bombing | guardian.co.uk
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Lockerbie row reignited as Megrahi exceeds his life expectancy at time of release
20 Nov 2009 | 5:40 amThree months after the release of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, American families of victims question medical adviceThree months after the release of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, the families of American victims of the Lockerbie bombing have reignited a row over the medical advice that allowed him to be freed early from his 27-year sentence.Megrahi was released on compassionate grounds from prison in Greenock on 20 August after the Scottish justice minister, Kenny MacAskill, received advice that he was terminally ill with prostate cancer. It was said that the Libyan, who was convicted of carrying out the… -
Megrahi release surprised US, says ambassador
29 Oct 2009 | 9:59 amLouis Susman says US would have tried to extradite Lockerbie bomber if it had anticipated his release from Scottish prisonThe United States would have tried to extradite the Lockerbie bomber if it had realised sooner that he was going to be freed by the Scottish government, the US ambassador to the UK said today.Louis Susman said the release of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi on compassionate grounds had strained US relations with Scotland, but likened it to a "little fight" between a married couple.Speaking on his first official visit to Scotland since becoming ambassador, Susman said in an interview… -
We still need a Lockerbie inquiry | Pamela Dix
26 Oct 2009 | 4:00 amThe families of those killed in the bombing have not given up hope of an inquiry to help us learn the lessons of this tragedyFor 20 years, UK Families Flight 103 has been campaigning for a full independent inquiry into the events leading up to and after the Lockerbie plane bombing. In the request for an inquiry, the families group has clearly identified the areas of concern and the questions that need to be answered. This request is separate from the need for an independent, criminal investigation to bring to justice those responsible.The fact that so far the outcome of the criminal… -
Muammar Gaddafi praises Libya's good relations with UK
25 Oct 2009 | 5:05 pmLibyan leader Muammar Gaddafi discusses his country's 'good' relations with the UK during a rare TV interviewMuammar Gaddafi, the Libyan leader, has lavished praise on his country's "good" relations with Britain, pointing to close economic ties even during the long standoff over the Lockerbie bombing.Gaddafi, speaking to Sky News, made clear he was seeking to draw a line under the Lockerbie affair, even as Scottish authorities confirmed a further review of the 20-year-old case was under way.The rare interview, to be broadcast today, was conducted in Tripoli. Gaddafi hailed "my friend" Tony… -
Police review Lockerbie bombing evidence for clues to accomplices
25 Oct 2009 | 5:01 pmBereaved families told that police and prosecutors in Crown Office are pursuing 'several potential lines of inquiry' Martin Rowson
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Politics: London politics | guardian.co.uk
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Ian Jack: Fear and loathing in Dagenham
20 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmOn a walkabout in east London, Nick Griffin is a magnet for feelings of grief as well as angerOn Thursday Nick Griffin paid his first official visit to Barking and Dagenham as the newly declared British National party candidate in next year's election. This took the form of "walkabouts" and the one I attached myself to went up and down the slopes on either side of Dagenham Heathway station on the District line, where there are shops and cafes and pubs and more white people than you can easily come across in Barking town centre, at the constituency's western edge.Walkabouts are of course… -
Just two companies still in contention to build Boris Johnson's "New Routemaster"
20 Nov 2009 | 5:44 amFirst there were six bus manufacturers in contention to build Mayor Johnson's signature "New Routemaster", then five, then four, then three. And now only two remain. Bus trade connoisseurs won't be surprised to learn that they are Wrightbus of Ballymena and Alexander Dennis of Falkirk, Guildford, Scarbrough and elsewhere. These are the UK's two most prestigous players. I've no idea which will prevail, but I believe I have the timetable for a decision. The companies' bids and final offers must be submitted by the end of this month. Submissions on styling and design are scheduled to be made on… -
Richard Rogers "frustrated" by Boris Johnson regime
20 Nov 2009 | 3:51 amFrom Building Design:London mayor Boris Johnson will attempt to draw a line under the bitter departure of architectural adviser Richard Rogers by appointing Tate boss Nicholas Serota in his place.Serota's appointment is now official, as are those of several other new members of the Mayor's Design Advisory Panel. BD used a Freedom of Information request to obtain correspondence between Rogers and the Mayor. Read the whole piece and learn that Rogers, who worked for the GLA for nine years for free, found Boris inaccessible and his deputies obstuctive. The article concludes:The revelations… -
GLA chief executive seeks new power of "review"
19 Nov 2009 | 11:30 pmAdam Bienkov, aka the Tory Troll, has an intriguing story about GLA chief executive Leo Boland:A leaked document sent to Tory Troll reveals that he is pushing for the rights to monitor and review all official scrutiny reports produced by the Assembly. According to the proposals, Boland would be able to: "Review draft scrutiny reports before their publication for the purposes of providing quality control and oversight of the written output from the Authority. This opportunity for review would be personal to the Chief Executive and would not be delegated to any other officer."Adam reckons this… -
Diamond Geezer endorses bendy bus successors
19 Nov 2009 | 8:20 amHis Saturday journey ended like this:On past Green Park, where a fallen plane tree has been encircled by red and white tape, and then the opportunity to peer over the Queen's back wall and eye up her tennis courts. You didn't get that view from a bendy. And, having ridden all the way to Victoria on the first day of both the new and the old services, I know which I prefer. Give me a 'normal' double decker any day. A seat, a view, and that special feeling of not being treated like cattle prodded aboard a box on wheels. Whether the expense of swapping 47 bendies for 68 double deckers is a good…
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Life and style: Lost in Showbiz blog | guardian.co.uk
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Levi Johnston poses for Playgirl
19 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmThe father of Sarah Palin's grandchild hits New York City in styleWhat? You want me to write Lost in Showbiz? Excuse me, do you not see I am, ahem, reading the new Playgirl, in which Bristol Palin's ex, Levi Johnston, shows the world just what kind of man he is? You say this isn't professional behaviour? Well, if you're going to be demanding . . . can I at least talk about it? Yay!!Yee haw, Lost in Showbizzers! Greetings from the land of the free and the home of the brave, a description that Levi has amply proved in Playgirl, "free" and "brave", being surely the best adjectives to apply to… -
Do lesbians rule Hollywood? Ask Jane Lynch
19 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmThe Glee and Role Models star is one of only a few gay women on our screensWe all know that Hollywood is run by a cabal of homosexuals (or Jews, or liberals, or something), right? Well, apparently, it's not the homosexuals that you think, because it's not gay men – but (cue threatening music, speedy close up and dramatic turn of the head) gay women.According to the New York Times, America is happier to watch gay women than gay men, citing the inevitable example of Ellen DeGeneres, whereas the American equivalents of, say, Graham Norton are notable by their absence. As though it weren't hard… -
Tom Cruise and Scientology: there's more
19 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmA new book claims the Top Gun star had a tendency to chat to ashtrays, bottles and other inanimate objectsJust a teeny tiny amount of space left to say, hey, guess what? Tom Cruise? He's a bit fricking weird! Yuhdoansay.In Blown For Good, the latest book by an escapee from the Galactic Confederacy, AKA Scientology, Marc Headley claims that Cruise would talk to inanimate objects "for hours". No, not Nicole Kidman's face, but ashtrays, bottles, books. "You tell the ashtray, 'Sit in that chair.' Then you actually go over and put the ashtray in that chair. Then you tell the ashtray, 'Thank you,'"… -
Ridley Scott's Monopoly movie has passed go; only a hotel on Mayfair can stop it now
13 Nov 2009 | 3:01 amIn the name of everything one holds sacred … it's real. Far from being a dare, or some elaborate satire on the end of ideas in Hollywood, it appears that Ridley Scott's movie based on the board game Monopoly is really in development. To be candid, when Lost in Showbiz first handled this story last year, it was more for its novelty value than out of any serious belief that a collaboration between Universal, Ridley, and the games manufacturer Hasbro would actually get within a million earth miles of pre-production stage. But here we are, faced with a detailed piece in the LA Times in which… -
Simon Cowell's evil genius rules The X Factor
12 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmThe judge has become the dark lord of Saturday night televisionThe karaoke wizard is dead. Long live the karaoke Sauron.Barely three months ago, Lost in Showbiz declared Simon Cowell a sort of reality TV Oz, a fearsome public presence who is in fact a diminutive man behind a curtain, working the levers of public taste with a mixture of enthusiastic opportunism and gnawing inner despair at how easy it is.Yet in light of new information – that historically cynical vote for John and Edward last Sunday, and Forbes magazine's estimation that he earned between $75m and $80m from his American TV…
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Business: Market Forces blog | guardian.co.uk
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Thomas Cook leads FTSE lower on cash call concerns
20 Nov 2009 | 9:03 amInvestors in Thomas Cook and Tui Travel must wish they could get away from it all. The two travel companies were the biggest fallers in the leading index following downgrades on both companies from Morgan Stanley. In particular the bank suggested Thomas Cook might have to call on shareholders for cash.Analyst Jamie Rollo said:We think there is a reasonable risk that Thomas Cook will have to resort to raising equity to ensure it can pay off its loan well in advance of its covenant step-down [tightening next year]. Its net debt position has worsened from a £185m net cash balance to an… -
Cosmen family increase stake in National Express
20 Nov 2009 | 4:58 amShares in National Express have accelerated by nearly 5% on news that the Cosmen family has increased its stake in the bus and rail operator.According to an official statement Jorge Cosmen has bought another 501,823 shares at 341p each, taking the Spanish family's stake to 18.97%. The news has sent National Express shares up 16.7p to 357.7p.The company has announced a proposed rights issue to raise £360m to repay debt, following the collapse of, firstly a bid by the Cosmen family and private equity group CVC, and then an all share merger offer from rival Stagecoach.It is believed the Cosmens… -
History suggests shares will do well in December, says Goldman
20 Nov 2009 | 3:49 amWith the FTSE 100 rallying by just shy of 20% since the start of the year, thoughts are turning to how the final month of 2009 might pan out.And the answer is, pretty well if you take history as a guide, according to Gerald Moser and the strategy team at Goldman Sachs. In its latest note, Goldman says if the first eleven months have been good, then December tends to follow suit. Over to Moser and the team:As we move into the year end, we take a look at the seasonality effect in equity markets. December stands out as one of the best months for equities, using both long- and short-term data; we… -
Intertek slips as it looks at Norwegian acquisition
20 Nov 2009 | 2:55 amA few days after Intertek, the FTSE 100 testing and inspections group, unveiled an uninspiring trading update, the company has revealed it is in talks about an acquisition.The company wants to buy the business assurance division of Norway's Det Norske Veritas, which has revenues of around £200m. The bulk of the purchase price will be settled with Intertek paper - meaning DNV will become a major shareholder in the company - and this aspect of the deal has helped push Intertek's shares 15p lower to £12.45. Earlier this year there was talk that Intertek itself could be on a predator's radar,… -
Pub group Fuller froths up after figures
20 Nov 2009 | 2:29 amBrewing group Fuller, Smith & Turner is doing well because of its "delightful, well-invested pubs that serve outstanding cask ale and delicious food."This ringing endorsement comes from company chairman Michael Turner, who presumably checks out his estate on a regular basis to make sure the fishcakes and sausage sandwiches are up to scratch.Turner's enthusiasm is backed up by the fact that half profits for the company rose 26% to £15.1m, despite the current economic difficulties. And the news has lifted its shares 21p to 510p. But the chairman warns that things may not continue to be quite…
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World news: John McCain | guardian.co.uk
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Palin's running game | Michael Tomasky
16 Nov 2009 | 11:30 pmIs Sarah Palin going to run for the presidency in 2012? Based on her interview with Oprah, I'd say she's interestedOh, let's just cut to the chase, shall we? Here are the 10 things we learned from Sarah Palin's Oprah appearance on Monday.1. She would loooooove to run for president, but only if the circumstances are exactly right. Her non-denial denials were less denial-ish than I'd expected. She mentioned 2010, meaning that if she can campaign for a few candidates and they win, thus generating news stories touting the "Palin magic" or whatever, she'd look at it from there. Definitely came… -
Sarah Palin's Going Rogue – uncut | TA Frank
15 Nov 2009 | 9:00 amExclusive - the raw, unexpurgated first draft of Sarah Palin's biography Going Rogue, complete with author's notes[Sarah, this looks great. But we've noted a few questions and comments in this draft that we'd like to get your answers on ASAP, if you don't mind. Thanks! – eds. YOU BETCHA – SP] Going Rogue, by Sarah Palin: Chapter OneI was born on a farm in Virginia. [Is this right? – eds. WHATEVER. YOU GUYS ARE IN CHARGE OF SPELLING. :) – SP] And I remember my dad gave me a small axe when I was six, and I was super excited and took a hatchet to whatever I could find. So one day I saw… -
At least he's not John McCain | Jeremy Lott
31 Oct 2009 | 11:00 amThere's plenty to fault in Barack Obama's performance so far. The alternative could have been worseMy unofficial survey found 10 votes for McCain, seven for Libertarian candidate Bob Barr, five for Obama, five for principled non-voting, and two write-ins for anti-war Republican Ron Paul(Either way, you'll need a drink, 5 November 2008)Like millions of fellow right-leaning Americans, I helped to elect Barack Obama president one year ago today. We did so by effectively sitting on our hands. In my case, I endorsed in a column and then voted for my own apolitical father, Bob Lott. (Slogan: "Bob… -
The war within the White House | Olivia Hampton
7 Oct 2009 | 1:00 pmIf Barack Obama ignores the US military's call for more troops in Afghanistan, he will repeat George Bush's mistakeMum is the word in the Obama White House these days. As the Afghanistan war marks its eighth anniversary, a rift between the Obama administration and the US military has burst out into the open, while the president charts a new course that could see him dispatch tens of thousands more troops in the coming weeks.Frustrated by the deafening silence emanating from the White House over the strategic assessment he submitted in August, Obama's top commander on the ground went on an… -
Obama's Afghanistan options: bad, worse and worst
7 Oct 2009 | 5:33 amProblem for president is to decide which is which after White House meeting with Republicans and DemocratsYesterday's White House roundtable on the war in Afghanistan does not sound as if it made the critical choice facing Barack Obama any easier.The president was able to rule out a rapid drawdown but that was never really on the cards in any case. It was one of the "straw men" Obama hoped to eliminate. The real Afghan dilemma remains.The Republicans at the meeting sided with the generals and urged the rapid deployment of reinforcements, while the Democrats split between hawks and doves. When…
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Media: Media business | guardian.co.uk
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Roy Greenslade: Why Trinity Mirror's TV pilot hopes make sense
19 Nov 2009 | 8:39 amThe bidding process for regional TV news pilot schemes has proved to be somewhat tortuous. But today's news of the Trinity Mirror/Press Association/Ten Alps joint bid shows that they have not been put off by the lengthy procedure.After all, there's the lure of public money, which is likely to come from the BBC licence fee, and a definite desire to see the creation of new multi-platform news organisations.The three groups hope to win the nod from the department of culture, media and sport to supplant the current ITV news service in the north-east, where Trinity's papers - such as the Newcastle… -
ITN poised to make job cuts
19 Nov 2009 | 4:17 amNews provider ITN restructures as it prepares to announce first-ever lossITN is set to cut about 20 staff as part of a package of measures designed to tackle its escalating pension deficit and return the company to profitability.John Hardie, the ITN chief executive, is to hold meetings with staff today to outline a restructure that will see a limited number of job losses. ITN is expected to make in the region of 20 job cuts, or about 2.5% of the total headcount of more than 750.ITN is understood to have slipped into its first-ever loss in the first half of the year as it struggled to replace… -
Centaur Media revenue slides 28%
19 Nov 2009 | 2:39 amTrade magazine publisher says there are signs of stabilisation after cost cutsCentaur Media, publisher of trade magazines including Marketing Week and The Lawyer, has reported a 28% year-on-year decline in revenue in the four months to the end of October.The publisher said that there were signs of stabilisation in the market with ad revenues across the four months to the end of October on average 10% ahead of the average monthly level reported in the first half of the year.Centaur said that its print titles and online operation had both "delivered similar levels of recovery" with the… -
Aegis: no upturn this year
19 Nov 2009 | 2:26 amMedia buying group reports 10.8% year-on-year drop in underlying organic revenues in first nine monthsMedia buying group Aegis has reported a 10.8% year-on-year fall in underlying organic revenues in the nine months to the end of September and expects no upturn in market conditions this year.Aegis, in which the French corporate raider and Havas chairman Vincent Bolloré holds a 29.9% stake, reported that total group revenues in the first nine months were up 1% year on year.However, when factors such as currency movements and acquisitions are taken into account Aegis Media, the division which… -
Archie Norman to start on ITV chief executive search 'in two or three weeks'
18 Nov 2009 | 11:09 pmChairman Archie Norman to take leading role in ITV chief executive search before joining in JanuaryArchie Norman will get to work on finding a new chief executive at ITV almost immediately, even though he only officially joins the broadcaster in January.Norman, who is replacing Michael Grade as non-executive chairman, said he would take a leading role in the search process, beginning before Christmas."We will be taking initial steps in the next two or three weeks," he said. "I want it to be a proper, measured and professional process. I know there are very strong candidates who are…
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Media news, UK and world media comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk
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Treasury financial secretary defends online piracy plans
20 Nov 2009 | 5:45 amStephen Timms claims piracy powers necessary to 'future-proof' government proposals to safeguard the UK's creative industriesRead the government's statement on the billRead the digital economy billStephen Timms, the Treasury secretary, has defended the government's controversial plans to give ministers sweeping powers to combat online piracy as necessary to "future-proof" its proposals to safeguard the UK's creative industries.The digital economy bill, published today, introduces a new system to combat online piracy on peer-to-peer sharing services. Persistent unlawful file-sharers will… -
Digital divide over piracy proposals
20 Nov 2009 | 9:03 amDigital economy bill proposals receive welcome from music and film, but anger from ISPs and privacy campaignersThe government's planned crackdown on unlawful online filesharing has been attacked by privacy campaigners and internet service providers but welcomed by executives and artists in the music business.Earlier today, the government published the digital economy bill, the result of more than a year's consultation and debate, which includes plans to send warnings letters to persistent unlawful file-sharers and paves the way for persistent illegal sharers to have their broadband cut off… -
C4 plans more standalone web content
20 Nov 2009 | 3:40 amBroadcaster to create web content unrelated to its TV shows – could charge online for shows such as Peep Show and SkinsChannel 4 is looking to extend its brand online with more standalone web content – unrelated to its TV shows – and is considering content charging models.Kevin Lygo, the director of content and television at Channel 4, outlined changes to the broadcaster's public service remit that will be published in full in today's digital economy bill. These include the introduction of a commitment to film production.Speaking at The Media Festival in Manchester earlier today, he… -
20m people on News Int UK database
20 Nov 2009 | 6:33 amTimes and Sun publisher says database of 20 million people enables it to assess which are the most valuable customersA third of the UK population - around 20 million people - have a direct relationship with News International thanks to the publishers' customer database, a senior executive revealed today.Katie Vanneck-Smith, the managing director of News International's Customer Direct division, told the Manchester Media Festival that the company had been compiling the database for the past three years.Vanneck-Smith said that as a result one in three people in the UK are on a database from… -
Media Talk: ITV, paywalls and 5 Live
20 Nov 2009 | 12:00 amIt's a bumper edition of Media Talk this week, as Matt Wells and guests Jane Martinson and Paul Robinson analyse a busy seen days across the industry.We begin with broadcasting, where – after months of dilly-dallying – ITV has finally named its new chairman. We look at the job awaiting Archie Norman. Also in the podcast, we head to glorious Essex, where the Times editor James Harding outlined his grand plan to rewrite the economics of online journalism at the Society of Editors conference.Plus, we discuss the squabble between the Guardian and the PCC, and yet more controversy over BBC…
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Media: Media Monkey | guardian.co.uk
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A backhanded compliment to Athena | Media Monkey
20 Nov 2009 | 7:26 amIt is an instantly familiar image – especially if you were a teenage boy in the 1970s – except it isn't that image at all. The gambling outfit Intercasino has come up with a sequel (of sorts) to the classic 1976 Athena poster of a female tennis player having a, er... wardrobe malfunction, to promote the upcoming masters tennis tournament in London. The press ad, created by agency Isobel, appears in today's issue of London weekly freesheet Sport. No word on whether it is the same tennis player. We're guessing not. Monkey never forgets a face - or bum.AdvertisingMonkeyguardian.co.uk ©… -
The Times 'clarifies' on Edgar Wright | Media Monkey
20 Nov 2009 | 5:18 amMore now on the unusual story of Shaun of the Dead director Edgar Wright, who claimed the Times lifted his tribute to the late actor Edward Woodward from his blog, edited it and put it in the next day's paper without telling him, let alone paying him. "For the record, I don't want compensation. But an apology, a reprint of the full tribute and donation to Edward's memorial would be nice" tweeted Wright. And it would appear he has now got two of these at least. The Times today printed a "clarification" news-in-brief on page eight telling readers: "We have been asked to make clear that Edgar… -
Boo to Jon Snow? | Media Monkey
20 Nov 2009 | 3:54 amChannel 4 News anchor Jon Snow strikes Monkey as the type of person who is up for embracing new technology – unlike, say, a certain presenter of BBC2's Newsnight – and he's now got to grips with the phenomenon that is Audioboo. Except, listening to Snow's "Brilliant … I can't wait" at the end of this clip, Monkey can't help but wonder if he could try it again – this time with feeling.Jon SnowChannel 4Television industryAudiobooMonkeyguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds -
The incoming ITV chairman has some novel management techniques up his sleeve | Media Monkey
20 Nov 2009 | 2:17 amThe incoming ITV chairman has some novel management techniques up his sleeveWatch out, ITV ideas team - new chairman Archie Norman has form for 'novel' management techniques, reports the Daily Mail. As Asda chief executive, Norman encouraged staff to wear "thinking hats" during brainstorming sessions. Pity the thinking caps weren't around when Celebrity Love Island was dreamt up.Archie NormanITVTelevision industryMonkeyguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds -
Edgar Wright challenges the Times | Media Monkey
19 Nov 2009 | 8:18 amThe director of Shaun of the Dead, Edgar Wright, is not happy with the Times. Not happy at all. Wright, the long-time collaborator of Simon Pegg who also directed Hot Fuzz and Channel 4's Spaced, wrote a tribute on his blog earlier this week to the late actor Edward Woodward. The Times then reprinted some of his tribute on page 4 of Tuesday's paper. But not, apparently, with Wright's permission. "Is it appropriate for a national newspaper to reprint my personal tribute to Edward Woodward as if it were an article written for them?" tweeted Wright today. "They just lifted it from my blog…
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Society: Mental health | guardian.co.uk
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Radical US psychiatrist says mental illness is not a life sentence
17 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmA radical US advocate for psychiatric patients' rights brings to the UK his first-hand message that a diagnosis of mental illness is not a life sentenceDaniel Fisher was a young, idealistic man in his mid-20s, enjoying life in a hippy commune, when he was hospitalised for four months in 1970 and diagnosed with schizophrenia. During that stay in hospital – his second of three on psychiatric wards – friends came to visit with a copy of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, the bestselling Ken Kesey novel – later to become an Oscar-winning movie – about life on an Oregon psychiatric ward. He… -
Tobias Jones: why I'm setting up a woodland commune
16 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmWhy would anyone give up a normal family life in order to set up a community for people in crisis? A writer explains why he has decided the time has come to take a deeply unconventional leap in the darkThis week my wife and I took a rather large leap in the dark. We did something that many people dream of; something that many more think is daft or even dangerous: we sold our house in Bristol and bought a 10-acre woodland in Somerset. Which in itself is only semi-daft, it's the next bit that makes people think we're either visionary or deranged: we're going to run the woodland as a communal… -
The stigma of mental illness | Anna Motz
15 Nov 2009 | 10:00 amThe suicides of a German footballer and two of my colleagues show how destructive is the stigma of psychiatric ill-healthLast week's suicide of the German goalkeeper Robert Enke revealed more than the terrible news of one man's death, the cruelty of depression and the pressures on sportsmen to protect the public's idealised view of them; it also exposed the ongoing shame and stigma of mental illness. For years he had been struggling with depression, kept secret from the public and his colleagues for fear of a vicious backlash that could, he apparently feared, raise questions about his… -
The chemical coshing of sexuality | SE Smith
13 Nov 2009 | 9:55 amDisabled people, including patients with dementia, are often given libido-suppressing antipsychotics without informed consentIn a response to the Guardian's coverage of deaths among dementia patients caused by unnecessary antipsychotic medications, a commenter on Comment is free asked:"An interesting aspect came up during an interview on the radio yesterday. Side-effects can include loss of libido and sexual disfunction, and the question was mooted whether doctors ignored this side-effect as 'not important', and if so, if this was because of attitudes towards people with mental health issues,… -
Ruling opens court of protection to media
12 Nov 2009 | 10:01 amOutlets including the Guardian win right to attend hearings held in normally secretive court about celebrity with learning difficultiesA secretive court will open to the media for the first time after a judgment lifted the lid on proceedings concerning a celebrity with severe learning difficulties.In a case being described as a victory for openness, the court of protection will allow the media to attend hearings about whether a young man with an international reputation should have decisions made for him by others.The man, A, described in the judgment as famous but not permitted to be named,…
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World news : Middle East roundup | guardian.co.uk
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The Persians: Ancient, Mediaeval and Modern Iran by Homa Katouzian, Guardians of the Revolution: Iran and the World in the Age of the Ayatollahs by Ray Takeyh | Book reviews
20 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmJames Buchan welcomes two attempts to pin down Iran's past and presentIran has in abundance first desert and then history. Its written annals go back nearly 3,000 years, while a sort of parallel history, collected by Ferdowsi in the magnificent national epic known as the Shahnameh or Book of Kings in the 11th century AD, recedes into an unimaginable antiquity. A country that has been smashed over and again by invasion and now by religious revival, Iran yet survives pretty much in the territories enumerated by Darius the Great in the rock inscriptions at Bisitun.What thread runs through this… -
Israel Is Real: An Obsessive Quest to Understand the Jewish Nation and its History by Rich Cohen | Book review
20 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmAntony Lerman takes issue with a lop-sided critique of IsraelWith its laboured, punning title, you might expect Rich Cohen's book to be a propagandistic defence of Israel, perhaps arguing that, despite its detractors, the Jewish state is here to stay. Refreshingly, however, Cohen has a different agenda. He asks whether "modern Israel, meant to protect Jews, may have put them in greater danger than they have known in 2,000 years", thereby calling into question the Zionist project. "Zionists," he writes, "have made Jews vulnerable in a way they have not been since the fall of the… -
Turkish anger over Herman Van Rompuy appointment
20 Nov 2009 | 9:56 amChoice of European council president seen as move to block Turkish accession to EURobert Tait IstanbulEurope's new president, Herman Van Rompuy, faced a furious backlash in Turkey yesterday amid reports of his hostility to the country's EU membership.Suat Kiniklioglu, an influential member of the ruling Justice and Development party (AKP), told the Guardian there was "widespread Turkish sentiment" that Van Rompuy would harm Turkey's European aspirations and suggested that France and Germany had championed him for that reason."We are concerned," said Kiniklioglu, a member of the Turkish… -
Crackdown in Cairo as football violence erupts
20 Nov 2009 | 9:53 am• Rioting sparked by Algeria victory spreads to Egypt• Fans attack embassies in wave of tit-for-tat reprisalsParts of Cairo are under police lockdown amid some of the worst football violence ever seen in the region.More than a thousand security personnel deployed to protect the Algerian embassy and other key locations came under attack from angry protesters after Egypt's contentious defeat to Algeria in a World Cup playoff match on Wednesday. Egypt recalled its envoy to Algiers and condemned the Algerian government for failing to prevent the destruction of Egyptian offices. The secretary… -
Lockerbie row reignited as Megrahi exceeds his life expectancy at time of release
20 Nov 2009 | 5:40 amThree months after the release of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, American families of victims question medical adviceThree months after the release of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, the families of American victims of the Lockerbie bombing have reignited a row over the medical advice that allowed him to be freed early from his 27-year sentence.Megrahi was released on compassionate grounds from prison in Greenock on 20 August after the Scottish justice minister, Kenny MacAskill, received advice that he was terminally ill with prostate cancer. It was said that the Libyan, who was convicted of carrying out the…
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Politics: David Miliband | guardian.co.uk
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Karzai 'would fall in weeks' if Nato pulls out
20 Nov 2009 | 11:24 amDavid Miliband says UK needs more time to shore up Afghan government The Afghan government could fall within weeks if Nato pulled out troops now, David Miliband warned today as he urged British opponents of the war to give the fight to rebuild the country more time.In an interview with the Guardian at the end of a visit to Kabul for the presidential inauguration of Hamid Karzai, the foreign secretary said: "If international forces leave, you can choose a time – five minutes, 24 hours or seven days – but the insurgent forces will overrun those forces that are prepared to put up… -
Britain's torture cover-up continues | Clive Stafford Smith
20 Nov 2009 | 2:00 amThe latest high court opinion in the case of Binyam Mohamed reveals Britain's commitment to covering up complicity in tortureIn the government's desperate commitment to cover up British complicity in torture, the drip-drip-drip of evidence seeping out continues. The sixth opinion released by the high court in the case of Binyam Mohamed gives us another insight into the government's bizarre notion of the threat to national security that compels secrecy.Today, the two judges reluctantly complied with David Miliband's demand that certain evidence of torture should remain secret, at least pending… -
Hamid Karzai inaugurated amid western hopes of end to corruption
19 Nov 2009 | 2:05 pmPublic holiday declared as Kabul ringed off in security clampdown against feared Taliban attackTo everyone's surprise the ceremony began on time, the president walking up a stained, blotchy red carpet to the sound of a rough brass band and thumping drums. Looking immaculate, as he always does, Hamid Karzai's striped green silk Uzbek cloak stood out in the cold sunshine of a Kabul winter's morning. Even his dress was calculated: items from around the country assembled in a show of national unity.What followed was part splendid, part shabby and awkward for everyone. An event to be endured not… -
Court rejects David Miliband bid to suppress CIA evidence
19 Nov 2009 | 12:33 pm• Sixth damning ruling in Binyam Mohamed case • Foreign secretary's claims of security risk dismissedThe high court today flatly rejected claims by David Miliband, the foreign secretary, that releasing evidence of the CIA's inhuman and unlawful treatment of UK resident Binyam Mohamed would harm Britain's relations with the US by giving away intelligence secrets.Evidence that the foreign secretary also wants to suppress is believed to reveal what British intelligence officers knew about Mohamed's treatment. Mohamed, 31, an Ethiopian, says he was tortured in Pakistan, Morocco, Afghanistan,… -
Hamid Karzai crowned king - but what price the coronation?
19 Nov 2009 | 6:06 amWestern leaders and concerned neighbours joined a great gathering of the clans in the Salam Khana palace for President Karzai's inaugurationPresident Karzai I became President Karzai II this morning at an inauguration ceremony that was part splendid, part shabby and awkward for everyone.This was an event to be endured not enjoyed – "sober not triumphant," said the foreign secretary, David Miliband, afterwards. Afghan eyes darted around the long hall to see who was invited and who was not. Western officials sat judging whether the president had said enough about a less corrupt future to…
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UK news: Military | guardian.co.uk
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Tories may pull out troops from Germany
20 Nov 2009 | 3:57 pmBritish troops could be withdrawn from Germany by a future Tory government if other Nato states agreed to take over the UK's commitments there, the shadow defence secretary, Liam Fox, has said.Fox said it is "no longer necessary" to keep 20,000 military personnel in Germany, nearly 70 years after the end of the second world war. Ending the deployment would free up forces to carry out vital Nato operations outside Europe, he said.The number of soldiers in Germany has been scaled down over the years and their presence is now centred on Herford, near Hanover, where the 1st Armoured Division is… -
Kidnapped British sailors fear they may be killed within week
20 Nov 2009 | 12:30 pmPaul and Rachel Chandler have been shown on C4 news urging the government to begin ransom talks with Somali piratesThe British couple kidnapped by Somali pirates appeared in television footage tonight surrounded by gunmen and warned they could be killed "within a week". Paul and Rachel Chandler pleaded for their lives, saying they feared they would "sleepwalk to a tragic end" as their captors were "losing patience".The two-minute video, shown on Channel 4 news, is the first time the couple have appeared on camera since they disappeared on 23 October while sailing from the Seychelles towards… -
Video: Brewing up a storm with the RAF
20 Nov 2009 | 3:00 amHenrietta Lovell, aka The Tea Lady, refreshes the pilots of RAF Linton-on-Ouse and meets Terry Clark, a veteran gunner from the Battle of BritainMustafa KhaliliMichael Tait -
Wootton Bassett prepares for 100th repatriation of British soldiers
20 Nov 2009 | 2:19 amOnly a handful of mourners watched the first coffins pass through the Wiltshire town. Now hundreds are turning outThe scene has become all too familiar but no less emotional. Just before 11am today a C17 Globemaster will fly low over the town of Wootton Bassett. It will touch down at nearby RAF Lyneham and the coffins of two soldiers will be carefully carried off by their colleagues. After being met by families at the base's chapel of rest, the coffins will be driven through Wootton Bassett and on to a hospital in Oxford. As ever, crowds will line the streets of the Wiltshire town and other… -
Hamid Karzai wants Afghan troops to replace foreign forces in five years
19 Nov 2009 | 12:45 pmHamid Karzai has said he is determined that the Afghan army should be built up so it can take over responsibility from foreign troops for securing the entire country within five years. Speaking after being sworn in for a second term as president, Karzai said he wanted Afghanistan's security forces to be improved in "quantitative and qualitative terms".Currently only one of the 34 provinces, the capital, is controlled by the country's own security forces. Karzai said that by "accelerating the training and equipping" of the army and police, more provinces could be handed over."It is only…
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UK news: Monarchy | guardian.co.uk
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The stars of Channel 4 drama The Queen on playing the monarch
20 Nov 2009 | 4:56 pmShould they copy the high-pitched voice? How did they get the walk right? And why does the monarch rarely bend forward? The five stars of Channel 4's drama documentary The Queen talk about how they found their inner Elizabeth -
British Kings and Queens
20 Nov 2009 | 5:00 amTake a sneak preview of our Kings and Queens series, fully illustrated by Martin Rowson and free the Guardian and Observer this weekend -
Three melancholy exchanges about the Queen's speech | Michael White
19 Nov 2009 | 2:44 amI sense growing detachment, alienation and indifference where the monarchy is concernedThe Westminster neighbourhood should be back to normal this morning after the Queen's golden coach and all those metal railings have been put back into storage. "The captains and the kings depart," as Kipling put it in Recessional, his prophetically melancholy poem of 1897.Three melancholy exchanges from the day will certainly stay with me. One was with an energetic Labour MP, cleared by the expenses police but quitting at the coming election anyway. Another was with a veteran Tory, also cleared, but… -
State opening of parliament
18 Nov 2009 | 6:07 am18 November 2009: Queen Elizabeth II unveils the government's legislative programme -
Video: Polly Toynbee reviews the Queen's speech
18 Nov 2009 | 5:15 amAll these bills are elephant traps, says Guardian commentatorPolly Toynbee
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Education: Mortarboard blog | guardian.co.uk
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Themes or subjects: does it matter how children's learning is structured?
19 Nov 2009 | 7:30 amPrince Charles is wary of Ed Balls's curriculum reforms, says one of his advisers. Is he just being old-fashioned, or has he got a pointYou know what they say about history. It's just one thing after another.Well, perhaps so, but there's a gleam in Ed Balls's eye that says that won't be the case for much longer.The schools secretary is planning a new curriculum for all primary schools that will reorganise subjects under "thematic headings". Traditional subjects such as geography and science will find themselves rolled into topics such as global warming.And there'll be a new emphasis on… -
We need to get it right on governors – for the sake of our children
10 Nov 2009 | 3:36 amThe new report by Warwick University academics points out where the government is going wrong – now we need to make sure governing bodies are well trained and represent all stakeholdersThe latest report on school governors, by Warwick University, showing a loss of power by ordinary people and the "professionalisation" of governing bodies should fan the flames of democracy and show where the government is going wrong.The crux of the matter is that if you are ever to have a true, all-inclusive stakeholder model of governance you are going to have to make the role of a strategic leader of a… -
Our favourite school dinners – the unbelievable truth | Jessica Shepherd
10 Nov 2009 | 12:47 amRoast dinner and lasagne? Pink pop and chips more likeThe nation's favourite school lunch? A roast dinner followed by sponge pudding and custard. (See our 'favourite school dinners' gallery here.)So says the Local Authority Caterers Association, anyway. It asked more than 3,000 people to vote for their school canteen grub of choice from 12 main courses and 12 puddings.But hang on a second, I don't remember roasts – or even sausage, mash and onion gravy (the second choice). Hell, I didn't even get lasagne and garlic bread – the third choice – either. There was custard, but no apple… -
Student as passive consumer is not the way forward
3 Nov 2009 | 9:40 amThe new higher education framework has some good points, but 'informed choice' will not drive up qualityIn 2008, the former secretary of state for universities, John Denham, asked me to contribute to the debate on higher education that informs the framework published today.The framework acknowledges that teaching quality and the student experience in UK universities is among the best in the world. I was mainly interested in how we could build on these strengths, so that higher education served the needs of tomorrow's graduates, and thus the needs of our future economy and civilisation.The… -
Getting a degree involves more than paying a fee
3 Nov 2009 | 9:07 amThe consumer element of the new higher education framework is a populist trick, but one full of riskWhen John Denham announced that he was working on a new "framework" for UK higher education in February 2008, he was explicit about the need to achieve it well in advance of the review of undergraduate fees. He didn't succeed in this, and neither has his successor. The two will be irretrievably tied together.Hence the focus in the "framework" on its "consumer satisfaction" and "consumer information" elements. What has been described as the "food labelling" device is a good populist trick, and…
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Music news, reviews, comment and features | guardian.co.uk
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MySpace strikes deal to sell independent music from big artists
21 Nov 2009 | 5:21 amNews Corp site settles row with Merlin agency whose clients include Arctic Monkeys, Radiohead and Vampire WeekendMySpace has settled a year-long row with independent record companies with a landmark deal that will allow artists including Arctic Monkeys, Radiohead and Vampire Weekend to sell tracks on the social networking site's music service.MySpace Music launched in the US last year, recently expanded into Australia and New Zealand and plans to roll out in the UK soon. But the launch of the service was marred by anger from the largest independent record labels, which accused News Corp-owned… -
A peek at the diary of Morrissey | John Crace
20 Nov 2009 | 4:12 pm'I'm too old for all that standing up and singing lark'My manager rings. "I've got you a gig in Eastbourne tomorrow.""Not interested," I say. "My back's killing me and I'm too old for all that standing up and singing lark.""It'll be fine. It's at an old people's home and there'll be only 30 there. Or 29, if nice Mr Briggs doesn't make it through the next 24 hours.""Sounds more like it. They won't be all pissed and rowdy, will they?""Nah – they're given their meds at 6.30pm, so they'll be good as gold.""I still want a rider in the contract. Just in case. Anyone caught bringing Horlicks into… -
This Spiritualized classic is the perfect prescription
20 Nov 2009 | 4:10 pmSkiving school, gorging on cough mixture … popping open the blister-packed CDs of Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space brings it all back"A record that will change your life," is a phrase that gets bandied about too often, but it's a cliche I can relate to. The first instance this happened was when I was sitting with my dad looking at the cover of the soundtrack LP to Disney's Fantasia."Who's that scary monster on the bottom of the LP, dad?" I quivered, aged three."Well, Andrew, that's the devil. And he sleeps under your bed and if you do something bad you will go to hell and burn… -
Rihanna: 'That's a part of my life I want to throw away'
20 Nov 2009 | 4:10 pmDays before her 21st birthday R&B star Rihanna was viciously beaten by her then boyfriend, the singer Chris Brown. The shocking police photo told the whole story. But now, with a new album, she explains why she's no victimRihanna's head soars above the cloud of stylists, photographers, PR people and managers that mill around her, completely disproving the notion that celebrities tend to be smaller in real life. In her strappy, stompy gladiator heels, with a bronze helmet of hair, long beige nails, eyes rimmed with bright pink shadow, she is statuesque, towering, a picture of… -
Elisabeth Söderström obituary
20 Nov 2009 | 4:07 pmSwedish soprano whose perceptive singing and vivid acting made her a great heroine in operas by Tchaikovsky, Richard Strauss and JanacekOne of the most perceptive and admired sopranos of the postwar era, Elisabeth Söderström, who has died aged 82, had a lengthy career that carried on into the 1990s, when she was well into her 60s. In everything she attempted, her vibrantly beautiful singing was enhanced by her good looks and vivid acting.With her sensitive demeanour she was particularly successful at portraying the troubled women who abound in opera, such as Leonore (Fidelio), Tatyana in…
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Music: Music blog | guardian.co.uk
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Music Weekly: Gonzales
20 Nov 2009 | 5:05 amWelcome, one and all, to the latest edition of Music Weekly. This week's show kicks off with art beast Gonzales, who happens to be in the middle of a residency at London's Pigalle club. Laura Barton met up with the Canadian musician to talk about being "welcomed into the bosom of the French", trying to blend musical genius with entertainment and why having Jarvis Cocker on speed dial helps get more people to come to your shows. Barton even manages to squeeze in a piano lesson with the man who holds the record for the longest ever solo performance (27 hours, since you ask).Singles Club rumbles… -
Beck and Charlotte Gainsbourg team up, weirdness ensues
20 Nov 2009 | 4:48 amBeck and Charlotte teamed up for the album IRM earlier this year, and this week the video to their song Heaven Can Wait was posted online. The song we like, but the video (courtesy of Keith Schofield) we love.BeckPop and rockguardian.co.uk/musicguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds -
Jon Savage on song: Shy FX unleash the beast
20 Nov 2009 | 4:07 amShy FX's Sound of the Beast, was one of the big tunes of the 1994 Notting Hill Carnival. This jungle track had roots in the past, but the police sirens and dive-bombing bass created a truly modern noiseLike the Clash's White Riot, Sound of the Beast begins with a police siren so realistic that you look up from whatever you're doing and think: "What's going on?" But, in the 27 years that separate these two songs, the technology has changed: the old two-note horns have been replaced by synthesised oscillators that, in another context, could sound like abrasive electronica.Shy FX's second single… -
Readers recommend: Coming of age songs
19 Nov 2009 | 4:22 pmLast week was all about a cry for help. This time we want you to suggest songs about reaching maturitySometimes I feel like a motherless child. Particularly when my mum is on the phone telling me off for not remembering my aunt's birthday. Fortunately, that only happens once a year, the rest of the time my mother and I are very close. Too close, some might say.B that as it may ...Buff Saint Marie – Bury My Heart at Wounded KneeHave to say I was greatly swayed by Sonofwebcore's nom because musically I don't think this song is so interesting. Lyrically, however, it is excoriating, the fourth… -
Behind the music: Peter Gabriel on the future of the industry
19 Nov 2009 | 7:50 amThe former Genesis frontman on fan funding, reliable filters, and why he would commission an alternative to The X FactorWhen I blogged about the lack of women in the music industry, one manager claimed that this is because girls are less interested in who worked on a record than what the band looks like on the cover. I'm not sure that's entirely true. After all, I was one of those girls who studied the credits on each song, often buying records based on who produced or played on them. On Tuesday, at the APRS Fellowship awards, I was in the company of, what I consider to be, British music…
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Music: Abba to Zappa | guardian.co.uk
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The Record Doctor responds
31 Oct 2009 | 5:05 pmAfter years of dealing with celebrity patients, Observer Music Monthly's Record Doctor has extended his working hours and opened his clinic to all-comers. Here are his latest responses to your queriesI saw Teenage Fanclub at a festival in the summer and thought they were great. My flatmate says they've nicked their sound from Big Star. I like a few of Big Star's tracks I've found online but none of their albums are on Spotify. What would be the best album to buy? DouglasThere is some debate as to which is the best Big Star album but rest assured, both their debut, #1 Record, and its… -
Inky Fingers: Maggoty Lamb on the noughties retrospectives
19 Oct 2009 | 3:26 amAre the 44 best albums of the last decade really all made by white people? Is Outkast's B.O.B. really better than Crazy in Love?As the decade draws to an end, the English language seems to be trying to pull us back from the abyss of retrospective indulgence. After all, is it even possible to provide a serious, critical evaluation of a 10-year span in history when you have to call it "the Noughties"?"OK, it was fun to look back at the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s," seems to be the general message, "but perhaps this time around, we should take a break. And let's maybe give the whole decade thing a… -
The Record Doctor responds
3 Oct 2009 | 4:05 pmAfter years of dealing with celebrity patients, Observer Music Monthly's Record Doctor has extended his working hours and opened his clinic to all-comers. Here are his latest responses to your queriesBack in the 80s I received my political education via the work of the great Billy Bragg. Who are 2009's political pop chroniclers?Emily You and me both, Emily. These days, however, there are very few singer-songwriters who perform a similar rule. In fact, assuming you have the stomach for elemental, frothing-at-the-mouth punk, your best bet is Gallows, whose second album Grey Britain rages at the… -
Inky Fingers: Maggoty Lamb on the state of the nation's jazz mags | Maggoty Lamb
23 Sep 2009 | 1:13 amWhat kind of public service is this column offering by simply saying nice things about The Wire every couple of months? The time has come to get down and dirty with the real stuffIt was a lovely, late summer afternoon. In Ray's Jazz on the top floor of Foyles bookshop in London's Charing Cross road, the elegantly-dressed woman approaching the counter with two Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis albums under her arm suddenly gave an involuntary start. Out of the corner of her eye, she had caught sight of the jazz magazines. There on the counter – not even on any sort of raised shelving, and with no… -
Inky Fingers: Maggoty Lamb wonders if one name is being forgotten in the rush to close the doors of rock's journalistic pantheon
25 Aug 2009 | 3:21 amThe trend of women taking over the editor's chair has prompted a frenzied outbreak of navel-gazing in the upper echelons of UK rock journalism"It feels so unnatural to sing your own name," Peter Gabriel modestly observes, shortly after doing exactly that in the course of his and Hot Chip's joint cover version of Vampire Weekend's Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa. On first hearing this jaunty act of reappropriation earlier this year, it just seemed like a good joke. Eight months later, it can be seen to have been a sombre portent of an especially frenzied outbreak of navel-gazing in the upper echelons…
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Art and design: My best shot | guardian.co.uk
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Photographer Sara Ramo's best shot
18 Nov 2009 | 3:00 pmThis picture is called Invasion of Everything That Was Restrained. It's basically a lot of paper balls hanging in the air. They're meant to represent ideas that you had but didn't follow through on: they're still around, invading your space.It was very simple to set up. I hung the paper balls up with transparent line then shot the picture. Afterwards, on the computer, I had to remove a couple of bits of string that were visible; but other than that, it's all as it was.I took the shot for a big exhibition in Brazil in 2005 called Between the Rain and the Snowman, a line inspired… -
Photographer Jane Bown's best shot
11 Nov 2009 | 2:30 pmI like this picture because I'd been pretty smart. It was in 1979 and the Observer office was tucked away in Blackfriars, not too far from the Old Bailey. The Jeremy Thorpe trial was just finishing and I said: "Does anyone want a photograph of Jeremy Thorpe?" Someone said: "Oh no, we're not interested." But I thought: "I'm jolly well going." It wasn't very far away.The reason I like the shot so much is more down to the circumstances under which it was taken. The whole trial had been such a strange affair [Thorpe, the former leader of the Liberal party, was acquitted… -
Photographer Tom Hunter's best shot
4 Nov 2009 | 2:30 pm'It's inspired by Vermeer's Girl Reading a Letter – except she's a squatter reading a possession order'I was living in Hackney in London, in a whole street of squats, having spent two years travelling around Europe in a doubledecker bus. Everyone got a letter addressed to "persons unknown". The council wanted to knock down the street and build warehouses. The Tories had brought in the Criminal Justice Act, which was designed to stop parties. Every time you saw a picture of a squatter or a traveller, it was to go with a story about how antisocial they were. I just wanted to… -
Terry O'Neill's best shot: Photographing Brigitte Bardot
4 Nov 2009 | 4:06 amPhotographer Terry O'Neill recalls one of his most iconic images, a tousled portrait of Brigitte Bardot smoking on set – and explains why the idea nearly went up in smokeAlex HealeyMichael TaitAndrew Pulver -
Photographer Ellen von Unwerth's best shot
28 Oct 2009 | 3:30 pmI took this maybe three years ago, on a fashion shoot for Italian Vogue. We developed a romantic story to go with it: a woman comes back to the place where she grew up, and finds it all dusty and falling apart. We shot it in a chateau in Paris. The girl was a model, and it was the only time I worked with her. After this, she disappeared. She was from eastern Europe, Romania maybe, and even the agency could't find her again. So she's like a ghost. The picture certainly has a ghostly feeling.I love a picture that surprises you: you try to get everything perfect, then somehow it…
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UK news: National Lottery | guardian.co.uk
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15 years of Lottery funding
19 Nov 2009 | 3:29 amSince The National Lottery began in 1994, over £23bn has been raised for good causes. More than 330,000 grants have been awarded to projects in the arts, sport, heritage, health, education and the environment. Here are some of them -
Bingo! Scratchcard error makes assistant manager a lottery millionaire
11 Nov 2009 | 7:18 amBingo hall worker scoops lottery jackpot after being given wrong scratchcard in supermarketMistakes committed by some retail workers – giving the incorrect amount of change, refusing to offer refunds, misguidedly referring to male customers as "chief" – can be infuriating.But one bingo hall worker is £1m richer after benefiting from just such an error. Audrey White scooped a lottery jackpot on Friday after being given the wrong scratchcard in her local supermarket.The mistake happened when White, 58, decided she fancied a wager while shopping near her Suffolk home.The bingo hall worker… -
Lotto Euromillions: Soothing the sore of envy when others strike it lucky
10 Nov 2009 | 1:48 pmWhen the slings and arrows of the lottery deliver up a fortune that is truly outrageous, as onlookers we immediately try to wrestle it into a narrative. Without a narrative, it is just a wonderful stroke of life-changing luck that happened to some other people and didn't happen to us. That's just nauseating – you can't live with that, not even for half an hour.One way to overcome it is to make out that the luck is cursed: the Times yesterday ran with a "tale of two lottery winners", in which the super-lout Michael Carroll had his myriad flaws adumbrated yet again, the number of cars he's… -
Euromillions lottery winners - live
10 Nov 2009 | 1:49 amThe identities of the biggest lottery winners in British history were revealed today. Follow how the news unfolded and find out how the lucky ticket holders plan to spend their share of the £91m Euromillions jackpot.9.30am: "The lottery's giant finger of fortune hung tantalisingly over Britain today before homing in on a Merseyside call centre and a couple in south Wales," wrote my colleague Caroline Davies.We don't yet know exactly who has won but it won't be long before their identities are revealed. In successive press conferences this morning, first at 10am at St David's hotel in Cardiff… -
Lottery winners: what to spend the millions on
9 Nov 2009 | 5:16 pmThe lucky Euromillions winners will have their lives changed forever. But what would they spend their money on?• Space flights The winners will be able to reach for the stars. Virgin Galactic space flights are expected to cost about £107,000 so the winners would have enough for 400 sub-orbital space flights.• Premier League footballers Although not enough to buy all of Cristiano Ronaldo, snapped up by Real Madrid from Manchester United for a whopping £80m, £45.5m could net you Premier League players such as Liverpool's Glen Johnson for £17m or Joleon Lescott for £24m from Manchester…
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World news: Nato | guardian.co.uk
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Hamid Karzai wants Afghan troops to replace foreign forces in five years
19 Nov 2009 | 12:45 pmHamid Karzai has said he is determined that the Afghan army should be built up so it can take over responsibility from foreign troops for securing the entire country within five years. Speaking after being sworn in for a second term as president, Karzai said he wanted Afghanistan's security forces to be improved in "quantitative and qualitative terms".Currently only one of the 34 provinces, the capital, is controlled by the country's own security forces. Karzai said that by "accelerating the training and equipping" of the army and police, more provinces could be handed over."It is only… -
Nato chief promises Afghanistan will get 'substantially more forces'
17 Nov 2009 | 11:59 amNato and its allies will order "substantially more forces" into battle in Afghanistan over the next few weeks, the alliance's secretary general said today.Speaking in Edinburgh at a Nato parliamentary assembly meeting, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, said: "In a few weeks, I expect we will decide, in Nato, on the approach, and troop levels needed, to take our mission forward."Barack Obama is expected to make a long-awaited declaration on US troop levels and strategy in the next few days. But Rasmussen pre-empted the president by predicting the alliance as a whole would pursue a broad… -
Face down the militarists and get out of Afghanistan. No strings attached | Simon Jenkins
17 Nov 2009 | 10:00 amObama must call time on the Afghan war. Retreat can be spun as victory. But it can't be conditional on impossible objectivesGo to Washington any time in the past eight years and ask what influence Britain has over America's Afghan policy. The answer is a thumb and forefinger joined in a simple zero. The same was true in Iraq. Ever since Tony Blair kowtowed to George Bush at Crawford in April 2002, Britain has been the patsy, the poodle, the dumb ally in Washington's wars of ideological empire.Britain's military failures in Basra and Helmand, rescued in both by the Americans, increased this… -
Afghanistan: buying our way out of trouble | Alex de Waal
17 Nov 2009 | 8:30 amCarping about Karzai's 'corruption' may disguise Nato's failed state-building, but patronage is the only way to run the countryWhen Nato concedes a draw in Afghanistan, it will be because of its failure to understand the country's politics. But a deeper failure will lurk in the background. As I argue in more detail in an article in Prospect, in the past decade, the west has launched a huge experiment to build capable states in the world's most difficult countries. Troops, technical advisers and aid budgets are the tools of choice.The problem is that Nato and the UN are terribly bad at… -
Whatever Obama decides, Brown must set withdrawal date
16 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmIn Afghanistan, Barack Obama is in a hole at least partly of his own making. The decision he must make – and it may come this week – is whether or not to stop digging and start looking for a way out. The decision Britain must make – and the matter becomes more pressing by the day – is whether it will continue to allow its armed forces, its policy, and its standing in the world to be held hostage to American political calculations.Obama set a trap for himself during last year's presidential campaign when he defined Afghanistan as a "war of necessity" in contrast to Iraq, the…
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World news: Natural disasters and extreme weather | guardian.co.uk
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Flood-hit Cumbria braces for more rain
21 Nov 2009 | 7:36 amMet Office predicting up to 50mm and warns of waters rising again as county reels from evacuations and policeman's deathFlood-damaged parts of the UK are bracing themselves for more heavy rain today after two days of downpours that inundated homes, swept away bridges, sparked evacuations and claimed the life of a policeman.Gordon Brown has pledged an extra £1m to help flood-hit communities in Cumbria, which yesterday suffered the worst downpour in British history, with 314mm – more than a foot of rain – falling in 24 hours.Brown announced the funding on a visit to the flood-stricken… -
UK flooding - live
20 Nov 2009 | 12:34 amA police officer has been killed in Cumbria after severe flooding caused bridges to collapse and hundreds of homes to be evacuated, as RAF helicopters winch stranded people to safety.8.25am: Here are the latest developments:• Cumbria police say 10 residents are unaccounted for in Cockermouth, and one policeman is missing in Workington after a bridge collapsed in the town.• A major rescue operation was launched last night to evacuate more than 200 people in Cockermouth in Cumbria.• The army had been called out to help with door-to-door work in flood-hit areas.• The severe weather has… -
Victims of flooding during Hurricane Katrina win compensation
19 Nov 2009 | 10:49 amRuling opens the door to further claims from up to 100,000 more victims with settlements that could cost billionsThe US government faces billions of dollars in compensation claims from victims of Hurricane Katrina after a federal judge found that negligence on the part of the Army Corps of Engineers was directly responsible for some of the most extreme flooding.Judge Stanwood Duval ruled that the corps, which was responsible for maintaining the waterways and levees that protected New Orleans from flooding had known of the threat to areas of the city and yet had failed to act in time. "The… -
Hurricane Katrina victims win damages over flooding
19 Nov 2009 | 4:20 amUS government could be vulnerable to billions of dollars in claims after a judge rules against Army corpsThe US government could be vulnerable to billions of dollars in claims after a judge ruled that the Army Corps of Engineers' failure to properly maintain a navigation channel led to massive flooding in Hurricane Katrina.US District Judge Stanwood Duval yesterday awarded seven plaintiffs $720,000, but the government could eventually be forced to pay much more. The ruling should give more than 100,000 other individuals, businesses and government entities a better chance of claiming… -
Yangtze delta warned to prepare for effects of climate change
10 Nov 2009 | 8:57 amDelta has been warming faster than global average for a decade, and the impact is already being felt, according to WWF China阅读中文 | Read this in ChineseChina's most populous river needs massive investment and careful planning to ease the impact of climate change, which is causing floods, droughts and storms to intensify, a new report (pdf) said today.The Yangtze delta, which is home to about 400 million people, has been warming far faster than the global average for more than a decade and the implications for food security and biodiversity will worsen without remedial action, according…
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Society: NHS | guardian.co.uk
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A cut too far: the rise in cosmetic surgery on the vulva
21 Nov 2009 | 4:03 amLabiaplasties can be risky, yet the number carried out on the NHS rose by 70% last yearBefore she had even turned 10, Anna had started worrying that there was something physically wrong with her. "I would look at other girls in the shower, and think, 'They don't have what I have,'" she says, and wearing a pair of jeans became uncomfortable. The issue was her inner labia. Anna felt that they were too large, and as an adult she grew increasingly self- conscious. "During intercourse they would get caught up and go back into my body," she says. "I had one sexual partner who mentioned it… -
Unthinkable? Pricing drugs humanely
20 Nov 2009 | 4:06 pmAnother nasty decision for Nice this week, as the health service's rationing agency turned down Nexavar, which treats liver cancer. Everyone agrees it provides extra months, but it will not be administered – except to the rich – as it fails to provide enough extra months for the money. The watertight logic is that cash blown on one costly treatment cannot be spent on saving other lives. But that hardly makes things more bearable for people being told that the community is no longer willing to finance the union of their body and soul. The sanctity of life is compromised even though there… -
Free NHS from politicians, says former head
20 Nov 2009 | 6:00 amThe NHS should be freed from direct government control and run as a separate body without political interference, according to its former chief executive.In an article that will be interpreted as support for Conservative reform plans, Sir Nigel Crisp urges the Department of Health to focus on wider health issues while allowing the NHS to manage itself."The time is ripe for a new settlement between the department and the NHS that respects the distinct roles and capabilities of each partner," Sir Nigel writes in the British Medical Journal today."The department and ministers will have… -
Letters: Good recovery rate for prostate cancer
19 Nov 2009 | 4:10 pmI am pleased about Darcus Howe's recovery (My battle with prostate cancer, G2, 17 November), and his highlighting the higher mortality rates for black men. I am a 56-year-old white man with advanced prostate cancer that was identified two months ago. I will, hopefully, find out in December whether I will be among the 30% of men at my stage of the disease who survive five years after diagnosis. The diagnosis came as a result of tests for a different minor condition, and if I had been checked earlier I would probably be among the majority who survive prostate cancer. Darcus Howe is right to… -
David Cameron says government is behaving like 'irresponsible opposition'
18 Nov 2009 | 8:23 amQueen's speech: Tory leader attacks Gordon Brown over absence of bills on immigration, the NHS and MPs' expensesDavid Cameron, the Conservative leader, today accused Gordon Brown of "monumental failures" in government and behaving like an "irresponsible opposition" over the Queen's speech.In his parliamentary response to the state opening of parliament, Cameron launched a scathing attack on the prime minister's record in office.Referring to the 15 bills put forward by the prime minister in the final legislative programme before the general election, the Tory leader said: "Only this prime…
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UK news: Northern Ireland | guardian.co.uk
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Belfast high court rejects Spain's bid to extradite Eta suspect
18 Nov 2009 | 10:50 amA judge at Belfast high court has thrown out an attempt by Spain to have a suspected member of the armed Basque separatist group Eta's youth wing extradited. Judge Tom Burgess ruled that a European arrest warrant issued against Arturo Villaneuva Arteaga, 33, was invalid. Arteaga, who has lived in Northern Ireland for six years running a tourism business, is accused in Spain of carrying out violent and coercive actions from 1994 to 2000. The judge said there was no reference on the warrant to dates, locations or targets of any alleged attacks which would allow anyone to link them to… -
Killer flees Northern Ireland bail hostel
18 Nov 2009 | 3:26 amMother phones in to radio station urging son to surrenderPolice on both sides of the Irish Sea are searching for a convicted murderer who fled a bail hostel in Northern Ireland.Jonathan Neill stabbed his victim, Donald McKenzie, 24 times and carved a cross and the satanic symbol 666 in his back. McKenzie was a lodger at Neill's family home in London at the time of the incident in 1991.It is the second time that Neill, 34, has breached the terms of his licence, after he fled from a hostel in 2006. Max Murray, of the prison service, admitted mistakes had been made in relation to Neill's early… -
Old Bailey bomber questioned over murders of soldiers in Northern Ireland
17 Nov 2009 | 2:38 amMarian Price, who was jailed for 1973 court bombing, arrested in Belfast over shootings outside army barracksOne of two sisters who bombed the Old Bailey in the 1970s is in custody today being questioned about the murders of two soldiers in Northern Ireland in March.Republican sources confirmed that Marian Price was arrested at her west Belfast home by police officers investigating the killings of the two British soldiers at Massereene army barracks in Antrim Town. The Real IRA has claimed responsibility for the attack.Price was jailed along with her sister Dolores after the IRA bombed the… -
Loyalists attack murdered reporter's colleagues at court hearing
14 Nov 2009 | 4:06 pmEditor attending trial of reporter's alleged killers asks: 'What would happen if armed men stormed the court?'Colleagues of murdered journalist Martin O'Hagan have revealed how they were attacked by loyalist supporters of the men accused of killing the reporter. They also highlighted the dearth of security around one of Northern Ireland's busiest courts when dissident republicans are targeting the judiciary.A mob of loyalists smashed up a car belonging to Jim McDowell, the Sunday World's Northern Editor, outside Craigavon magistrates court on Friday. McDowell and his colleague, Hugh Jordan,… -
Irish dissidents paying travellers to steal guns
14 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmHomes of legal owners are targeted by violent gang receiving up to £500 for a single weaponA new Irish republican dissident terror group is using a gang of young travellers to steal weapons from gun owners across Northern Ireland. Police are linking a recent upsurge in gun thefts to the "Saor Uladh", the fourth dissident terrorist force to emerge from republicans disenchanted with the peace process. Saor Uladh or Free Ulster pays up to £500 for a single gun, security sources told the Observer. The most recent raid took place in Newry this month when a 74-year-old grandfather was beaten by…
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Politics: Northern Irish politics | guardian.co.uk
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The fall of the house of Paisley | Henry McDonald
12 Nov 2009 | 4:47 amA new book charting the downfall of Ian Paisley and his son retells one of the most remarkable political events in Northern Ireland of recent yearsThe Unionist hardliner Jim Allister likes to compare himself to a latter-day David the Giant Slayer. At the annual conference of his Traditional Unionist Voice party in Belfast last weekend Allister relished the prospect of taking on a political Goliath that has tramped all over the Northern Ireland landscape since the 1970s.Whichever Goliath from the Paisley dynasty chose to stand in North Antrim at next year's general election, Allister said he… -
Northern Ireland policing deal under threat over fate of reserve force
9 Nov 2009 | 8:13 amDUP and Sinn Féin clash over future of back-up police officersA justice and policing deal designed to stabilise Northern Ireland's power-sharing coalition appeared under threat today after a unionist minister warned that the powers could not be devolved unless Ulster's full-time reserve police force was maintained.Jeffrey Donaldson, the Democratic Unionist MP and Stormont assembly member, said he did not believe the policing powers could be devolved if Chief Constable Matt Baggott phases out the full-time reservists.Transferring the policing and justice powers from Westminster to Stormont is… -
Fear of unionist onslaught halted IRA plan to blow up Stormont
7 Nov 2009 | 4:07 pm1950s Belfast bomb campaign was scrapped to avoid violent backlash against CatholicsThe IRA abandoned extensive plans to blow up the BBC, the Stormont parliament and a Royal Navy station in Belfast during the 1950s because they believed that it would provoke a violent unionist backlash.More than a decade before the Provisional IRA launched its armed campaign that became central to the Troubles, a previous republican leadership was held back from targeting Northern Ireland's capital because of fears for the city's Catholic population.A new book on the IRA's ill-fated 1956-62 border campaign… -
The loyalist threat to Northern Ireland | Beatrix Campbell
5 Nov 2009 | 3:30 amMedia coverage of the latest report on paramilitary activities places undue attention on republican violenceDisarming republicans has always been the obsession of conservative politicians on both sides of the Irish Sea. That agenda has so infused the prevailing perceptions that to this day it dominates debates about peaceful coexistence in Northern Ireland.The coverage of the Independent Monitoring Commission's (IMC's) 22nd report on paramilitary activities, vindicates that tradition. Shootings by dissident republican sects at war with both the British and Sinn Féin defined the news. A month… -
Northern Ireland dissidents 'committed to launching mainland attacks'
4 Nov 2009 | 4:51 amReport by International Monitoring Commission warns dissident threat has reached six-year highRepublican dissidents will shift their attacks across the Irish Sea to mainland Britain if they get the opportunity, the body overseeing paramilitary ceasefires warned today.The International Monitoring Commission also said former Provisional IRA members were helping dissidents to destabilise the peace process.In its latest report, the IMC revealed that the dissident threat was at its highest level for six years.The paramilitary watchdog said most new recruits to the Real IRA, Continuity IRA and…
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Business: Northern Rock | guardian.co.uk
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MPs push to turn Northern Rock back into a building society
12 Nov 2009 | 5:27 pmThe pressure on the government to consider turning the bailed-out bank Northern Rock back into a building society rather than sell it off increased today as 100 MPs from all political parties signed a motion supporting the move. The signatories include five serving Labour committee chairs, 12 former government ministers and Vince Cable, the Liberal Democrats' Treasury spokesman.Last month the EU gave the go-ahead for Northern Rock's assets and toxic debt to be split in two, with the "good bank" being returned to the market. But government officials let it be known that there were active… -
Taxpayer stakes in banks 'will take seven years to sell'
11 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmLeading accountant PricewaterhouseCoopers urges governments to take more active role in management of banks and to focus on wider social goalsThe government will be stuck with its stakes in the bailed-out banks for up to seven years, a leading accountancy firm predicts today as it calls for a more interventionist approach to the way the banks are managed.The report by consultants at PricewaterhouseCoopers does not just focus on the UK taxpayer's stakes but also on state-controlled financial entities around the world and urges governments to be "good owners" with a focus on wider social and… -
HSBC attacks UK rules over rivals' sell-offs
10 Nov 2009 | 7:07 am• Chief attacks rules barring existing players from asset sales• Bank expects emerging economies to beat the west out of recessionHSBC's chief executive today complained that the bank will not be able to expand in the UK by buying businesses being sold by Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds Banking Group and Northern Rock.Michael Geoghegan, who also warned the world faces a "two-speed" economic recovery, hit out against restrictions imposed on bidders for operations that banks must sell off to appease Brussels' rules on state aid.Lloyds must sell 600 branches, RBS 318 branches and its… -
RBS boss Stephen Hester's bonus will be linked to lending performance
4 Nov 2009 | 11:19 amFears grow that small businesses are being deprived of creditAny bonus awarded to Royal Bank of Scotland chief executive Stephen Hester will be linked to the Edinburgh-based bank hitting the lending commitments that the Treasury has demanded, it emerged today.UK Financial Investments, the body that controls the taxpayer stakes in the bailed out banks, revealed that Hester's pay had been linked to the lending targets amid mounting concern that small businesses are being deprived of credit in the recession.John Kingman, outgoing chief executive of UKFI, told the Treasury select committee, that… -
Northern Rock's mortgage business sees busiest quarter since credit crunch
4 Nov 2009 | 1:10 am• Nationalised bank increases mortgage lending by £1bnNorthern Rock has had its busiest quarter as a mortgage lender since the credit crunch two years ago, lending £1bn in the three months to the end of September.But the nationalised lender, which is to be split into a good and bad bank before being sold off, is continuing to suffer a rise in the number of customers falling behind on their mortgage payments. In the third quarter 4.11% of its mortgage customers were three months or more late on their repayments compared with an industry average, compiled by the Council of Mortgage Lenders,…
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World news: Barack Obama | guardian.co.uk
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President Obama: A little less conversation?
20 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmIneluctably, a worm is turning deep inside President Barack Obama's policy of constructive engagement. Mr Obama needs something, somewhere to go right. He has filled audiences in Berlin and Cairo with hope. He has deployed his rich family history to shine a beam on all manner of problems. But there comes a point where vision must give way to results.A change of tone was implicit this week on his Asian tour. He found a steelier voice on Iran, warning that its refusal to accept the offer of enriching its uranium overseas could trigger international sanctions "within weeks", and he claimed that… -
Mt. Rushmore here we come | Michael Tomasky
20 Nov 2009 | 8:05 amAll right, it would have yucked me out pretty majorly if something like this had been produced under Bush. But hey, the guy is under 50 and athletic. I do wonder, though, if he caught it on the first take. I'll confess to you that it took me a few takes the other day to nail the one tricky riff on Can't Ya Hear Me Knockin'. But as those of you who are guitarists will know, it's harder to play on an acoustic. You should hear me play it on my Tele with the fuzz turned up and one or two (not more!) bourbons in my belly. You'd think it was Keef himself. Anyway, props to Brees and Polamalu and… -
Chinese activists detained after seeking Obama meeting
20 Nov 2009 | 6:26 amTwo lawyers say discussion of rights and religious freedom was suppressed during US president's 'disappointing' visitTania Branigan Beijing Two Chinese rights activists said todayyesterday that they were briefly detained by police after seeking a meeting with Barack Obama in Beijing. They added that US influence over China on human rights had declined. Jiang Tianyong and Fan Yafeng were arrested by plain-clothed police officers after gathering with others at a hotel near the US embassy on Wednesday."We had wanted to discuss [with Obama] the deterioration of religious freedom in China, as well… -
Because the situations were exactly the same, see? | Michael Tomasky
19 Nov 2009 | 1:17 pmPublic Policy Polling has blazed the trail in the past few months of asking the kinds of questions no one else is asking, like do you think Obama is descended from Lenin and so on (a slight exaggeration, but you get the idea). And now they've got another one: PPP's newest national survey finds that a 52% majority of GOP voters nationally think that ACORN stole the Presidential election for Barack Obama last year, with only 27% granting that he won it legitimately. Clearly the ACORN card really is an effective one to play with the voters who will decide whether Hoffman gets to be the… -
Obama responds to questions from Cuban blogger
19 Nov 2009 | 12:46 pmYoani Sánchez, an internationally known dissident blogger, posted US president's quotes on her websiteUS president Barack Obama has answered questions submitted by a celebrated Cuban blogger, saying he isn't interested in "talking for the sake of talking" with Raúl Castro and indicating he won't visit the island until the communist government changes its ways.In an unusual written response to Yoani Sánchez, who has gained international acclaim for daring to criticise her government online, Obama also said it is up to Cuba to act if it wants normal relations with Washington, saying that a…
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The Guardian World News
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Manchester United 3-0 Everton
21 Nov 2009 | 12:04 pmManchester United had won only two of their previous five Premier League matches, and were eight points behind Chelsea at kick-off, but they quickly trimmed that back to five with a comfortable victory over the basket case poor Everton resemble at present.It is interesting to note that, at this stage last season, United were running third, behind Chelsea and Liverpool, and they stayed there until the new year, when they hit the top on the back of an irresistible surge of 11 successive wins.Traditionally, they move up as the Christmas decorations come down. This time, however, there is no… -
England 6-19 New Zealand
21 Nov 2009 | 11:52 am• England beaten for 17th time in 36 games since 2003• Johnson's side have scored just one try in three TestsFrancis Baron has helped to create the richest governing body and biggest rugby stadium in the world, but the second half of the reign of the chief executive of the Rugby Football Union, who is retiring next summer, has been notable for a lack of success on the field. These are the barren years for England and, while there was no questioning the men in white's attitude, it was New Zealand who had the aptitude as they recorded their eighth successive victory in the fixture with more… -
Chelsea 4-0 Wolves
21 Nov 2009 | 9:05 amThe only consolation for Wolves in the teeming west London rain was that they did not emulate their predecessors. The last time the Midlands club were in the Premier League they conceded five goals on each of the two occasions they faced Chelsea. The final tally was one fewer this time around, but that should in no way disguise the utter domination of Carlo Ancelotti's side on a day they revelled as champions-elect.A 12th consecutive home victory, a club record, was achieved with minimum fuss and remarkable class. The league leaders lacked key performers in Frank Lampard, Michael Ballack and… -
Ireland drop replay bid
21 Nov 2009 | 8:24 am• 'Calls have fallen on deaf ears at French Football Federation'• Patrice Evra denounces critics; offers rematch on PlaystationThe Republic of Ireland have been forced to admit defeat in their efforts to be granted a replay of their World Cup play-off clash with France. After Fifa rejected their appeals to have the second leg of the tie replayed because of Thierry Henry's handball in the run-up to William Gallas' decisive goal, the Football Association of Ireland, backed by the France skipper Henry, had turned to the French Football Federation.However, the FFF has ruled out the… -
Cumbria braces for more rain as clean-up continues
21 Nov 2009 | 7:36 amMet Office predicting up to 50mm and warns of waters rising again as county reels from evacuations and policeman's deathFlood-damaged parts of the UK are bracing themselves for more heavy rain today after two days of downpours that inundated homes, swept away bridges, sparked evacuations and claimed the life of a policeman.Gordon Brown has pledged an extra £1m to help flood-hit communities in Cumbria, which yesterday suffered the worst downpour in British history, with 314mm – more than a foot of rain – falling in 24 hours.Brown announced the funding on a visit to the flood-stricken…
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Media: Ofcom | guardian.co.uk
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Treasury secretary defends government's online piracy plans
20 Nov 2009 | 5:45 amStephen Timms claims piracy powers necessary to 'future-proof' government proposals to safeguard the UK's creative industriesRead the government's statement on the billRead the digital economy billStephen Timms, the Treasury secretary, has defended the government's controversial plans to give ministers sweeping powers to combat online piracy as necessary to "future-proof" its proposals to safeguard the UK's creative industries.The digital economy bill, published today, introduces a new system to combat online piracy on peer-to-peer sharing services. Persistent unlawful file-sharers will… -
Relax ownership rules to help local media fight downturn, says Ofcom
17 Nov 2009 | 2:29 amSingle firms should be able to own significantly more outlets than currently permitted, watchdog recommendsOfcom has recommended the liberalisation of local radio and cross-media ownership regulations to tackle the "significant economic changes" being faced by the sector.Following a period of consultation, the media regulator is recommending that local cross-media ownership rules are liberalised, with companies only barred from owning all three of: more than 50% of the local newspapers in a regional market, a radio station and the ITV licence for the area.Ofcom also said the rules governing… -
In praise of… channel 69 | Editorial
16 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmWith the possible exception of Britney Spears and Madonna, few would die for a wireless microphone. But you would be wrong to think it is not a subject capable of stoking passion. Much of the live entertainment industry in Britain, along with sports events, conferences and community events, will be affected by an Ofcom plan to auction off the radio frequencies upon which the industry depends. The frequencies, known collectively as channel 69, were originally exempted from the large block of spectrum being freed up as the country switches from analogue to digital TV. But such is the potential… -
Roy Greenslade: Tories plan 'big bang' deregulation of the media
15 Nov 2009 | 11:48 pmWe have been waiting for a while for the Tories to reveal their media policy. Now, it would appear, we have more than a glimpse of what they propose should they win next year's election.The three major changes of its so-called "big bang" revolution would involve the deregulation of local media ownership, a freeze, or cut, to the TV licence fee from 2012 onwards, and radical reform of the regulator, Ofcom.Shadow culture secretary Jeremy Hunt told the Daily Telegraph that the abolition of cross-media ownership would revive local media.It would also create more competition for the BBC both… -
Will the net widen to protect children online?
15 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmGordon Brown to host new national child internet safety strategy presentation next monthBarely a day passes without reports of attempts by paedophiles to groom underage children for sexual liaisons using internet chatrooms or other contacts. But what is the government, which set up a high profile group to tackle the issue back in 2007, going to do it about? After more than two years we may be about to find out after it was confirmed on Friday that Gordon Brown will present a new national child internet safety strategy on 8 December at No 10.Tanya Byron, the high-profile child psychologist and…
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Education: Ofsted | guardian.co.uk
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'Spare wheel' care in need of repair
10 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmFears of being overlooked in an education-dominated system bring calls for a rethink in the way children's services are managedThe concerns of many children's services managers about the role of regulator Ofsted in relation to children's services have been well aired. Recently, it was argued that Ofsted is in "serious danger" of losing the trust and respect of directors of children's services, who have expressed private concerns that Ofsted's corporate culture is still dominated by education and that, at a senior level, the regulator has little real grasp of children's social… -
Ofsted apologises over failure to disclose report drafts in Shoesmith case
10 Nov 2009 | 10:15 amRegulator ordered to explain delay by judge in case over sacking of children's services head following Baby P deathThe children's services watchdog was forced to apologise today for making a "serious and deeply regrettable" mistake in failing to disclose potential evidence in Sharon Shoesmith's high court case over her sacking in the wake of the death of Baby P.A judge described the late emergence of the documents from Ofsted as "very unsatisfactory" and ordered the regulator to give him "chapter and verse" on why it had said no draft versions of a scathing report into children's services at… -
Sister schools ticked off by Ofsted
5 Nov 2009 | 11:05 amThe £30m Sheffield Park academy became the third of the government's flagship quasi-independent schools to be placed in special measures by Ofsted in July, weeks after its sister school Sheffield Springs was also judged inadequate.Sheffield Park was "inadequate" in all categories, said inspectors who criticised its leadership and management.It blamed "significant weaknesses" on its headteacher and executive head, noting inadequate standards of behaviour and divisions between the pupils of different ethnicity.The £20m Sheffield Springs was given a notice to improve by inspectors, who… -
Mandelson is playing the altruistic antelope on universities | Zoe Williams
4 Nov 2009 | 2:00 pmMandelson's vision of the universities of the future looks like old-fashioned spin – to divert attention from the really big issuePeter Mandelson wants a "consumer revolution" in higher education, with students given far more information on the actual value of their course. The silent driver is that fees have to go up: so much of his document (Higher Ambitions – the Future of Universities in a Knowledge Economy) stresses the fact that the fat years are over, you don't need a degree to see what's going on. However, equally obviously, it would be a straight-talking fool (or non-politician)… -
Ofsted isn't tuned in to children's services | Patrick Butler
27 Oct 2009 | 5:05 pmThese are critical times for Ofsted, the children's services inspectorate. Inspectors are, for good reasons, never entirely popular with the people they inspect, but when private irritation turns into public displays of contempt it's time to worry. This is now happening, and Ofsted is in serious danger of losing the trust and respect of the social services on which it stands in judgment.Barely a day goes by, it seems, without the organisation coming under fire. Last week, John Coughlan, the respected children's services chief at Hampshire county council, and the man ministers hired to…
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Business: Oil | guardian.co.uk
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Nils Pratley | Froth and bubbles in the oil sector
19 Nov 2009 | 12:18 pmLow interest rates and Opec discipline seem to have contributed to the soaring oil priceWhy does oil cost almost $80 a barrel? The recession is clearing but the speed of the run-up from $38 earlier this year has surprised even senior figures in the oil industry – folk who are disposed to see the "right" price for their product as "higher than it is today". One privately described about $20 of the $80 price as "froth" this week.What has caused this froth? Here the debate gets messy. Financial speculators undoubtedly can distort prices (at least temporarily) but speculation does not happen in… -
Record fine for company that misled investors over failed oil wells
17 Nov 2009 | 2:20 amLSE fines Regal Petroleum £600,000 for 'reckless disregard' of Aim rulesCity regulators have hit Regal Petroleum with a record £600,000 fine for misleading investors over failed oil wells off the coast of Greece.The London Stock Exchange announced the financial penalty this morning, as it publicly censured the oil and gas exploration firm. It said Regal has shown a "reckless disregard" over a two-year period for the rules of the Aim market, where its shares are traded, and had caused "considerable damage" to Aim's integrity and reputation.The fine relates to Regal's conduct between June… -
EasyJet warns of 'tough winter ahead'
17 Nov 2009 | 1:29 am• Passenger numbers up as it capitalises on rivals' woes• Airline aims for expansion of 7.5% a yearSlowing passenger growth and a misplaced bet on fuel prices forced easyJet into defending the budget airline business as Europe's second largest no-frills carrier reported a 65% slump in annual profits.EasyJet reported its lowest increase in passenger numbers since launching in 1995, flying 45.2 million people in the year to the end of September. The rise of 3.4% on the previous year's traffic represented a sharp drop on the 17% increase recorded in 2008, before the airline industry had seen… -
The one thing depleting faster than oil is the credibility of those measuring it | George Monbiot
16 Nov 2009 | 12:30 pmThe challenge of feeding billions of people as fuel supplies fall is staggering. And yet leaders' heads remain stuck in the sandI don't know when global oil supplies will start to decline. I do know that another resource has already peaked and gone into free fall: the credibility of the body that's meant to assess them. Last week two whistleblowers from the International Energy Agency alleged that it has deliberately upgraded its estimate of the world's oil supplies in order not to frighten the markets. Three days later, a paper published by researchers at Uppsala University in Sweden showed… -
Energy security body calls for 'urgent' review of impact of oil shortages
15 Nov 2009 | 7:09 amVirgin, Stagecoach and Yahoo among firms calling for measures to address economic dislocation from a sudden rise in oil pricesAn industry organisation that includes Virgin and Yahoo has called on the government to "urgently" reassess its dismissive view about the potential threat and impact of oil shortages.The call from the UK Industry Taskforce on Peak Oil and Energy Security comes after revelations in the Guardian that there is dissent inside the International Energy Agency (IEA) about how soon the world may run out of supplies.It also comes alongside a petition to Number 10 which calls on…
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UK news: Olympic games 2012 | guardian.co.uk
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London Team 2012 filling their rich list
18 Nov 2009 | 4:10 pm• BMW named as London's automotive partner• Australia fearing Olympic inadequacyTeam 2012 is making steady progress towards its target of belatedly filling the £25m funding gap that emerged post Beijing. Having earlier this year bagged Visa as its main sponsor in a £10m deal, the coalition between UK Sport, the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and the British Olympic Association has signed up 22 of the 30 "high net worth" individuals it is trying to woo as "ambassadors", who will pour in substantial sums.All of those philanthropic individuals – mostly from private… -
BMW signs up as 24th sponsor of the London 2012 Olympics
18 Nov 2009 | 1:19 am• BMW becomes 'official automative provider' for Games• Deal involves fleet of 4,000 vehicles for athletes and officialsThe German carmaker BMW has been confirmed as the 24th sponsor of the London 2012 Olympic Games.The deal means that a fleet of 4,000 vehicles, including the BMW, the Mini and also BMW bicycles and motorcycles will be used by athletes, officials, marketing representatives and staff at the 2012 Games.The top-level sponsorship by BMW Group UK also makes it London 2012's sixth sustainability partner, expected to meet a series of low-carbon and healthy living challenges as… -
London's Olympic Stadium poses financial threat to Wembley
17 Nov 2009 | 2:35 pm• Pressure could arise if Stratford site is kept at 80,000• Debate continues as to future use of Olympic stadiumThe financial pressures on Wembley could increase if the Olympic Stadium in Stratford is retained as an 80,000-capacity stadium following the games, the stadium's chairman admitted yesterday.David Bernstein, who took over as chairman of Wembley National Stadium Ltd last year, said there were only a maximum of 40 events a year that could fill a stadium of its size in London.If the Olympic Stadium were to be retained as an 80,000-capacity venue, an idea that is again gaining… -
The nervous, noncommittal noughties can't end soon enough | John Harris
16 Nov 2009 | 1:00 pmIn a decade defined by fatalism and impotence, film-makers and writers have been quick to tap into our sense of impending doomJust to make sure filmgoers leave the present decade on a high, this month brings two suitably upbeat blockbusters. The first is 2012, which topped box office takings in the US and Britain at the weekend, and is directed by Roland Emmerich – who also brought us the aliens-blitz-Earth delight Independence Day and the eco-disaster movie The Day After Tomorrow. This time humanity's demise seems to be traceable to the horrors foretold in an ancient Mayan prophecy, though… -
Olympic Park legacy company board members named
12 Nov 2009 | 2:07 amThe Olympic legacy company's job might be vulgarly described as to make sure that all that money sunk into 2012 doesn't go waste. Among other things it will be responsible for settling the future use of the stadium, selling the land, building a whole new community in the Olympic Park and beyond and generally making sure that east London benefits. The company is chaired by Baroness Margaret Ford and its chief executive is Andrew Altman. Now its board members have been named. Property Week has the whole list. The names I recognise are those of Bob Kerslake, who chairs the Homes and Communities…
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Politics: Opinion polls | guardian.co.uk
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Don't crown Cameron just yet. There's one way Labour could still trip him up | Jonathan Freedland
17 Nov 2009 | 10:00 pmBrown's political obituary is written. The new PM waits in the wings. But – don't laugh – some see cracks in that crystal ballDon't laugh, but it's possible that the Tories won't win the next general election. Sounds silly, I know, given that the polls, the press, why, the very scent in the air, insists that David Cameron is – in the words of today's Guardian front page – the "PM in waiting". Wherever he travels now, Cameron leaves audiences concluding that he looks the part: he has the manner, the confidence, that glow of imminent power. Even Labour ministers have succumbed to this… -
David Cameron is on a roll, but he'd better keep his fingers crossed | Michael White
17 Nov 2009 | 3:01 amThe Tory leader is riding high in the opinion polls, but he isn't home and dry yetA good night for David Cameron? I think so. He emerges strongly from today's Guardian/ICM poll as a tougher, more decisive leader than Gordon Brown, more respected abroad than the prime minister, too.It doesn't matter how true it is. In polls it is perception that matters.The Conservative leader also demonstrated these assertive qualities by prevailing in his life-or-death struggle with the so-called "Turnip Taliban" who wanted to reject Elizabeth Truss, his high-flying candidate of flexible Notting Hill virtue… -
Julian Glover on latest Guardian/ICM poll showing Cameron ahead of Brown
17 Nov 2009 | 1:17 amJulian Glover on latest Guardian/ICM poll showing Cameron ahead of BrownJulian Glover -
Interactive: UK voting intentions
16 Nov 2009 | 10:00 pmFollow each party's polling position month by month from the 2005 general electionPaddy AllenJulian Glover -
Guardian/ICM polls: every one since 1984
16 Nov 2009 | 1:55 pmFull results on voting intentions going back to the beginning of our pollingThe Guardian and ICM have been conducting monthly polls since 1984. Here is the full data going back to then.Download the full dataDATA: Full ICM poll resultsVISUALISATION: see how the data looksCan you do something with this data?Flickr Please post your visualisations and mash-ups on our Flickr group or mail us at datastore@guardian.co.uk• Get the A-Z of data• More at the Datastore directory• Follow us on TwitterOpinion pollsLabourConservativesLiberal DemocratsHouse of CommonsSimon Rogersguardian.co.uk ©…
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Media: Organ Grinder | guardian.co.uk
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What Oprah Winfrey did for talkshow TV
20 Nov 2009 | 5:44 amOprah Winfrey's talkshow is scheduled to finish in 2011. But the legacy may last slightly longerWill you miss Oprah?She is a cultural phenomenon. But today Oprah Winfrey will announce that she is to bring her television show to an end in 2011, 25 years after its first national broadcast. We have much to thank (perhaps) Winfrey for: her programme led the way for a new kind of daytime talkshow, and, of course, talkshow host. So what else exactly has Oprah done for us? You may well ask...Misery litThe misery memoir might have been launched by Dave Pelzer with A Child Called It - a book to make… -
Media Talk podcast: Archie Norman, James Harding, and Adrian van Klaveren
20 Nov 2009 | 12:00 amIt's a bumper edition of Media Talk this week, as Matt Wells and guests Jane Martinson and Paul Robinson analyse a busy seen days across the industry.We begin with broadcasting, where – after months of dilly-dallying – ITV has finally named its new chairman. We look at the job awaiting Archie Norman. Also in the podcast, we head to glorious Essex, where the Times editor James Harding outlined his grand plan to rewrite the economics of online journalism at the Society of Editors conference.Plus, we discuss the squabble between the Guardian and the PCC, and yet more controversy over BBC… -
Yes Minister format sold in Ukraine
19 Nov 2009 | 3:39 amBBC Worldwide has sold the format to the classic political comedies Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister to a Ukrainian broadcaster, Inter TV, which is to make 30 episodes of the show for a peaktime slot next year. The Yes Minister format has already been sold to broadcasters in the Netherlands, Turkey and India, where the local version is called Ji Mantriji.BBCTelevision industryguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds -
ITV to air children's hospital series
19 Nov 2009 | 3:07 amITV1 has commissioned Maverick Television, the independent producer behind How to Look Good Naked, to make a peak-time documentary series about the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital. Children's Hospital will be a 12-part series of 30-minute episodes.ITVTelevision industryguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds -
Readers won't pay for online news, says Digg head Jay Adelson
18 Nov 2009 | 6:54 amCEO says news aggregation sites have a part to play in making money from web-based newsNews organisations should not expect readers to pay for online news, according to Jay Adelson, the CEO of news aggregation site Digg.Adelson told Fox Business News news providers should instead look to sites such as Digg for help in making money from their content.He said: "Don't expect the consumer to necessarily pay for news. I agree that someone has to pay for it - completely agree. But i think news aggregators, frankly companies like Digg, have to include a piece of that." Charging for…
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Film: Oscars | guardian.co.uk
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Michael Moore's Capitalism snubbed by Oscar longlist
19 Nov 2009 | 3:54 amHowever, hard-hitting eco-film The Cove and Agnès Varda's acclaimed The Beaches of Agnès are included in Academy's 15-strong longlist for best documentary OscarMichael Moore has touted it as his boldest, most ambitious movie to date. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, however, appears to disagree. Previously seen as a frontrunner for next year's documentary Oscar, Capitalism: A Love Story surprisingly failed to make the cut when the longlist was announced last night.Moore's picture, which accuses capitalism of being both unchristian and anti-American, was not the only notable… -
Lauren Bacall receives honorary Oscar
16 Nov 2009 | 11:00 pmThe great and good of Hollywood gathered at the weekend to toast movie legend Lauren Bacall as she was conferred an honorary Oscar by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences -
It's Complicated trailer: actually, it's quite simply a bit sad
10 Nov 2009 | 3:12 amNever mind that it stars Meryl Streep and soon-to-be Oscars hosts Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin; would you watch a movie named after a Facebook relationship status?A natural set of candidates came to mind last week when people started talking about possible Oscars hosts. The return of Hugh Jackman, perhaps? Or golden boy and similarly all-singing, all-dancing Neil Patrick Harris? Or even both? A young, hip comedian? A satirist? Or … oh. It was suddenly announced. Oh. It's Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin. Yes, they're both veteran presenters of Saturday Night Live, yet, somehow, they didn't… -
Precious little joy for Disney's A Christmas Carol at US box office
9 Nov 2009 | 5:14 amThe animated spin on the seasonal favourite may have opened at No 1, but that is as nothing compared with how a harrowing tale of an abused teenager has outclassed all comersThe winnerDisney's A Christmas Carol may have opened at No 1 on $31m (£18m) but that's a small chunk of change for a movie that cost in the region of $200m to produce and possibly a further $100m to market worldwide. So this week's real winner was Precious: Based On the Novel Push By Sapphire, which Lionsgate opened in 18 cinemas and took $1.8m. That amounts to a $100,000 per-site average, which is the biggest average… -
The honorary Oscars: why you should care
5 Nov 2009 | 3:15 pmThe Oscars ceremony is changing its rules to stop the television audience from shrinking, but shunting the honorary awards to an earlier date only serves to make it less relevant, says David ThomsonIn awarding the Oscars for 2010, the Academy has chosen to give the Irving Thalberg award (its highest individual distinction) to John Calley. Now, you may not know who Calley is, and that is a mark of his distinctive modesty. But in the 1970s, he was a crucial executive at Warner Brothers who gave the creative go-ahead or purchase order on films including A Clockwork Orange, McCabe & Mrs Miller,…
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Stage: Panto season | guardian.co.uk
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What to see: Lyn Gardner's theatre tips
20 Nov 2009 | 3:11 amAs of this weekend, you'll have to try a little harder to break beyond panto-land, but theatrical finds are still out thereLike Santa Claus, who only visits once a year, many people make their annual trip to the theatre around Christmas time. No wonder that theatres, recognising the jingle of the box-office tills, are eager to extend the festive season for as long as possible. I have wondered whether some of Hackney Empire's financial problems could be solved if it would just run the panto – Aladdin this year – until Easter. By this weekend, Jack will already be up his beanstalk at the… -
Christmas 2009 going out guide: panto
15 Nov 2009 | 1:30 pmIt's behind you! Our guide to the best pantos on offer this ChristmasAladdinTap-dancing pandas and a singing camel? It can only be the panto at London's Hackney Empire, which is undoubtedly the best in the capital. Hackney Empire, London E8 (01208 985 2424), from 28 November to 9 January.Humpty DumptyYork's Theatre Royal delivers good old-fashioned panto year after year under the guiding hand of Berwick Kaler, who is also an outstanding Dame. Theatre Royal, York (01904 623568), from 10 December to 30 JanuaryJack and the BeanstalkLondon's Lyric Hammersmith is a newcomer to the panto trade… -
Does Silvio Berlusconi secretly have it in for Tony Blair? | Alexander Chancellor
15 Oct 2009 | 4:05 pmHow odd that the Italian prime minister may just have derailed his great friend's bid to be EU presidentDoes Silvio Berlusconi harbour some secret hatred of Tony Blair? He claims to regard him as a tremendous friend, but this hasn't stopped him delivering a potentially killer blow to our former prime minister's ambition to become the first president of the European Union. As Blair sidles furtively towards his goal, the last thing he needs is Berlusconi's public endorsement. Berlusconi is not only widely despised among the other European leaders who will, if the Lisbon treaty is ratified,… -
Taking the biscuit? Churchill dog does panto | Leo Benedictus
7 Oct 2009 | 7:56 amSo everyone's favourite nodding canine has signed up for the Qdos pantomime season. It's only a surprise that this sort of deal hasn't been done beforeTheatre purists, look away now. Because yes, that's right, Churchill, the marketing persona of a direct insurance company wholly owned by the humiliated financial services group Royal Bank of Scotland, is going to do panto. The dog is set to appear in every Qdos production during the course of the season, speaking the pre-recorded lines "Oh no" and "Oh yes" while being operated from below by a puppeteer in a box. In the event of a technical… -
Media Monkey: Churchill dog does panto? Ohhh yes (etc)
6 Oct 2009 | 2:23 amPuppet dog Churchill – known from the insurance ads – is to appear in 22 pantomimes this Christmas alongside panto stalwarts such as Christopher Biggins and Shane Richie for a five-figure sum, writes the Daily Telegraph. Oh no he isn't! Ohhhh yes, he is, we're afraid.AdvertisingPanto seasonMonkeyguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
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World news: Pakistan | guardian.co.uk
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Report warns of Pakistan's younger generation losing faith in democracy
20 Nov 2009 | 11:28 am• Swelling population 'risks demographic disaster'• Cynicism and disaffection among disturbing findingsPakistan faces a "demographic disaster" if its leaders fail to invest in a youth population that is disturbingly cynical about democracy, has greatest faith in the military and is resentful of western interference, according to a study published tomorrow.The report, commissioned by the British Council, says the nuclear-armed country is at a critical point, with its population forecast to swell by 85 million, from its current 180 million, over the next two decades."Pakistan is at a… -
On the Pashtun wild west
19 Nov 2009 | 3:10 pmSydney nurse Benjamin Gilmour had to win the trust of local tribesmen to make his film, Son of a Lion, about Pashtun identityIf one of the plethora of film award ceremonies had a category for the most insane attempt to make a movie, then those behind Son of a Lion would be the hot favourite to win. The subject matter is difficult enough; a story set in the so-called crucible of terror, on the border area between Pakistan and Afghanistan, focusing on the Pashtun community, requiring the trust of that community to make the film.On top of that, it was made for less money than some films spend on… -
Pakistan: suicide bomber kills 19 outside court
19 Nov 2009 | 7:16 amAt least 51 injured in sixth bombing in and around city of Peshawar in less than two weeksA suicide bomber blew himself up outside a courthouse in north-western Pakistan , killing 19 people in the latest attack by Islamist militants retaliating against an army offensive near the Afghan border.The bombing was the seventh militant strike in less than a fortnight in and around Peshawar, the largest city in the north-west, leaving more than 80 people dead.The bomber, who arrived in a taxi, was being searched by police officers at the gate of the city's lower court when he detonated explosives on… -
Suicide bomber strikes in Peshawar, Pakistan
19 Nov 2009 | 4:23 amSuicide bomber kills 16 people outside a courthouse in north-western Pakistan -
Hamid Karzai's inauguration - live
18 Nov 2009 | 10:57 pmAfter an election blighted by fraud Hamid Karzai was sworn in today for a second term as Afghanistan's president. World leaders gathered in Kabul to hear Karzai pledge anti-corruption and national unity measures and promise that Afghans would lead security operations6.50am: Karzai has appeared in a dark green robe and his trademark hat. He listens to a military band and then makes his way up a red carpet on his way to the presidential palace. Some of the world leaders have been waiting for him to appear for more than two hours, according to al-Jazeera. Afghan TV is providing live pictures of…
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Media: PDA | guardian.co.uk
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Mobile workers of the world unite? With Worksnug there is an app for that!
20 Nov 2009 | 8:35 amMobile workers of the world can finally unite, as the neat augmented reality application Worksnug has just been approved by Apple for the iPhone. And you know what? Two days after its approval it is already a hit. Not only has Stephen Fry twittered about it, but it went straight in at number five in the iPhone application business charts. So what is it about the application that people seem to want so badly? Worksnug allows you to find wifi locations available nearby, from Starbucks to independent cafes, to libraries and shared offices, complete with reviews describing the atmosphere, power… -
BBC bows to SEO
20 Nov 2009 | 4:33 amBBC News website to feature longer headlines on story pages, making them easier to find on search enginesFrom today, the headlines of the BBC News website will become longer to make its stories easier to find on search engines. "We estimate that about 29% of BBC News website UK traffic comes from search engines.", says Steve Herrmann, editor of BBC News website. The BBC will therefore allow its journalists to create two headlines for a story. While the shorter one between 31 and 33 characters appears on the front page and the website indexes as well as on mobile phones, the longer one – up… -
Stephen Fry attacks 'malevolent' comments following Twitter spat
20 Nov 2009 | 3:25 am'I would not say that I lost faith in Twitter, I would say that I lost faith in my ability to negotiate it,' says Stephen FryStephen Fry, technophile and a "twillionaire" having amassed more than a million followers on Twitter, yesterday explained what almost led him to commit "twitticide" last month and consider leaving the micro-blogging service."I would not say that I lost faith in Twitter, I would say that I lost faith in my ability to negotiate it," Fry said at a social networking conference in London yesterday."I don't know about you but whenever I read a blog I do not let my eye drop… -
Twitter premium accounts for business users due by end of the year
20 Nov 2009 | 2:47 amSo how's Twitter going to make any money? One of its biggest fans, British actor and polymath Stephen Fry, gave co-founder Biz Stone one idea when the pair shared a Nesta panel in London on Thursday…"Supposing I was to say to someone: 'you can have my Twitter identity for an hour on Wednesday if you pay me x pounds and you can speak to a million people direct'," said Fry, whose follower count just passed seven figures.But Fry wasn't being deadly serious, and Stone is content persevering with Twitter's cautious, softly-softly monetisation plans. He said plans to start selling corporate… -
CEO Armstrong will forgo 09 bonus as AOL slashes a third of staff
20 Nov 2009 | 2:45 amAOL plans to let 2,500 employees go in attempt to reduce costs $300 million annually We said last week that the cuts at the new AOL could go far deeper than the anticipated 1,000. At the time, execs declined comment but today the company admitted that it is it slashing its 6,900-member staff by roughly one-third. Employees around the world were told today via e-mail and a video from CEO Tim Armstrong that AOL is looking for up to 2,500 volunteers; if enough don't show up, layoffs will be involuntary. The goal that came out of Armstrong's touted Project Everest: to reduce operating costs by an…
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Art and design: Photography | guardian.co.uk
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Mountains melt: Helena Christensen's pictures from Peru
21 Nov 2009 | 6:46 amSupermodel turned photographer talks about Oxfam project documenting climate change in the Andean countryJim PowellImogen Carter -
Weekend readers' pictures: Green
20 Nov 2009 | 4:06 pmYour best photographs on this week's theme, from circuit boards to emerald snakes -
Family life
20 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmYour storiesSnapshot: Mean and moody on holidayMy sister (seated, 17) and me (standing, 14), mean and moody under the magnificent ramparts of Bamburgh castle in the last week of July 1981. I love this photo because it is so very early 80s and so very truthful. It may remind you of the photo on the cover of your favourite synth duo's debut single, but it's just us on holiday having finally consented to have our photo taken. My sulky look pretty much sums up my teenage demeanour: churn up the Tears for Fears album The Hurting with Private Fraser's "We're doomed, all doomed" off Dad's Army. To… -
In pictures: Most beautiful and most wonderful | Darwin photo competition
20 Nov 2009 | 7:47 amWinning entries of a photographic competition celebrating the birth of Charles Darwin and his theory of evolution -
Alex Box on the fine art of makeup
20 Nov 2009 | 3:30 amMakeup artist Alex Box talks exclusively to Jo Jones about her unconventional work, high fashion, and her latest collaboration with photographer RankinJim PowellJo Jones
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Global: Gallery | guardian.co.uk
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Spacewalkers work on the international space station
21 Nov 2009 | 8:40 amConstruction and maintenance continue on the orbiting lab as Nasa's Atlantis shuttle visits -
24 hours in pictures
21 Nov 2009 | 6:58 am1 November 2009: A selection of the best images from around the world -
Lauren Luke's beauty buys: best blues
21 Nov 2009 | 4:00 amA bolt of blue can brighten the greyest winter day, says Lauren. Here are six well worth a shotLauren Luke -
In pictures: Behind the scenes in Copenhagen with Ed Miliband
20 Nov 2009 | 5:31 pmWriter John Harris and Guardian photographer Martin Argles shadowed the energy and climate change secretary, Ed Miliband, for 40 hours during his trip to an intergovernmental meeting in Copenhagen ahead of the main conference there in December -
The stars of Channel 4 drama The Queen on playing the monarch
20 Nov 2009 | 4:56 pmShould they copy the high-pitched voice? How did they get the walk right? And why does the monarch rarely bend forward? The five stars of Channel 4's drama documentary The Queen talk about how they found their inner Elizabeth
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Global: Audio | guardian.co.uk
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Guardian Book Club Podcast: Kiran Desai
20 Nov 2009 | 10:20 amKiran Desai talks to John Mullan about the writing process for The Inheritance Of LossJohn Mullan -
Nabokov's The Original of Laura discussed, Reif Larsen on his obsessive qualities
20 Nov 2009 | 7:30 amIn the week that Penguin opened the vaults on one of the most tantalising of all literary legacies, Vladimir Nabokov's unfinished novel The Original of Laura, we discuss the decision to disobey the author's wish that it be destroyed. Is it an unfinished masterpiece or the random jottings of a dying man? Actor Dominic West opens the case for publication by reading an extract from the novel.Nabokov was famously an entomologist as well as a novelist, and we follow the insect trail into a novel shortlisted for this year's Guardian first book award. The Selected Works of TS Spivet is written,… -
Music Weekly: Gonzales
20 Nov 2009 | 5:05 amWelcome, one and all, to the latest edition of Music Weekly. This week's show kicks off with art beast Gonzales, who happens to be in the middle of a residency at London's Pigalle club. Laura Barton met up with the Canadian musician to talk about being "welcomed into the bosom of the French", trying to blend musical genius with entertainment and why having Jarvis Cocker on speed dial helps get more people to come to your shows. Barton even manages to squeeze in a piano lesson with the man who holds the record for the longest ever solo performance (27 hours, since you ask).Singles Club rumbles… -
Digested classic podcast: Darkness at Noon by Arthur Koestler
20 Nov 2009 | 2:40 amJohn Crace reminds us that there's no I in socalsm or totaltaransmJohn Crace -
Media Talk podcast: Archie Norman, James Harding, and Adrian van Klaveren
20 Nov 2009 | 12:00 amIt's a bumper edition of Media Talk this week, as Matt Wells and guests Jane Martinson and Paul Robinson analyse a busy seen days across the industry.We begin with broadcasting, where – after months of dilly-dallying – ITV has finally named its new chairman. We look at the job awaiting Archie Norman. Also in the podcast, we head to glorious Essex, where the Times editor James Harding outlined his grand plan to rewrite the economics of online journalism at the Society of Editors conference.Plus, we discuss the squabble between the Guardian and the PCC, and yet more controversy over BBC…
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Politics news, UK and world political comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk
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Making allowances for childcare | Benjamin Dierks
21 Nov 2009 | 4:00 amCash incentives alone won't solve childcare – perhaps Gordon Brown should look at Germany's response to a 'stove premium'While Gordon Brown has had to rethink his plan to abolish tax relief on childcare vouchers, family policy in Germany took a different turn right from the start. It's the better-off who benefit most from the childcare regulations introduced by Angela Merkel's new coalition government.This is no accident. For years, it's been those on higher incomes that the government in Berlin wants to persuade to have more babies. The average German woman gives birth to 1.38 children. -
Climate crunch
20 Nov 2009 | 5:47 pmUnless they end in promises, and a treaty within months, Ed Miliband believes the Copenhagen talks will be a disaster. But can the British energy secretary, in Denmark for a frantic round of pre-summit diplomacy, win the argument?It's breakfast time in the biggest of Copenhagen's Scandic hotels. Over the obligatory croissants and coffee – and, for those who want it, an off-beam version of the English breakfast – 42 international delegations are preparing to go into a second day of talks. Phones tweet; hushed conversations within teams of negotiators form a low conversational hum.Look… -
In pictures: Behind the scenes in Copenhagen with Ed Miliband
20 Nov 2009 | 5:31 pmWriter John Harris and Guardian photographer Martin Argles shadowed the energy and climate change secretary, Ed Miliband, for 40 hours during his trip to an intergovernmental meeting in Copenhagen ahead of the main conference there in December -
The EU's nice stich-up | Ilana Bet-El
20 Nov 2009 | 4:50 pmLady Ashton is apparently a perfectly personable woman, but she was only chosen because she ticked the right boxesIf someone held the patent for the word "nice" they would make a fortune today: the only thing anyone can find to say about Lady Ashton is that she's nice. Sometimes she's just nice, other times she's nice in comparison to Lord Mandelson, her predecessor as EU trade commissioner. She also has nice people skills, and is nice to work with. Perhaps a fashion journalist will cast her eye over her soon and pronounce her dress sense nice; but maybe not. Or maybe one of those "EU… -
'Gangbos' aimed at teenage crime
20 Nov 2009 | 4:44 pmNew injunctions against gangs and action on wheelclampers included in Alan Johnson's crime billNew antisocial behaviour injunctions – dubbed gangbos – aimed at tackling teenage gang members as young as 14 are to be introduced as part of the new crime and security bill, the home secretary disclosed yesterday.The civil injunctions will include bans on meeting other gang members, wearing gang colours, going to certain locations or having a violent dog in a public place.Breaching a gangbo could require the offender to report to the police regularly, obey a curfew enforced by an electronic tag…
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Politics: Politics blog | guardian.co.uk
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Where are all the MPs? They're watching it on TV, too
20 Nov 2009 | 7:49 amThe televising of the Commons, begun 20 years ago, was inevitable – but it has diminished the chamberIs it really 20 years since they fitted new, brighter lights above the chamber of the Commons, drove out those atmospheric, blokeish shadows and finally allowed in the TV cameras? My, time flies when you're having fun.Has it been a success? Before I answer that question by citing the law of unintended consequences, I have to concede that the change was a necessity. MPs had faffed around the question for 25 years, since a trial period for TV was recommended under the newly elected Labour… -
Who are the top 100 political journalists?
20 Nov 2009 | 3:47 amBlogger's annual bid to stir up feelings of envy and insecurity in Westminster press corps works its magic againIain Dale has done it again. In his annual bid to stir up feelings of envy and insecurity in the Westminster press corps, his Total Politics magazine has published its list of the top 100 political journalists.The results are based on a survey of their readers, including MPs, peers, journalists, councillors and lobbyists.This year, Nick Robinson came top (up from fourth place last year). You can read the full list here, but, to give you a flavour, here are the top 20.1. Nick… -
Von Rompuy-Ashton appointment: The EU has opted for the quiet life
20 Nov 2009 | 1:12 amAfter a turbulent 500 years it is understandable – I sometimes feel like putting my feet up too – but it is a mistakeIt's not true that last night's appointments at the EU's Brussels conclave are without historic precedence.When the Italian politician Signor Caligula was the president of the European commission during one of the continent's more dynamic phases, he appointed his horse to negotiate the early stages of the Doha trade round.You know something has gone horribly wrong when the Guardian and the Mail come up with the same front page headline, as they did today with: "The great EU… -
After failing to get the European council presidency, Tony Blair will bounce back as usual | Michael White
19 Nov 2009 | 10:43 amBlair's embarrassment at being so publicly rebuffed by the EU 27 will not last long"We can all picture the scene at a European Council sometime next year. Picture the face of our poor prime minister as the name 'Blair' is nominated by one president and prime minister after another: the look of utter gloom on his face at the nauseating, glutinous praise oozing from every head of government, the rapid revelation of a majority view, agreed behind closed doors when he, as usual, was excluded. Never would he more regret no longer being in possession of a veto: the famous dropped jaw almost hitting… -
Caption competition: Gordon Brown welcomes Willie Bain to parliament
19 Nov 2009 | 5:45 amLabour's newest MP is greeted by prime minister and wife at No 10During the Glasgow North East byelection, opponents of Labour candidate Willie Bain produced a poster asking: "Do you really believe Willie Bain lives in his ma's hoose?"(He works in London two days a week.)Looking at this picture of the diminutive MP meeting Gordon and Sarah Brown yesterday before being sworn in ... yes, I really do believe it.Post your caption ideas below. ScotlandScottish politicsGlasgow North East byelectionGordon BrownSarah BrownLabourPaul Owenguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use…
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World news: Race issues | guardian.co.uk
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Mystery surrounds brutal murder of Geeta Aulakh
20 Nov 2009 | 10:44 amPolice rule out stranger attack but reject honour killing theory despite misgivings by Asian women's groupsEvery day, staff at Sunrise Radio were greeted with a smile from Geeta Aulakh, the receptionist who had dreamed as a young girl of working for the first independent 24-hour Asian station.For four days this week, her chair has been empty and, in a painful series of conversations, her colleagues have been sharing glimpses she gave them of the pain hidden beneath her warmth.It is in the particularly horrific death of Aulakh that the secrets of her life are emerging. Police believe what… -
Sikh campaigner for BNP set to become party's first non-white member
20 Nov 2009 | 6:47 amRajinder Singh says he supports far-right party's anti-Islam stanceA Sikh man who has campaigned for the BNP in support of its anti-Islam stance has been put forward to be the party's first non-white member.Rajinder Singh, who is in his late 70s, has twice lent support to Nick Griffin during the British National party leader's court appearances and appeared in an election broadcast for the party in 2005. There have been suggestions that he could stand as a BNP candidate at next year's general election.Singh, who came to Britain in 1967, used to pen a regular column for the party's Freedom… -
The pro-Israel lobby and antisemitism | Antony Lerman
20 Nov 2009 | 1:00 amC4's Dispatches has been branded 'antisemitic', but surely Britain's Jewish community can cope with reasoned scrutiny?The serious charges levelled by critics at the Dispatches documentary investigating the UK pro-Israel lobby amount to accusations of gross irresponsibility, or worse. But who is being irresponsible here? Those who say the film will lead to increased antisemitism, displays "1930s style prejudice" and the return of antisemitic politics, and will reinforce Jews' fear of antisemitism? Or the filmmakers whose principal conclusion is: "we have found a worrying lack of… -
Precious director may march to Selma
18 Nov 2009 | 8:39 amThe story of the pivotal civil rights marches in Selma, Alabama is to be made into a film, with Lee Daniels poised to directIt is the Alabama town forever associated with the civil rights struggle after state troopers clubbed and tear-gassed activists as they tried to march on the state capital, Montgomery, 54 miles away.Now the story of the historic marches from Selma in 1965, which led to legislation that finally brought equal suffrage for African-Americans through the 1965 Voting Rights Act, is to be told on the big screen, reports Variety.Lee Daniels, whose inspirational film Precious is… -
Nubian fury at 'monkey' lyric of Arab pop star Haifa Wehbe
17 Nov 2009 | 10:37 am• Black Egyptians sue and demand album be banned• Row casts fresh light on racism in regionOne of the Arab world's biggest pop stars has provoked a torrent of outrage after releasing a song which refers to black Egyptians as monkeys.Haifa Wehbe, an award-winning Lebanese diva who has been voted one of the world's most beautiful people, is now facing a lawsuit from Egyptian Nubians claiming the song has fuelled discrimination against them and made some Nubian children too afraid to attend school.The row has cast fresh light on the position within Egyptian society of Nubians, who are…
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Television & radio: Radio | guardian.co.uk
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Max Robertson obituary
20 Nov 2009 | 2:26 pmBBC radio's lightning-fast voice of Wimbledon tennis for four decadesMax Robertson, who has died at the age of 94, earned a deserved reputation for being one of the BBC's most versatile broadcasters, and was recognised during his heyday at Wimbledon as the fastest talker on the air. Among numerous other roles, he was the first presenter of the current affairs programme Panorama, and in at the start of television's passion for appreciating antiques - and the price they might fetch - in Going for a Song.For those of us growing up as sports-mad schoolboys in the 1950s, the voices that brought us… -
Radio catchup: The 50 Most Important Recordings of the Decade, The Bike Show, Desert Island Discs, Today
20 Nov 2009 | 1:45 amAn interesting list of noughties tunes from the US, militant cyclists and two moving parent-child talesIn the week that the NME announced its Top 50 Albums of the Noughties, NPR (National Public Radio) in America produced its list of The 50 Most Important Recordings of the Decade. For list-lovers it's a pleasure to compare the two. In saying "recordings" NPR has allowed itself single tracks, and although rock and indie-heavy, it does include classical music and commercial pop. Rather classily, unlike the NME, it didn't number its choices in order of preference – "We make these lists not to… -
The Blagger's Guide to Jazz | Radio review
19 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmThis musical primer refused to take its subject remotely seriously – and thank goodness for thatThe Blagger's Guide to Jazz (Radio 2) is hilarious. It's postmodern, self-conscious, silly, clever, intertextual, childish and frantic in its telling, a bit like an improvised jazz session after more than a few too many. There are bad jokes ("polyrhythms – that's not the noise parrots make") aplenty, quite unnecessary non-jazz name-checks – a mention of Art Blakey brings a clip of Blakey from On the Buses – and a fizzing core of naughty energy.I loved the running gag about moments… -
The Herschel Space Telescope | Radio review
18 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmThe story of the Herschel space telescope started slowly, but we got a real sense of the people involvedIt's weird how some programmes are squished into teensy slots, and you're left yearning for much more, while others occupy more luxuriously commodious slots and you can't fathom why. There was nothing wrong with The Herschel Space Telescope (Radio 4) but why give it two programmes?Such roominess resulted in a slow start. Those working in the UK on the telescope said predictable things, such as, "If it all works out, it'll be a real sense of satisfaction." About 15 minutes in, though, we… -
Classic FM's National Listening Day | Radio head
17 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmClassic FM wants us to listen to, not just hear, musicYesterday was National Listening Day on Classic FM. Now, you might think that a radio station having a day dedicated to listening is a bit unnecessary, like a restaurant celebrating eating. But, as Simon Bates explained, his tone all serious and sage-like, "You can hear music, and you can listen to music." In case anyone out there was out of practice, Bates gave some basic tips on how to listen. "I want you to lean into the radio," he said. "Or maybe put a decent pair of headphones on."It's a fair point. Most of us multi-task while the…
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Television & radio: TV and radio blog | guardian.co.uk
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The X Factor liveblog: the seventh live show
20 Nov 2009 | 10:59 amJohn and Edward combined with Wham! – it's going to be a heady Saturday night. But what else does this week hold for Danyl, Stacey, Jedward, Joe, Lloyd and Olly?PREAMBLEAll of last week's X Factor action"Call me good, call me bad, call me anything you want to baby". Such an open invitation to hurl abuse at the X Factor contestants has rarely been proffered - but prepare yourselves, because this Saturday's X Factor theme is Wham!. Or Wham! and George Michael, which possibly sounds like less fun. (Think you could choose a better theme night than that? You are not alone. Head over here to… -
Strictly Come Dancing: live!
20 Nov 2009 | 10:24 amSaturday night means spangles, sequins and spinning around the dance floor. Which celeb will be next to go?All of last week's Strictly actionRicky Groves survives to dance again this Saturday night afer winning the judges' vote over Phil Tufnell last week. Was that a deserved victory? General consensus on the blog appeared to be not – with Tuffers seen to have been the more consistent performer.Still, at least Claudia Winkleman proved herself a hit – even if she did show Tess up somewhat, who was (rather oddly) being aided by Ronnie Corbett because obviously you can't leave two women… -
The best TV dogs
20 Nov 2009 | 10:10 amPaul O'Grady's dog Buster – as much a star as the presenter himself – has sadly died. We celebrate other brilliant TV caninesPaul O'Grady's dog, Buster, has been put down, leaving O'Grady "devasted", the Sun reported today. Poor Buster – and poor Paul, whose dog was almost as much a part of his daytime show as the presenter himself; viewers could even win a nodding Buster. O'Grady's other dogs, Olga and Bullseye, are to take over Buster's studio duties – but which other TV dogs have we grown to love?Bouncer (Neighbours)A gift to Lucy Robinson, Bouncer joined the Neighbours team in… -
Where are all the MPs? They're watching it on TV, too
20 Nov 2009 | 7:49 amThe televising of the Commons, begun 20 years ago, was inevitable – but it has diminished the chamberIs it really 20 years since they fitted new, brighter lights above the chamber of the Commons, drove out those atmospheric, blokeish shadows and finally allowed in the TV cameras? My, time flies when you're having fun.Has it been a success? Before I answer that question by citing the law of unintended consequences, I have to concede that the change was a necessity. MPs had faffed around the question for 25 years, since a trial period for TV was recommended under the newly elected Labour… -
What Oprah Winfrey did for talkshow TV
20 Nov 2009 | 5:44 amOprah Winfrey's talkshow is scheduled to finish in 2011. But the legacy may last slightly longerWill you miss Oprah?She is a cultural phenomenon. But today Oprah Winfrey will announce that she is to bring her television show to an end in 2011, 25 years after its first national broadcast. We have much to thank (perhaps) Winfrey for: her programme led the way for a new kind of daytime talkshow, and, of course, talkshow host. So what else exactly has Oprah done for us? You may well ask...Misery litThe misery memoir might have been launched by Dave Pelzer with A Child Called It - a book to make…
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World news: Religion | guardian.co.uk
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There can be no 'banning of sharia law' | Bananabrain
21 Nov 2009 | 5:00 amBesides being unworkable, a 'ban' on sharia law would pose a serious challenge to all our civil libertiesI do not support the aims of the "One Law for All" campaign and today's rally. Nor do I support that which they oppose, namely the use of sharia as a vehicle by Islamist groups to assist their nefarious goals. Obviously, as an observant Jew, the campaign's success would also severely inconvenience me by outlawing Jewish halakhah (religious law), not to mention the Church of England, but there are several reasons why the non-religious should also be wary. These concern one's individual… -
We'll defend freedom in Harrow | Shaaz Mahboob
21 Nov 2009 | 3:00 amIf a demonstration against 'the Islamisation of Europe' takes place next month, our peaceful protest will be there to meet itEver since our successful demonstration against al-Muhajiroun (under the name of Islam4UK) on the 31 October which turned into a celebration of democracy and freedom, we have been inundated with calls and emails from Muslims and non-Muslims alike who have expressed their appreciation at our efforts to uphold democratic values and those of freedom and liberty in the face of extremism and bigotry. These are the values which are supposed to underpin our society and foster… -
Face to faith: The real challenge to the biblical literalism held dear by creationists is in the Bible itself, says Judith Maltby
20 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmThe real challenge to the biblical literalism held dear by creationists is in the Bible itselfAn academic conference in Louisville, Kentucky, provided me with an opportunity to visit the Creation Museum in nearby Petersburg with a friend who is also an Anglican priest. Opened in 2007, this $25m museum's mission is not only to prove the veracity of a literal reading of Genesis but also to present Darwinism as one the most dangerous and corrupting ideologies yet known to humankind.The museum is not for woolly-minded creationists. The six days of creation are six 24-hour days (no fudge there)… -
Senior Catholic warns off Anglican church's women priest opponents
20 Nov 2009 | 10:31 amConverts to Rome cannot pick and choose, says Vincent Nichols, as Rowan Williams and pope prepare to meetAnglicans should not become Catholic to protest against female clergy or sexual ethics, the archbishop of Westminster said today, as he warned traditionalists against adopting a "pick and choose" approach to the religion.The Most Rev Vincent Nichols, the most senior Catholic in England and Wales, was speaking ahead of tomorrow's meeting in Rome between Rowan Williams, the archbishop of Canterbury, and Pope Benedict XVI. The pair will discuss the recent initiative by the Vatican to allow… -
A show of unity at too high a price | Savitri Hensman
20 Nov 2009 | 9:45 amThe Anglican church should no longer put the virtue of uniformity above the need to challenge prejudice and suffering"United we stand, divided we fall" is a common saying. Likewise there is a Japanese proverb "A single arrow is easily broken, but not ten in a bundle."To stay united (or appear to be), members of families, religious groups, social movements and political parties may play down doubts and disagreements. On minor matters, this may be sensible or at least harmless. However, when this involves upholding injustice and cruelty, it can damage not only those on the receiving end but…
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Environment: Renewable energy | guardian.co.uk
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All fired up: wood-burning stoves
20 Nov 2009 | 4:10 pmThey keep our homes warm in style, and are a renewable energy source to boot. What's not to like about wood-burning stoves, asks Dominic Murphy Why buy one? It's potentially carbon neutral. Although burning logs releases CO2, this is the same amount as was absorbed while the wood was growing. If a new tree is planted for each one burned, there is no overall increase in carbon emissions.A bit old-fashioned, no? So what if there's a touch of Heidi about some. There are plenty more with a contemporary feel – 007 just back from the ski slopes, say.Where do I start? Decide what sort of stove you… -
Skills shortage dents UK's green credentials
20 Nov 2009 | 6:03 am• Shortage threatens low-carbon targets, argues business group• Gap comes as demand for scientists and engineers increasingBritain lacks the skills or training facilities to make the successful transition to a low-carbon economy that its international commitments require, an influential group of businesses and non-governmental organisations warns today.In a report that will dent Britain's image ahead of the Copenhagen climate conference, the Aldersgate Group says that in spite of the UK's pledge to meet a European Union 2020 target for carbon emissions, the government's skills strategy is… -
Green technologies in peril as rich nations dither on climate deal
18 Nov 2009 | 1:27 pmUncertainty over investing in green technologies more dangerous than lack of Copenhagen treaty says Achim Steiner, the head of the UN environment programmeVital business investment in clean technology to tackle climate change is being threatened by delays and doubts over the Copenhagen deal on climate change, senior figures have told the Guardian.Without urgent progress which will stimulate funding for renewables, nations could be locked into high-carbon energy and transport technologies for decades, inflating another unsustainable economic bubble, they fear.Achim Steiner, the head of the UN… -
Wind turbines and solar panels could be put up without planning permission
17 Nov 2009 | 6:51 amSchools, stadiums and railway stations could see quick installation of renewable technologies under government proposalsWind turbines up to 15 metres high could be put up in industrial estates or farmland without planning permission under plans published by the government today.Changes to the planning system would also make it easier for new solar roofs to go up on stadiums, schools and railway stations or for offices to be re-clad in solar panels, the Department for Communities and Local Government said.But the new rules, which would also allow councils and electric car drivers to install… -
Science Weekly podcast: Top 10 eco myths and regrowing breasts after mastectomy
15 Nov 2009 | 4:01 pmDuncan Clark, Guardian environment writer and author of The Rough Guide to Green Living, tells us about his top 10 eco myths. (1:25)In the newsjam we look at Britain's renewable energy targets, a new technique to regrow breasts following mastectomy, a recent spate of cancer deaths among rescuers after 9/11, and the controversy over whether dinosaurs were warm-blooded. (13:59)Guardian religious affairs correspondent Riazat Butt speaks to delegates at a summit at Windsor Castle as religious leaders are asked to help save the planet by the UN secretary general. (25:12)We air some of your recent…
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Education: Research | guardian.co.uk
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Letter: Stanley Ellis obituary
19 Nov 2009 | 10:55 amBrian MacDonald writes: I had the privilege of using Stanley Ellis (obituary, 14 November) a number of times as an expert witness when I was an investigator for HM Customs. I first met him in 1989, when I gave him a short lift to Isleworth crown court. We spoke only briefly during the car journey, and as he got out of my car, he surprised me by asking which part of the Wirral peninsula I was brought up in (astonishing, as I had left the Wirral nearly 30 years earlier). Stanley was enthusiastic and meticulous about his specialism and fair in his opinions. He will be… -
Angels & Demons: the Swansea connection
16 Nov 2009 | 4:05 pmHow do you make a bottle to store antimatter in? Don't ask Dan Brown; ask Professor Mike Charlton of Swansea University, who is researching the complex world of particle theory, in CernWhen Tom Hanks's character, Robert Langdon, hunts down the secret Illuminati brotherhood in the film of Dan Brown's bestseller Angels & Demons, the cameras follow him tracking down stolen antimatter in a secret laboratory at Cern, the home of the European Organisation for Nuclear Research and the infamous Large Hadron Collider. There, Langdon meets in-house scientist Vittoria Vetra and we viewers get an insight… -
Warning: studying can seriously affect your grades
16 Nov 2009 | 4:00 pmA report by two professors provides proof that the number of hours you spend studying has an effect on your gradesDoes studying affect grades? Ralph and Todd Stinebrickner published what they say is the first persuasive evidence that it does. In their words, there is a "causal effect of studying on grade performance".Ralph Stinebrickner is a professor of mathematics and computer science at Berea College in the US. Todd, his son, is a professor of economics at the University of Western Ontario, Canada. Their report appears in the Berkeley Electronic Journal of Economic Analysis and… -
Imperial College boss resigns
16 Nov 2009 | 9:30 am