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The Independent (London, England)
The Independent is a Monday to Sunday newspaper, owned and published by Independent Print Ltd and headquartered in London, England. It was first published in 1986 in reaction to the conservative views held by the London Times and the London Telegraph. It has a liberal slant. The Independent's audience is London based, with 54 percent of its readership living in London and its surroundings. Other notable qualities of its readership are: the average reader is 43 years old; 59 percent are employed; 62 percent are married; 48 percent have a college degree or higher; and 73 percent own their own homes. Regions covered include: London and South East, South West, Midlands, North and North East, North West, Scotland, and Wales. The Independent is the youngest of Britain's daily newspapers and is notable for challenging London's more established and conservative daily newspapers. The daily edition was named National Newspaper of the Year at the 2004 British Press Awards. In 2010, Simon Kelner, Editor-in-Chief of The Independent, and Johann Hari, a regular columnist in the paper, each received a Comment Award, similar to the U.S. Pultizer Prize. Oliver Wright is Whitehall editor; Oly Duff is home news editor, and Katherine Butler is comment editor.
Articles from December 21, 2006
ACADEMY OF ANCIENT MUSIC / GOODWIN ; Classical ++ Wigmore Hall LONDON
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It's still Mozart time, and for the first half-hour of the Academy of Ancient Music's late tribute, it was barrel-scraping time, too. The symphony in F that he wrote for London when he was nine, unfortunately rediscovered 25 years ago, has little interest...
A Criminally Good 'Christmas Carol' ; Last Night's TV ++ BAD GIRLS: A CHRISTMAS SPECIAL ITV1 ++ NIGELLA'S CHRISTMAS KITCHEN BBC2
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Only 13 days to go, then, in the calendar of my sad private advent, until the highlight of the season. Training has been hard already, with double doses of old episodes of This Life cunningly scheduled after Newsnight to provoke massive sleep deprivation...
A Drama That's Nothing If Not Spirited ; Theatre ++ GHOSTS ++ Gate Theatre LONDON
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"People hated Ghosts when it premiered because they were shocked by how radical it was," says Anna Mackmin, associate director of the Gate. "A lot of the play still feels radical and fresh even now, and that's why I wanted to direct it." Written in 1881,...
Airlines Must Pay the Real Cost of Their Emissions ; LEADING ARTICLE ++ CLIMATE CHANGE
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That the airlines by and large welcomed yesterday's European Commission proposals on carbon emissions tells us almost as much as we need to know. The Commission has produced a pusillanimous set of measures; they represent the lowest common EU denominator...
A Life like a Soap Opera but a Career That Touched the Stars ; CRICKET
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Sydney. The news, when it seeped out on Channel Nine Television here yesterday, was a shock but not a surprise. As he left the field on Monday after Australia's victory in the third Test in Perth, which secured the Ashes, he said: "These are the things...
A LOOK INTO THE FUTURE ; A Group Leading Scientists of Was Asked to Come Up with a Vision of the Planet (and beyond) 50 Years from Now. the Conclusions Are Startling, Reports Steve Connor ++ Science's Crystal Ball
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A permanently manned base on the Moon, memory implants in the brain, the rise of a Chinese scientific superpower and unlimited, pollution-free energy. They sound like science fiction, but could they come true in the 21st century? Predicting the future...
A Shock to the Ancient Rhythms of the Natural World ; CLIMATE CHANGE
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Animals that hibernate in winter abandoning hibernation: yet another signal that something momentous is happening to the rhythms of the natural world, in the way in which we have always understood them. Consider what a significant disruption of a life...
Ashton Displays Good Cheer and Fierce Ambition ; SPORT
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Those who believe Brian Ashton will need all the help he can get in resurrecting England's rugby fortunes after three years of free- fall, and they are in a very substantial majority, must have been just a little concerned at the knockabout nature of...
Behold, the Virgin Birth (and Yes, It's a Son) ; HOME
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The world's largest lizard has astonished biologists by being able to produce offspring by an "immaculate" conception without the help of a male. Two captive female Komodo dragons have had virgin births by a process called parthenogenesis, when an unfertilised...
Bollore's Running Board Battle Keeps Aegis on the Boil ; THE INVESTMENT COLUMN
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Our view: Buy Share price: 138.5p (-1.25p) The past 18 months have been an exciting time for shareholders in media group Aegis, as the company has found itself engulfed in persistent takeover speculation. Last year, rivals WPP and Publicis plotted to...
'Brainwashed' Blair Losing Battle to Prove His Influence ; POLITICS
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Tony Blair's "shoulder to shoulder" support for George Bush has been called into question again by claims that he was "brainwashed" by President Bush over plans to pull troops out of Iraq. The Prime Minister returned yesterday from his seven-nation visit...
'BRIC' Economies Hold the Key to Building Global Growth in 2007 ; BUSINESS
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This is the last of these columns for 2006, hence the seasonal temptation to try to think through the principal economic influences during the coming year. It is an exercise that is useful not because global economic changes follow an annual calendar...
British Energy Disappoints Again ; OUTLOOK
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It's one mishap after another at British Energy. Being bailed out by the state four years ago should have been a galvanising experience, but to judge by a string of profit and revenue warnings over the past year, the nuclear power generator's operational...
BT Rings Up Gains after Being Open on Pensions ; MARKET REPORT
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Few investors would have picked BT Group to be among the top performers in the blue chip index in 2006, but the company's excellent year continued yesterday with shares closing 11.25p firmer at 316.5p, a price last seen in May 2001. BT Group shares have...
Bush Wants Bigger Army to Tackle 'Extremists' ; WORLD
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George Bush says he wants to increase the size of the US military - currently the second largest in the world - to allow America to take on a "long struggle against radicals and extremists". Speaking at an end-of-year press conference, Mr Bush said he...
Call That Art? Michael Stone Defends Himself ; Picture Post
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Politicians, journalists and photographers who were in the Stormont parliament building on 24 November watching Michael Stone, the loyalist murderer, come crashing through the revolving doors armed to the teeth with bombs, a knife and a handgun, might...
Chess ; EXTRA
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The American Frank James Marshall (1877-1944) was one of the world's top 10 players for about 20 years from 1904 onwards. He opened the Marshall Chess Divan in his native New York in 1915 - the forerunner of the famous Marshall Chess Club, formed seven...
Christmas Misery as Heavy Fog Brings Chaos to Airports ; HOME
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The Christmas plans of hundreds of thousands of people are in jeopardy because of the severe fog which has grounded flights from British airports. British Airways has cancelled 180 flights out of Heathrow today, including all domestic services. Many...
CONTINUATION: Experts Blame Global Warming as Bears Stop Hibernating in Europe ; CLIMATE CHANGE
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scarce to find. The barely breathing creatures can lose up to 40 per cent of their body weight before warmer springtime weather rouses them back to life. But many of the 130 bears in Spain's northern cordillera - which have a slightly different genetic...
CONTINUATION: 'The FA Does Not Have the Credibility of Public or Clubs' ; FOOTBALL
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ongoing work. He revealed that "eight major agents" had not co- operated with Quest and, while declining to name names, he said he will now seek help from the Football Association and Fifa, football's world governing body, to pursue them. The implication...
CORAM BOY ; Theatre ++ National Theatre LONDON
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Handel's glorious choral music - performed by a splendid group of singers - undergoes various kinds of ironic shading in Coram Boy, Helen Edmundson's stirring stage adaptation of Jamila Gavin's novel. Premiered last year as the National's Christmas show...
DAVID SMITH ; You Write the Reviews ++ Tate Modern LONDON
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David Smith was one of the most innovative and influential US sculptors of the 20th century. This show celebrates the 100th anniversary of his birth and shows how he revolutionised sculptural practice. He pioneered the use of the blowtorch, having worked...
Deal-Hungry Mittal in Mexican Buy ; BUSINESS
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The world's largest steel maker, Arcelor Mittal, is to acquire the Mexican steel producer Sicartsa for $1.4bn ([pound]710m) to make it the country's biggest producer of the metal. Arcelor Mittal is also forming a joint venture with Sicartsa's parent...
Defoe Strikes in Extra Time to Break Southend ; FOOTBALL
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TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 1 SOUTHEND UNITED 0 After Extra Time The Football League will only have one of its clubs in the semi- finals of its cup competition next month but they were sorely close to having double that total here last night. After the heroics...
Despite the Grumbling, There's No Recession in Retailing Yet, but There Are Plenty of Losers ; OUTLOOK
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Higher utility bills, rising taxes, progressively squeezed disposable incomes - it should all add up to lower consumption. Yet there was little sign of it in yesterday's clutch of economic data, which gives scant support to those retailers complaining...
Drogba Steps in to Finish off Newcastle ; FOOTBALL
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NEWCASTLE UNITED 0 CHELSEA 1 Given that he is such a fierce opponent of footballers attempting to deceive referees, it is often perplexing to see Jose Mourinho's Chelsea teams appear to seek advantage by going to ground at the slightest hint of contact...
EU Plan to Cut Airline Emissions 'Too Weak' ; EUROPE
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Campaigners have dismissed plans to include airlines in a scheme to combat climate change as too weak to curb the impact on global warming of a massive growth in air travel. Under the proposals, all European flights will be covered by the EU's emissions...
Every Day He Clings on, the Damage Gets Worse ; EDITORIAL & OPINION
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Out of the mouth of babes, and babblers comes the truth. Britain, declared its Foreign Secretary, Margaret Beckett, in her rambling interview on the Today programme this week, may have lost influence in the Arab street because of Iraq, but its influence...
Farewell to the Best Bowler Ever and Probably the Greatest Cricketer of All Time ; CRICKET
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Shane Warne is the finest bowler cricket has produced and probably the greatest cricketer of all time. I say probably only because it is impossible for me to gauge how brilliant players like Sir Donald Bradman and Sir Garfield Sobers were. As a bowler...
For the Best Conversations, Try the Charing Cross Road ; EDITORIAL & OPINION
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I have been to London twice this month, once to see The Thirty- Nine Steps with the family and once to go to a BBC Radio departmental Christmas Party. Now I don't have to go to London again this year. Some people might question why I had to go to the...
Frank Johnson ; OBITUARIES
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Frank Johnson [obituary by Michael Leapman, 16 December] was not so much savage as derisive and conscious of the funniness of serious politicians, writes Edward Pearce. He preferred eccentrics to the sensible people who make terrible copy. Dennis Skinner...
Gifts, Bungs and Corruption ; LEADING ARTICLE ++ FOOTBALL
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Yesterday's findings from Lord Stevens' inquiry into football corruption were unsatisfactory. Although he was happy with the probity of the majority of the transfer deals he examined, the former Metropolitan Police Commissioner also revealed that some...
HMV Misses out on Christmas Uplift in Sales ; BUSINESS
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HMV is the latest retailer to feel the impact of disappointing Christmas sales after warning that subdued demand for CDs, DVDs and books had hit profits. The profit warning was widely anticipated after Woolworths warned that sales of entertainment products...
Home Shopping Specialist Redcats Fined [Pound]270,000 over Insurance Sales ; BUSINESS
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The Financial Services Authority yesterday unveiled the latest stage of its crackdown on the payment protection insurance sector, publicly censuring two companies for mis-selling the cover. The regulator announced it had fined Redcats, a home shopping...
I Love the Commercialisation of Christmas ; EDITORIAL & OPINION
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At this time of year, a low, familiar bleat is invariably heard from the pulpits and vestries: Christmas has become crudely com- mercialised. Money, money, money has trumped Messiah, Messiah, Messiah. This year, the first to utter this cry has been Dr...
IMF Urges Fiscal Restraint as Public Sector Borrowing Soars ; BUSINESS
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The International Monetary Fund yesterday urged Gordon Brown to rein back on government spending as official figures showed borrowing had posted its second-largest rise last month since modern records began. The Treasury borrowed [pound]9.9bn in November...
'I Push Past the Elf. Suddenly I'm in This Tacky Cave Where the Bearded One Is Sitting on His Plastic Throne' ; He's out There
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Uh-oh, Coop's in trouble again, and big time. It's just because it's Christmas. I like all the parties and stuff but I can't stand the frickin' fakery of having to give presents to everyone you've ever shooken hands with. You go out on a shopping blitzkrieg,...
Irving Is Freed after 13 Months in Austrian Jail for Holocaust Denial ; EUROPE
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David Irving, the disgraced British historian jailed in Austria for denying the Holocaust, was freed from prison and given permission to return home after a Vienna appeals court ordered that he should serve the remainder of his three-year sentence on...
It's a Story with a Broad Sweep, but Too Many Details Are Brushed over ; the Thursday Book
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THE NATION'S MANTELPIECE By Jonathan Conlin PALLAS ATHENE, [pound]24.95 For anyone who believes that free admission and public access to national galleries and museums are a New Labourite obsession, the history of the National Gallery is a corrective....
King: IMF Must Reform or Face Prospect of Irreparable Damage ; BUSINESS
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Mervyn King, the Governor of the Bank of England, warned yesterday that the International Monetary Fund faced "irreparable" damage if its members failed to agree to wholesale reform at a key meeting of its board next spring. Mr King said its 184 members...
LES ARTS FLORISSANTS / CHRISTIE ; Classical ++ Barbican LONDON
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Although J S Bach referred to the concept as an orato-rium, what we now know as his Christmas Oratorio was actually arranged in the form of six self-contained cantatas, to be alternated between two Leipzig churches over the 12 days of Christmas 1734-35....
Levy's Allies Deny Playing 'Blame Game' with Powell ; POLITICS
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Lord Levy's allies hit back last night at "mischievous" rumours that he was engaged in a "blame game" with Jonathan Powell, the Prime Minister's chief of staff, over the police investigation into "loans for peerages" allegations. Labour's chief fundraiser,...
Listener Provides Jacob's Ladder to Top ; RACING
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When the local hunt met at Robert Alner's stables last year, the hounds never even noticed when a fox darted through the kitchen garden. Yesterday, after the same meet, Alner returned to find another one brazenly taking the winter sunshine in the adjacent...
More Outages at British Energy's Nuclear Plants ; BUSINESS
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Just as the market was beginning to think that British Energy was finally turning the corner, the company has come out and dashed everyone's hopes again after admitting yesterday that it faced a "worst case scenario" at two of its ageing nuclear power...
More Than 100 Teenagers a Month Have Second Abortion ; HOME
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More than a hundred teenage girls a month go into a hospital or clinic to have an abortion for the second time, figures from the Department of Health reveal. They include at least one girl under 18 who has had at least six abortions. The statistics on...
Morgan Stanley Accused of Falsely Claiming E-Mails Were Lost in 9/ 11 ; BUSINESS
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Morgan Stanley could face hundreds of millions of dollars of claims from aggrieved clients after being accused of pretending that e-mail evidence against the bank was destroyed in the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks. The company has been charged...
Mothers and Babies Infected in Hospital Outbreak of PVL ; HOME
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An outbreak of a PVL superbug struck the maternity unit of a hospital in Plymouth leaving 10 mothers and their babies with severe infections, The Independent has learnt. Emma Lynch, one of the mothers, developed an abscess almost eight inches long, which...
Mourinho Astonishes Football Again (by Saying He Is Sorry) ; FOOTBALL
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It was as rare an event as a Chelsea defeat and even more startling: yesterday Jose Mourinho apologised. Admittedly, the Chelsea manager's retreat from his comments about Andrew Johnson came in the face of threats of legal action by Everton and disciplinary...
Never Mind the Monarchs ; Peter Wilson Has Laid the Karaoke King in Him to Rest and Been Reborn as Duke Special. and the Change Has Been Paying off Royally, He Tells Nick Duerden
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Half a decade ago, Peter Wilson was Northern Ireland's unofficial karaoke king. Not the low-rent version - the kind of person who attempts to transform your average pub floor into the arena of their dreams on drunken Saturday nights - but rather one...
No End in Sight to Merger Boom ; OUTLOOK
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Merger booms frequently come to be seen as the last drunken dance of the bull market. The present one is without doubt a humdinger of a deal fest, surpassing by some distance the previous record set during the madness of the dot.com bubble. Prophets...
Oh Yes It Is an Art Form! ; BARBICAN ++ Pantomime Is Just Vulgar and Superficial - Isn't It? We L, Only If You Think Comedia Dell'arte and Renaissance Traditions Are a Little Low Rent, Says an Aghast Michael Coveney
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In the current pantomime at the Barbican in London, Mark Raven- hill's Dick Whittington & His Cat, there are certain scenes that press familiar buttons in panto lore: the slapstick "slosh" scene in which characters get covered in gunge; the troop of...
Opik Helped Cheeky Girl Avoid Deportation Threat ; POLITICS
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The Liberal Democrat MP Lembit Opik faces fresh embarrassment over his relationship with the Cheeky Girl singer Gabriela Irimia after it emerged that he helped her campaign to avoid deportation. The Liberal Democrat frontbencher spoke to the Immigration...
Our Tenuous Lifeline Is under Threat ; EDITORIAL & OPINION
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For the past three years, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, has operated a dozen remote camps for hundreds of thousands of Darfur refugees scattered along a vast, 600km stretch of the Chad-Sudan border. The logistics of maintaining these isolated camps in...
Poker ; EXTRA
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There was a vivid demonstration of two basic Texas hold'em principles live on television last Friday when the final of the Ladbrokes Poker Million was broadcast on Sky Sports. The first is that it is often a player's mistake that results in their opponent...
Police Look for Links between Two Suspects ; HOME
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Detectives were last night given an extra 36 hours to interview Steve Wright, the second man arrested over the Ipswich serial killings as new claims were made about his links with the red light area in Norwich, where the murders of two other prostitutes...
PROFESSOR ROBERT ROSENBLUM ; Art Historian and Guggenheim Museum Curator Celebrated for His Contrariness
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It was typical of Robert Rosenblum that he was curating exhibitions on both sides of the Atlantic at the time of his death; Rosenblum's energy was undiminished even in his 80th year andstrickenwithcoloncancer.Theshows, in Paris and Houston, reflect the...
P. S. DEROW ; Oxford Ancient Historian
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P. S. Derow was a specialist in the history of the Hellenistic world, who was well known for a number of acute and powerful contributions to the history of Rome's conquest of the Greeks. He was most recognised, however, as an outstanding Oxford tutor...
Pure Pleasure despite the Pain ; Pop ++ LOU REED ++ St Ann's Warehouse NEW YORK
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When Lou Reed released Berlin in 1973, he did so not as a bastion of avant-garde art but as a bona fide pop-star at the apex of his fame. His post-Velvet Underground career had started slowly with an undistinguished self-titled debut, but some quality...
Rebuilding Lives after Liberia's Civil War ; CHRISTMAS CHARITY APPEAL
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Recalling the day she was shot in the back on her way past the local school, Irene Smith's eyes well up with tears. Rebel soldiers - mere boys who by rights should have been in class - opened fire on her as she wandered into the middle of a chaotic gunbattle....
Reed's Record 'Not Good Enough', Say Charlton ; FOOTBALL
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Richard Murray, the Charlton Athletic chairman, yesterday promised to give his beleaguered head coach, Les Reed, time to turn the club around but insisted: "We have to see some changes." Murray added that he thought Reed's record was "not good enough",...
Retail Relief as Festive Spending Surges ; Mortgage Lending at Record Levels ++ Sterling Tests Highs ++ CBI Survey Points to New Year Rate Rise
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A rebound in consumer spending and a record surge in borrowing in the run-up to Christmas put the markets on red alert for a new year rise in interest rates yesterday. Festive spending has begun in earnest, while house buyers took on record levels of...
ROBIN BUSS ; Francophile Writer and Critic
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When he was a schoolboy, Robin Buss would sit in a cafe in Soho and fantasise about being French. After half a century of devotion to French language and culture, the fantasy became unnecessary. As a translator, he tackled Zola, Sartre and Dumas with...
Ryanair Bid for Aer Lingus Suffers Further Setback ; BUSINESS
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Ryanair's attempt to buy its rival, Aer Lingus, received a further setback last night after the European Commission began an in- depth investigation into the takeover proposal. Ryanair said it would lapse the offer pending the outcome. This forestalls...
Sinama Stars but Beckham's a Villain in Real Horror Show ; FOOTBALL
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David Beckham started only his first home League game since the opening weekend of the season but ended up on the losing side again as Real Madrid crashed to a 3-0 defeat against mid-table Recreativo Huelva here last night. Beckham has started only one...
Sleeping around ; EXTRA
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When Paul mentioned that he was surprising me with a trip to South Africa, I couldn't help but feel a bit freaked out. I've been burned by grand gestures before. I haven't forgotten how one particular ex-boyfriend wooed me in the beginning of our relationship...
Stars of the Silver Screen Inspire Top Girls' Names ; HOME
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Names reminiscent of a bygone era, including Ruby, Millie and Grace, have made a comeback as favourite choices for modern parents.The names, apparently inspired by actresses and singers including Grace Kelly, Gracie Fields and Ella Fitzgerald, as well...
Sugar-Sweet and Selling like Hot Cakes, the Unlikeliest Hit of the Year ; HOME
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It is the best-selling phenomenon you may never have heard of. But if you haven't, it's a sure bet you're not a parent. For High School Musical, a sugar-sweet tale of classroom rivalries, is the buzz of British playgrounds. It has topped the DVD charts...
The Centre Ground Rarely Proves to Be the Promised Land Envisaged by Politicians ; EDITORIAL & OPINION
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Beware the dangerous allure of the centre ground. Everyone wants to be there. Other leaders envy the great election winner, Tony Blair, for being seen as placed firmly on the centre of the political spectrum. Perceived as being to the left, Gordon Brown...
The Deer Departed ; They're Happy Helping Santa, but in the Real World Our No.1 Christmas Animal Is Suffering. Sanjida O'Connell Reports
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As every child knows, Father Christmas' sleigh is pulled by a small herd of reindeer, led by Rudolph with his red nose. What is less well-known is that Rudolph was only dreamt up in 1939 and until 1822 reindeer were just an obscure kind of deer living...
The Green Goddess ; EXTRA
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I love living in the steaming metropolis, but at this time of year it gets a bit much. My street is a rat run to Sloane Square and is jammed with coaches full of Christmas shoppers from all over the country, eager to get all their shopping done. Not...
THE LENNON FILES ; in the Early 1970s, the FBI - along with Anyone Who Listened to the Things He Said at the Time - Worked out That John Lennon Harboured Left-Wing Sympathies. but Only Now Have the US Authorities Revealed the Extent of the Data Held on the Ex-Beatle. ++ Imagine There's No Secrets
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Here are some facts about John Lennon deemed so sensitive to the national security of both Britain and the United States that they have only just been released to the public after 25 years of freedom of information requests and protracted legal battles....
The Ten Best Champagnes ; EXTRA
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1 Pierre Gimonnet & Fils Premier Cru 'Fleuron' [pound]24.99 This is a classy champagne from an independent house, made with chardonnay grapes. It came third in the Which? taste test, and is nutty and biscuity with a long finish. Perhaps one to save for...
This Wind Farm Is Not as Green as It Looks ; EDITORIAL & OPINION
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The proposed new wind farm off the Kent coast is a badge of honour for Mr Miliband, the Environment Secretary. But there's another way of looking at this giant step forward in renewable energy provision - a forest of man-made concrete that will create...
Today in the Premiership ; FOOTBALL
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ARSENAL Arsene Wenger, the manager, accepts it "would look a bit pretentious" for Arsenal to claim they will win the Premiership this season but insists he has "not given up" on their title hopes yet. The League Cup game against Liverpool that was postponed...
Unsavoury Details but Old Copper Struggles to Nail Crooks ; FOOTBALL
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Lord Stevens will awake this morning to a thicker covering of white than any of the Christmas scenes depicted on the cards on his mantelpiece. This time though, the spread of white in his newspapers will not herald festive tidings, it will scream "whitewash"...
US Bellwether FedEx Warns on Outlook ; BUSINESS
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FedEx, the parcels and freight delivery company which has become a bellwether of the global economy, stoked fears of a slowdown with disappointing results yesterday and a warning about poor profits in the coming months. The downbeat statement came despite...
Vodafone Eyes Hutchison Indian Mobile Assets ; BUSINESS
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Vodafone is considering a switch out of India's largest mobile operator Bharti Airtel and into the fourth-biggest carrier Hutchison Essar as it looks to increase its exposure to the fastest growing mobile phone market in the world. Vodafone declined...
Warne Was the Hypnotic Genius Who Enhanced All of Our Lives ; CRICKET
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In the sea of tributes now flowing over the enfant terrible of cricket who became its ruling genius, transcending all boundaries and all bias, there has to be an ultimate accolade. It is that Shane Warne has shared with the greatest sportsmen of any...
'We've Confused Self-Respect with Self-Esteem' ; the 5-Minute Interview ++ Terry Pratchett ++ Author
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Terry Pratchett, 58, wrote 'Hogfather' which will be repeated on Christmas Day and Boxing Day on Sky One. If I weren't talking to you right now I'd be ... Sitting at my computer writing the last page of the next adult Discworld book called Making Money....
What Happened to the Money Raised to Help Victims of the Asian Tsunami? ; the Big Question
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Is it true half of it hasn't been spent? According to the BBC's News-night programme, which claims it got access to a UN database, nearly two years after donors pledged billions to help the victims only half the money has been spent. Of the half a million...
Where Homeless Can Eat like the Kings of New York ; WORLD
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The master chef Michael Ennes is in full creative tilt in his cramped kitchen beneath the Broadway Presbyterian Church on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. His harried band of assistants is variously plugging the tops of 20 plump chickens with apple...
Who Needs Trimmings? ; as the Christmas Spending Frenzy Peaks, Four People Who Put Seasonal Excess Behind Them Tell Lucy Mayhew Why They Are a Lot Happier Now
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John Vincent John Vincent worked for a top management consultancy firm servicing the likes of Burger King and Tesco. When he began to witness the motivations of big businesses at boardroom level, he grew disillusioned with, what he terms, their amoral...
Why Do Crackers Crack? ; ... and 20 Other Christmas Questions Answered ++ Will Champagne Really Stay Fizzy If You Put a Spoon in the Bottle? How Do You Make the Perfect Snowball? and Why Do We Nod off after Christmas Lunch? Mick O'Hare, Author of the Runaway Best-Seller 'Why Don't Penguins' Feet Freeze?', Reveals the Science Behind Some Seasonal Conundrums
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Why do people always feel sleepy after eating Christmas lunch? After a meal, the levels of glucose in the blood are obviously high, and high blood glucose levels can switch off the brain cells that normally keep us awake and alert. Orexin neurons in...
World Markets ; Business
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London The FTSE 100 reversed earlier gains to end 0.1 per cent lower at 6,198.6 as commodities and interest rate concerns weighed on stocks. BT added 3.6 per cent to top the blue-chip leaderboard. But miners suffered as copper hit a fresh six-month low....
