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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 February 3, 2006
All the Gravitas of a Holiday on Ice Extravaganza ; First Night GOLDFRAPP Guildhall SOUTHAMPTON
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Of all the hip-hop style bands of the Nineties, it seems surprising that Goldfrapp have had the biggest mainstream success. Portishead seemed to implode after their second album, and Lamb never managed to capture a wider audience, possibly because their...
Almost 90% of Extra NHS Billions Taken Up by Pay Rises and Inflation
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The depth of the financial crisis in the NHS is spelt out today in a report showing that pounds 9 out of every pounds 10 of the extra billions invested in the NHS this year went on increased pay and prices. A quarter of NHS trusts are in debt and the...
Almost 90% of Extra NHS Billions Taken Up by Pay Rises and Inflation
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The depth of the financial crisis in the NHS is spelt out today in a report showing that pounds 9 out of every pounds 10 of the extra billions invested in the NHS this year went on increased pay and prices. A quarter of NHS trusts are in debt and the...
American Football: Steelers' Iron Man Ready for a Dream Finish ; Jerome Bettis, the Super-Sized Running Back the Fans Cal' the Bus', Returns to His Home Town for Sunday's Super Bowl XL
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It seems entirely appropriate that the first sporting passion of Jerome Bettis was bowling. The running back for the Pittsburgh Steelers once dreamed of sporting glory as a professional tenpin bowler, before discovering that his true vocation was knocking...
A National Treasure Here, but Judi Dench Is Judged Too Old for American Chat Shows
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In Britain she is treated with the reverence accorded a national treasure. In America, it seems, Judi Dench is simply too old. The first lady of British film and theatre was snubbed by three of the leading network talk shows because she is regarded as...
A Peep into the Dark Secrets of Marriage
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In an unguarded moment, I found myself this week listening to a man confessing, or rather boasting, that his wife breastfed him. I blame myself (it was Channel 4, this is 2006, what else could I expect?), but the shock and nausea were such that it took...
Arts Previews: If You Can't Beat 'Em, Join 'Em ; World Music
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KODO DRUMMERS Barbican LONDON In 1970, a musicologist called Tagayasu Den founded a summer school on the Japanese island of Sado, formerly best known as that country's equivalent to Siberia, in that political exiles were sent there to rot. Some students...
Arts Reviews: Australian Escapades ; Classical
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LPO/ALSOP Queen Elizabeth Hal LONDON How refreshing, not five days after the 250th birthday of "the master", to have a Mozart-free zone - indeed, a Shostakovich-free zone, too. The London Philharmonic Orchestra's quirky programme - with the welcome fingerprints...
Arts Reviews: Australian Escapades ; Classical
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OSVALDOGOLIJOV Barbican LONDON According to BBC news on Monday, Osvaldo Golijov may be "the first truly great 21st-century composer". This Argentine-born Jewish sensation doesn't lack for high-profile advocates. Golijov's work might also be entirely...
Arts Reviews: Australian Escapades ; POP
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JOSE GONZALEZ Shepherds Bush Empire LONDON Those coloured balls bouncing down the streets of San Francisco in Sony's ad campaign for its Bravia TV set have bagged Jos Gonzalez a surprise hit with the single "Heartbeats". The young Swedish- Argentinian...
Arts Reviews: Australian Escapades ; Theatre
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AMATOSALTONE Shunt Vaults LONDON If you are someone who has a pathological fear of audience participation, Amato Saltone is not for you. The Shunt collective, which attained cultish status by breaking down all forms of theatrical conventions in last...
Arts Reviews: Australian Escapades ; Visual Arts
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TRACEYMOFFAT Victoria Miro Galery LONDON Brash, sassy and not slow in coming forward, Tracey Moffat draws on her own life as subject for her work. In the summer of 2004, during her retrospective at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney, her self-portrait...
AstraZeneca Dragged Down by Heart Drug Fears
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The drug maker AstraZeneca delivered a strong rise in annual profits yesterday, but the risk of cheap generic competition to its top-selling heart treatment Toprol XL threatens to hold back earnings growth this year. The shares were the biggest casualty...
Audiences Must Be Told If Singers Are Miming, Says Union
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Sir Elton John famously accused Madonna of doing it, the President of Turkmenistan has banned it and now the Musicians' Union wants something done about it. The union has launched a campaign calling on artists, record producers and promoters to tell...
Austria Says It Cannot Afford to Keep Klimts
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The Austrian government says it cannot afford to buy back five masterpieces by Gustav Klimt after a court ruled they should be returned to the California-based heir of a Jewish family which fled Austria during the Nazi period. Wolfgang Schssel, the Austrian...
Austria Says It Cannot Afford to Keep Klimts
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The Austrian government says it cannot afford to buy five masterpieces by Gustav Klimt, now in a Viennese gallery, after a court ruled they must be returned to their California-based owner. Wolfgang Schssel, the Austrian Chancellor, said yesterday that...
Austria Says It Cannot Afford to Keep Klimts
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The Austrian government says it cannot afford to buy five masterpieces by Gustav Klimt, now in a Viennese gallery, after a court ruled they must be returned to their California-based owner. Wolfgang Schssel, the Austrian Chancellor, said yesterday that...
A Warm Welcome for Kennedy's Comeback
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He may no longer be "champagne Charlie" but there was still something of aparty atmosphere when Charles Kennedy, the former Liberal Democrat leader, took to the streets yesterday to make his first major public appearance since quitting over his alcohol...
Blair's Lobbying for Gold Firm Backfires
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Tony Blair has received a strongly worded rebuke from the Kyrgyzstan government over his efforts to lobby the country on behalf of an AIM-listed mining company. The Prime Minister wrote a private letter to the President of Kyrgyzstan, Kurmanbek Bakiyev,...
BNP Leader Walks Free as Race-Hate Prosecution Fails
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The Crown Prosecution Service's high-risk strategy of bringing race-hate charges against the British National Party appeared to have backfired last night as its leader walked free from court vowing he would not tone down his language. Nick Griffin was...
BNP Leader Walks Free as Race-Hate Prosecution Fails
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The Crown Prosecution Service's high-risk strategy of bringing race hate charges against the British National Party (BNP) appeared to have backfired last night as its leader walked free from court and vowed that he would not tone down his language. Nick...
Britain 'Faces Danger of More Suicide Attacks'
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Britain's anti-terrorism watchdog has raised fresh concerns about the indefinite detention of suspects, despite warning that the country faces a "real and present danger" of new suicide attacks. Lord Carlile of Berriew QC, said secret evidence he had...
British Are Fattest in Europe despite Diet Boom
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Britons have the thickest waistlines in Europe despite being one of the biggest spenders on diet products, a survey has revealed. Long working hours, eating "on the go" and a heavy drinking culture has meant Britain is losing its battle against the bulge....
Britons Getting Fatter despite Diet Fads
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Britons have the thickest waistlines in Europe despite being one of the biggest spenders on diet products, a survey has revealed. Long working hours, eating "on the go" and a heavy drinking culture has meant Britain is losing its battle against the bulge....
'Buddy's Dream Was Just to Make People Happy' ; the 5-Minute Interview
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Maria Elena Holly Buddy Holy's Maria Elena Holly, 70, who is the widow of Buddy Holly, is in London to commemorate 47years since the pioneer singer's death on 3 February 1959, when he was aged 22. If I wasn't talking to you right now I'd be... Talking...
Burglars Ransack Art Collection of Millionaire Recluse
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He has been called Britain's Howard Hughes' a reclusive property tycoon who for 40 years has sought refuge behind the walls of his Wiltshire mansion. But late on Wednesday night, the privacy of Harry Hyams, famed for building the Centrepoint tower in...
Burglars Ransack Art Collection of Millionaire Recluse
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He has been called Britain's Howard Hughes' a reclusive property tycoon who for 40 years has sought refuge behind the walls of his Wiltshire mansion. But late on Wednesday night, the privacy of Harry Hyams, famed for building the Centrepoint tower in...
Bush 'Plotted to Lure Saddam into War with Fake UN Plane'
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George Bush considered provoking a war with Saddam Hussein's regime by flying a United States spy-plane over Iraq bearing UN colours, enticing the Iraqis to take a shot at it, according to a leaked memorandum of a meeting between the US President and...
Bush 'Plotted to Lure Saddam into War with Fake UN Plane'
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George Bush considered provoking a war with Saddam Hussein's regime by flying a United States spy-plane over Iraq bearing UN colours, enticing the Iraqis to take a shot at it, according toa leakedmemo of a meeting between the US President and Tony Blair....
Bush's Declaration of an America without Oil Shows the Extent of His Foreign Policy Failure
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The respect shown by the American House of Representatives to the Presidential State of the Union Address is always a wonder to behold. But even by those supremely sycophantic standards it was astounding that President George W Bush was able to generate...
Campbell Is Accused of Exaggerating Opposition to Iraq War to Boost Image
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Iraq has become a major issue in the Liberal Democrats' leadership race after opponents of Sir Menzies Campbell accused him of exaggerating his opposition to the war. As the party's foreign affairs spokesman, Sir Menzies achieved a high media profile...
Care UK Has the Right Prescription for Growth in the Years Ahead ; THE INVESTMENT COLUMN
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This week's Government White Paper underlined the commitment of New Labour to getting the private sector to play a greater role in providing healthcare in this country. Care UK is one of the biggest listed beneficiaries from this trend. It runs nursing...
Care UK Has the Right Prescription for Growth in the Years Ahead ; THE INVESTMENT COLUMN
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This week's Government White Paper underlined the commitment of New Labour to getting the private sector to play a greater role in providing healthcare in this country. Care UK is one of the biggest listed beneficiaries from this trend. It runs nursing...
Chess
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The Moscow "Superblitz" final took place on 6 January in the Hotel Baltschug Kempinsky. While "serious" chess is played at a relatively sedate pace, blitz (traditionally five minutes each for the game, or nowadays three minutes each over the internet)...
Chief Whip Has Not Yet Felt the Lash of a Cornered Mr Blair ; THE SKETCH
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There's an elite group of MPs (Patricia Hewitt, Gerald Kaufman, Hilary Armstrong) who look, when the lights are up, as though they've been dead for 3,000 years. The mystic flame of Westminster has kept them alive but not young. Surely it will take more...
Children to Get Jabs against Most Lethal Form of Meningitis
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A shake-up of the childhood vaccination programme to extend protection against infections that claim scores of lives has been agreed by ministers. The Department of Health is due to announce next week that a vaccine against pneumococcal meningitis, which...
City Bets on a Private-Equity Swoop at Hilton ; MARKET REPORT
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Many investment bankers will have just finished counting their Christmas bonuses, but their thirst for corporate activity shows no sign of being quenched. They are in luck: there still seems to be a glut of potential targets, as Hilton Group confirmed...
City Bets on a Private-Equity Swoop at Hilton ; MARKET REPORT
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Many investment bankers will have just finished counting their Christmas bonuses, but their thirst for corporate activity shows no sign of being quenched. They are in luck: there still seems to be a glut of potential targets, as Hilton Group confirmed...
CONSTANCE KEENE ; Pianist Praised by Rubinstein
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Some musicians have the fortune to earn the kind of review at the start of their careers which can adorn their publicity for the rest of their lives. Constance Keene was luckier yet: the encomium she earned for her Rachmaninov came from no mere critic...
DIVORCE: THE HARSH TRUTH ; A Series of Court Cases Involving Vast Settlements for Ex-Wives Has Highlighted Britain's Growing Reputation as a Place to Win a Generous Payout Following a Marital Split. Breaking Up Is Hard to Do
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It used to be so easy. Boy meets girl. Boy and girl fall in love, marry and live happily ever after. But two out of three modern fairytales now have a rather different ending, with boy and girl quarreling over everything from custody of the children...
DIVORCE: THE HARSH TRUTH ; A Series of Court Cases Involving Vast Settlements for Ex-Wives Has Highlighted Britain's Growing Reputation as a Place to Win a Generous Payout Following a Marital Split. Maxine Frith Reports Breaking Up Is Hard to Do
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It used to be so easy. Boy meets girl. Boy and girl fall in love, marry and live happily ever after. But two out of three modern fairytales now have a rather different ending, with boy and girl quarrelling over everything from custody of the children...
Do the Bells Toll for Tony Blair?
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What a soft-hearted old sweetie that Hilary Armstrong is. She may look a bit like Anne Robinson as reflected in a fairground mirror, and she may (for now, at least) carry the fearsome title of Chief Whip. But there's nothing of the Francis Urquhart about...
DTI Tells Centrica: You're on Your Own ; Government Will Not Intervene If Russia's State-Controlled Gazprom Bids for Owner of British Gas
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Centrica, the company which supplies gas to 13 million UK homes, has been told by the Government that it will not receive any special protection if the state-controlled Russian group Gazprom makes a bid for the business. Shares in Centrica soared yesterday...
Football: Campbell's Crisis Leaves Wenger Bereft ; the Arsenal and England Centre-Back's Dramatic Loss of Confidence Means His Manager's Resources Are Stretched to Breaking Point, Writes Sam Wallace
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The break, Arsne Wenger hopes, will do Sol Campbell some good. There will be plenty of time for one of English football's most introspective souls to reflect this weekend as he uses the five-day holiday granted to him by his manager. The Arsenal defender...
Football: Eriksson in Frame after Newcastle Bring Curtain Down on Souness Era ; FOOTBALL
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Graeme Souness often spoke of the rewards awaiting the manager who finally awakes Newcastle United from their stupor. That man will not be him. The threat of unemployment has long been hanging over the 52- year-old, yet when it arrived, it came out of...
Football: FA Committee Begins Search for Eriksson Successor
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The search for the new Eng-land manager got under way yesterday, although the exclusion of David Dein from the three-man committee charged with beginning the process will not necessarily mean the Football Association has targeted Arsne Wenger as the...
Football: FA Headhunters Begin Search for England Manager
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The search for the new Eng-land manager got under way yesterday, although the exclusion of David Dein from the three-man committee charged with beginning the process will not necessarily mean the Football Association has targeted Arsne Wenger as the...
Football: Inevitable Ending to a Marriage ' Hostile' Mohamed Cartoons
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No Newcastle United manager expects instant adulation, total respect and unequivocal backing from supporters steeped in painful underachievement and consumed by unrealistic expectation. The Tyneside public's renowned blind faith in their failing football...
Football: Okocha Set to Soar in Last Flight as Super Eagle ; as the Bolton Midfielder Nears International Retirement, He Tells Conrad Leach Why He Is Ready to Lead Nigeria to a Final Triumph
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Jay-Jay Okocha heard that one of his team-mates from the Nigerian national team of the 1990s, Sunday Oliseh, had retired from football. Okocha is not going quite that far just yet but whether he loses in the quarterfinals tomorrow or claims his second...
Gazprom Takes a Tilt at Centrica, but Is It Safe to Be Embraced like This by the Russian Bear ; OUTLOOK
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Just a giant ramp, or is Gazprom serious about bidding for Centrica? Whatever the answer, Centrica's chief executive, Sir Roy Gardner, will be pressing the Takeover Panel for an urgent clarification after remarks yesterday from a senior Gazprom official...
Gazprom Takes a Tilt at Centrica, but Is It Safe to Be Embraced like This by the Russian Bear? ; OUTLOOK
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Just a giant ramp, or is Gazprom serious about bidding for Centrica? Whatever the answer, Centrica's chief executive, Sir Roy Gardner, will be pressing the Takeover Panel for an urgent clarification after remarks yesterday from a senior Gazprom official...
Golf: Tiger Broods on Retreat from Global Horizons to Domestic Lair ; GOLF
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With the world No 3 in ascendancy, the world No 1 clawing at his ankles and glorious conditions promising a weekend of birdie- enriched competition, the organisers of this Desert Classic should have been licking their sun-chapped lips last night. Alas,...
Gulliver Travels from Asia to New HSBC Role with Studz out ; BUSINESS ANALYSIS
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The Norwegian polar explorer Fridtj of Nansenonce said: "The difficult is what takes time' the impossible is what takes a little longer." Now time, it seems, has ebbed for John Studzinski to perform something many in the City believe impossible: the...
Gulliver Travels from Asia to New HSBC Role with Studz out ; BUSINESS ANALYSIS
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The Norwegian polar explorer Fridtj of Nansenonce said: "The difficult is what takes time' the impossible is what takes a little longer." Now time, it seems, has ebbed for John Studzinski to perform something many in the City believe impossible: the...
Harrods Provokes Anger by Axing Final-Salary Pension Scheme
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Harrods, the upmarket retail group owned by Mohamed Al Fayed, became the latest company to axe its final-salary pension scheme yesterday, announcing plans to replace it with a far inferior money purchase scheme. The move came as Corus also unveiled a...
Harrods Provokes Anger by Axing Final-Salary Pension Scheme
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Harrods, the upmarket retail group owned by Mohamed al-Fayed, became the latest company to axe its final-salary pension scheme yesterday, announcing plans to replace it with a far inferior money purchase scheme. The move came as Corus also unveiled a...
History of Tehran's Uranium Programme
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1957 US and Iran sign nuclear co-operation agreement. 1968 Iran signs Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and agrees to adhere to internationally-agreed safeguards monitored by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Mid-1970s Under the Shah, Iran...
'Hostile' Mohamed Cartoons
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Images of the Prophet Mohamed have long been discouraged in Islam. The West has little understanding of why this should be so - nor of the intensity of the feelings aroused by non-believers' attitudes to the founder of Islam. To historians, Mohamed was...
How the European Press Covered the Controversy
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FRANCE The editor of France-Soir, the tabloid daily that published al 12 cartoons, was fired yesterday as the paper's Franco-Egyptian proprietor issued an apology to the country's Muslim population. No other French publication has featured the cartoons,...
Iran Faces Nuclear Showdown at United Nations
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Iran's confrontation with the West will escalate today when the country will be referred to the UN security council for its continued refusal to come clean about its suspected nuclear weapons programme. The adoption of a resolution by the International...
It Takes More Than Free Trade to End Poverty
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Last year was supposed to be the year to "make poverty history". But after a year of rock concerts, high-level summits and unprecedented public attention on the problems facing the world's poorest, 2005 ended with a whimper rather than a bang. The meeting...
Kahlo's 'Roots' Expected to Sell for Record Pounds 4m
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A rare full-length self-portrait of the Mexican artist Frida Kahlo which was seen in Tate Modern's exhibition last year is being tipped to set a world record for the artist at auction. The 1943 painting, Roots, in which long roots extend from the breast...
Kennedy Bubbles as Big Guns Arrive for Poll
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He may no longer be "champagne Charlie" there was still something of a party atmosphere when Charles Kennedy, the former Liberal Democrat leader, took to the streets yesterday to make his first major public appearance since quitting over his alcohol...
LAST NIGHT'S TV: The Gentle Art of Persuasion ; Exposed BBC3 Challenger: Countdown to Disaster CHANNEL4
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It's encouraging now and then to come across an ambitious and original piece of television. Take Exposed. The BBC's blurb says: "It's perplexed philosophers and scientists for centuries, but Exposed hopes to unravel what it really means to be human."...
Letter: Whatever the Label, the Need Is the Same
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Sir: It has been chastening to read the very interesting correspondence on the issue of "labels for people with disabilities". As someone who has the responsibility for assessing whether the label of "learning disabilities" should be applied, I am well...
Liberia's Iron Lady Sacks Finance Staff
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Liberia's new President, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, living up to her reputation as an "Iron Lady", has dismissed all finance ministry employees in an attempt to curb rampant corruption. Africa's first elected female leader said her victory in November's...
Ministers in U-Turn over Review Aspect of Corporate Reporting Rules
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The unexpected U-turn by the Government over plans to abolish a key part of the corporate reporting rules has highlighted its fraught attempt to shake-up the way UK plc is run. Late on Wednesday night, the Treasury agreed to consult on the requirement...
Motor Sport: Gronholm Keeps Champagne on Ice for Loeb Fight ; RALLYING
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Sebastien Loeb is predicting a flat-out scrap with his world championship rival Marcus Gronholm in a snowy Swedish Rally this weekend. Loeb has a score to settle with Gronholm after the Ford driver won round one in Monte Carlo to take an early lead in...
My Life in a Column: I'm So Ashamed I (Probably) Threw Up in the American Bar, I'm Leaving the Country
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Thank God it's the Year of the Dog! Woof woof! Aawwh. Aaaowh. Grrrr. Woof! This week I've been going crazy. Up the wall is an understatement. Last week, I spent a week in bed. I got up twice. On the Wednesday night, I went to my studio and worked until...
Oaten Apologises, and Asks to Stay On
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Mark Oaten, the disgraced Liberal Democrat MP, will face voters in his Winchester constituency today for the first time since a sex scandal ended his career as a front-bench politician. Mr Oaten said he wants to stay an MP, and he is hoping to repair...
Obituaries: MOIRA SHEARER ; 'Born Balerina' Whose Radiant Performance in the Red Shoes' She Said Blighted Her Career
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Exceptionally beautiful and talented, famous yet elusive, Moira Shearer was ballet's answer to Greta Garbo - even if the details and reasons differed. In 1948, aged just 22, she achieved lasting worldwide celebrity as the ballerina heroine of Michael...
Pandora: No Problems in Sight? Then It's Time to Start Worrying ; Miles Kington You Seem to Be Getting the Better of Your Main Rival at Work. Your Other Rival Has Faded from the Scene. Have You Thought of Looking Behind You?
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MPs at Westminster are used to dealingwith other people's problems, but who can deal with their problems? When someone at Westminster desperately needs a helping hand, who can they turn to for advice? To The Independent's Aunt Agatha, of course! To the...
Peru Tells Yale It Wants Its Machu Picchu Treasures Back
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Yale University is embroiled in an escalating dispute with Peru over the return of treasures from the world-famous Incan site of Machu Picchu that are on display as part of the ivy-league university's permanent collection. Over the years, there have...
Phones of Greek PM and Top Officials Were Tapped
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Unknown eavesdroppers tapped the mobile phones of Costas Karamanlis, the Greek Prime Minister, five of his cabinet members and dozens of top officials for about a year. Illegal software installed at Greece's second biggest mobile phone operator, Vodafone...
Phones of Greek PM and Top Officials Were Tapped
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Unknown eavesdroppers tapped the mobile phones of Costas Karamanlis, the Greek Prime Minister, five of his cabinet members and dozens of top officials for about a year. Illegal software installed at Greece's second biggest mobile phone operator, Vodafone...
Psychology Is Key to Finding Next Darcey Bussell
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British ballet should adopt psychological performance techniques used by the country's sporting elite to help find the new generation of Darcey Bussells. Up-to-date training could help Britain to overcome the dearth of home-grown stars in its main companies...
Puppies Implanted with Drugs by Traffickers
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Police in Colombia and the United States have uncovered a drugs smuggling racket in which purebred puppies were implanted with large packets of liquid heroin and then passed off as show dogs being transported to New York to take part in breeding competitions....
Racing: One Knight Comes off Worst in Flop of Gold Cup Hopefuls
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There is a reluctant hero out there somewhere, but surely none as hopelessly bashful as those who could not handle even the elementary audition staged at Wincanton yesterday. With varying degrees of optimism, four of the five runners in the HBLB Cotswold...
Rebel Ringleader Faces Labour Plot to Oust Him from Seat
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Senior ministers are seeking to punish a leading rebel backbencher following two embarrassing defeats in the Commons this week over the Racial and Religious Hatred Bill. The Chief Whip, Hilary Armstrong, who has been accused of bungling the votes, is...
Rebel Ringleader Faces Labour Plot to Oust Him from Seat
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Senior ministers are seeking to punish a leading rebel backbencher following two embarrassing defeats in the Commons this week over the Racial and Religious Hatred Bill. The Chief Whip, Hilary Armstrong, who has been accused of bungling the votes, is...
Rebel Ringleader Faces Labour Plot to Oust Him from Seat
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Senior ministers are seeking to punish a leading rebel backbencher following two embarrassing defeats in the Commons this week over the Racial and Religious Hatred Bill. The Chief Whip, Hilary Armstrong, who has been accused of bungling the votes, is...
Rugby: Caisley Leaves Bradford at the Peak of Success ; Bulls' Chairman Steps Down Tonight after 16 Years. Dave Hadfield Speaks to the Man Who Has Transformed the Club Which Now Face a Struggle
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The Bradford coach Brian Noble has a neat way of putting it. "Being a club chairman isn't a popularity contest," he says. Just as well, perhaps, for Chris Caisley, because few have polarised opinion in the game like the gimlet-eyed lawyer who bows out...
Rugby: Caisley Signs off as Bradford Face Uncertain Future ; Buls' Controversial Chairman Steps Down Tonight after 16 Years. Dave Hadfield Speaks to the Man Who Transformed Ramshackle Club into Champions
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The Bradford coach Brian Noble has a neat way of putting it. "Being a club chairman isn't a popularity contest," he says. Just as well, perhaps, for Chris Caisley, because few have polarised opinion in the game like the gimlet-eyed lawyer who bows out...
Rugby: Our Man at No 10 Ready for Walk on the Weird Side ; the England Fly-Half Risked the Wrath of the Faithful by Attacking the 'Abusive' Atmosphere at Twickenham. but, Armed with the Love of a Good Woman, He Is Prepared to Face Anything - Even the 'J-Word'
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BRIAN VINER INTERVIEWS Charlie Hodgson has a furrowed brow and a faintly anxious look at the best of times, but on the day I meet him at Pennyhill Park, the salubrious hotel near Bagshot which doubles as the England rugby union team's training camp,...
Rugby: Our Man at No 10 Ready for Walk on the Weird Side ; the England Fly-Half Risked the Wrath of the Faithful by Attacking the 'Abusive' Atmosphere at Twickenham. but, Armed with the Love of a Good Woman, He Is Prepared to Face Anything - Even the 'J-Word' BRIAN VINER INTERVIEWS
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Charlie Hodgson has a furrowed brow and a faintly anxious look at the best of times, but on the day I meet him at Pennyhill Park, the salubrious hotel near Bagshot which doubles as the England rugby union team's training camp, the 25-year-old Yorkshire-man's...
Rugby: Thomas Refuses to Indulge in Excuses before Champions' Twickenham Test ; the Wales Captain Dismisses Talk of an Imminent Fall from Grace Following Grand Slam Glory. James Corrigan Reports
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Recognised throughout rugby as one of the most authentic performers and most genuine characters in the game, it is more than slightly insulting that Gareth Thomas should find himself having to lead the fight for credibility this weekend. The Welsh captain...
Rugby: Wales Resigned to Losing Johnson to Wallabies Coaching Team
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Wales could have done without losing Ceri Sweeney, their midfield replacement for the Six Nations meeting with England at Twickenham tomorrow, to a groin injury, not least because three high-calibre operators - Gavin Henson, Tom Shanklin and Sonny Parker...
Russian Officer Convicted of Using Soldiers for Slavery
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A senior officer in Russia's elite missile troops has been found guilty of modern-day slavery and of hiring out conscript soldiers under his command for his personal personal financial gain. The incident, in Novosibirsk, Siberia, is the latest in a long...
Russian Officer Convicted of Using Soldiers for Slavery
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A senior officer in Russia's elite missile troops has been found guilty of modern-day slavery and of hiring out conscript soldiers under his command for his personal financial gain. The incident, in Novosibirsk, Siberia, is the latest in a long line...
Save Our Wildlife Research Centres ; ENVIRONMENT
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Time is running out for four of Britain's globally renowned wildlife research centres. The National Environment Research Council is pushing ahead with plans to close centres in Monk's Wood, Winfrith, Banchory and Oxford. It claims that their closure...
Scientists to Walk out in Wildlife Centre Row
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Environmental scientists have threatened to hold a virtually un- heard-of mass demonstration over proposals to close Britain's three leading wildlife research centres. Researchers at the Winfrith, Dorset station of the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology...
Shell Makes Record $23Bn Profit
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The oil giant Royal Dutch Shell defended itself yesterday against charges of profiteering at the expense of motorists and householders after announcing the biggest profit in UK corporate history. The Anglo-Dutch company increased profits last year by...
SkyePharma Defies Rebels by Appointing Karabelas to Chair
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The ailing drug developer SkyePharma snubbed rebel shareholders by appointing a non-executive director, Argeris "Jerry" Karabelas, as chairman yesterday, leaving investors determined to go ahead with an emergency meeting at which they hope to install...
Split-Cap Scandal Firm BFS Goes Under
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BFS Investments, one of the two companies thrown out of the split- capital investment trust settlement 13 months ago, finally collapsed into liquidation yesterday, reviving customers' hopes of receiving compensation. The move came as a series of pending...
There Aren't Many Jokes in the Bible
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Who would have thought it would be the Danes who came up with a test case. Wonderful for bacon, the Little Mermaid and Elsinore, but not renowned, at least in this country, as the plucky defenders of free speech. Yet so it is proving. No sooner is our...
THE TELEGRAM IS DEAD STOP ; for More Than 150 Years, America's Messages of Joy, Sorrow and Success Came in Western Union's Yellow Envelopes, Hand-Delivered by a Courier. Andrew Buncombe Mourns a Historic Method of Communication the Last Post
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For more than 150 years, the most startling messages of grief, sorrow, excitement and revelation were hand-delivered in the company's yellow envelopes. Such was the import of the information contained in those buff envelopes that the mere sight of a...
This Is Not Just a Simple Issue of Freedoms ; CARTOON CONTROVERSY
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There is, of course, no doubt that newspapers should have the right to print cartoons that some people find offensive. Indeed it goes to the very nature of the political cartoon that it seeks to make a point through exaggeration, distortion and caricature...
Threat to Europeans over ; WHAT PRICE FREE SPEECH?
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As the European press asserted its right to publish hostile cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed yesterday, anger in the Arab world reached a boiling point in Gaza where gunmen converged on European Union offices and issued threats against Danish, Norwegian...
US Official Admits He Smuggled $2M of Aid Meant for Iraq
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In the first US corruption conviction relatingto the occupation of Iraq, a former official pleaded guilty yesterday to stealing more than $2m (pounds 1.13m) of reconstruction funds and taking more than $1m worth of contract kickbacksunderadeal with an...
Wicked Witch of the West Heads for the West End
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The Wicked Witch of the West, from The Wizard of Oz, was once voted the fourth greatest screen villain, behind Darth Vader, Norman Bates and Hannibal Lecter. Gregory Maguire wondered why she had been so vilified. A writer, he then created Wicked, the...
