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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 August 3, 2005
A Compact Orange Cell for Pounds 20. It Must Be easyHotel
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Orange should be banned from the bedroom. It may be bright and cheery but it also induces brain-rattling insomnia. And when you are trying to sleep in a windowless orange box with only the growl of the air conditioner and six giant company slogans for...
Amvescap Defences Hit by Fall in Funds and Profits
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Amvescap, the Anglo-American fund manager which is preparing itself for a hostile takeover bid, reported a fall in first-half profits yesterday following continued fund outflows from its US business. The company faces another possible approach from its...
Arab Leaders Pay Last Respects to King Fahd
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Leaders of the Arab world gathered yesterday to observe a simple ceremony as King Fahd bin Abdul Aziz was buried on the desert plain outside Riyadh. The Saudi princes and Muslim heads of state watched as the the body of the 84-year-old ruler, Custodian...
A Right Royal Jester ; He May Be the 'King of Comedy', but as Andrew Maxwell Opens in Edinburgh, He Still Feels Every Inch the Outsider. by Julian Hall
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It has been a good year for the Irish comedian Andrew Maxwell. He has, after all, been crowned King of Comedy. Admittedly, the title was bestowed on a Channel 4 game show, but it was fitting for a man who mysteriously missed out on a Perrier nomination...
Arts Previews: Circus: Acrobatic Art under the Big Top ; NOFIT STATE CIRCUS: IMMORTAL2 Shrub Place EDINBURGH
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The Cardiff-based, animal-free NoFit State Circus perform in a spaceship-style Big Top. The audience stands in the centre of the tent immersed in a character-led show of aerial acrobatics, tumbling, dance, performance art and video. Established in 1985,...
Arts Reviews: Classical: PROMS 23 & 24: BBC SSO / VOLKOV ; Royal Albert Hall LONDON HHH / HHHH
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Berlioz, Sibelius, Brahms and a UK premiere: it's a mix that perhaps only the seasoned enthusiasms of Sir Colin Davis could bring off. Undaunted, the younger conductor Ilan Volkov lined them all up for the BBC Scottish Symphony's back-to-back Proms,...
Arts Reviews: Pop: CAMBRIDGE FOLK FESTIVAL ; Cherry Hinton Hall CAMBRIDGE HHHHH
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It may just have been a passing bush telegraph rumour but tickets for this year's 41st Cambridge Folk Festival " face value pounds 80 " were said to be changing hands on eBay for up to pounds 500. Having once again sold out in record time, the event...
Arts Reviews: Theatre: Surrealism and Summer Smiles ; THE COMEDY OF ERRORS Royal Shakespeare Theatre STRATFORD-UPON- AVON HHH MACBETH / THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR Wadham College Gardens OXFORD HH / HHH
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In Nancy Meckler's vivacious new staging of The Comedy of Errors at Stratford, the long-lost twin servants don't just have the same Ken- Dodd-style topknot of red hair and Victorian clobber. On their tail-suits, there are also precisely matching stains....
Arts Reviews: Visual Arts: A PICTURE OF BRITAIN ; Tate Britain LONDON HHH
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This exhibition tells various stories about the development of traditions of landscape art in Great Britain. It begins with a lovely pen-and-ink drawing of rural buildings by Francis Place from the early 18th century, and it concludes at about the present...
Arts: The Week in Radio
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Just when you thought it was safe to tune in to Radio 2, along comes a programme that reaches out and grabs you by the throat. OK, I may be going overboard here, but that's the thing about Jaws. Ever since it first arrived 30 summers ago, it has rooted...
Arts: University Challenged ; When a Campus Is Crammed with Listed Buildings, How Does a Vice- Chancellor Go about Boosting His Faculties? Jay Merrick Finds out How It's Done in Sussex
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Sussex University was designed in the early Sixties by Sir Basil Spence, the architect who responded to the Luftwaffe's razing of Coventry with an equally ruthless, but starkly beautiful, reinvention of the city's shattered cathedral. He brought the...
ATHLETICS: WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: Arron Claims Drug Cheats Have Cost Her Medals at Championships
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Christine Arron, one of the favourites to win the 100 metres gold at the World Championships starting in Helsinki on Saturday, has claimed she would have won more medals had she not competed against drugs cheats. 'I think it happened often, very often...
ATHLETICS: WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: Countdown to the World Championships: Worlds at Their Feet ; THE HEALTH OF ATHLETICS IN BRITAIN IS CLOSE TO AN ALL-TIME LOW BUT THERE IS STILL REASON FOR OPTIMISM IN HELSINKI by Mike Rowbottom
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Here is a list of sick and injured British athletes on the eve of a World Championships: Liz McColgan, Roger Black, Peter Elliott, Jon Ridgeon, Eamonn Martin, Jill Hunter, Dave Lewis, Phylis Smith and David Grindley. That is a lot of talent to be without...
ATTACKS IN LONDON: Italians Deny Stalling on Extradition of Suspect
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Italian authorities have denied that they are trying to hinder British attempts to extradite Hussain Osman. Mr Osman (whose real name is said to be Hamdi Isaac), is being held in Rome while attempts to extradite him continue. Two of his brothers are...
Attacks on London: Fire on London Bus Sparks Panic
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Passengers on a bus that caught fire in central London panicked and jumped in terror from the back of the upper deck. The incident happened on a No 205 heading west from Whitechapel to Paddington. After establishing a cordon around the scene, Police...
Attacks on London: Police Question 17 over Failed Bombing Bids
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Anti-terrorist squad detectives were last night questioning a man arrested at a flat linked to the London Tube-bombing suspect Hussain Osman. The latest arrest, following raids at two properties in south London, brings the number of people being held...
Attacks on London: Senior Tory Says That Suicide Attacks Are 'Totally Explicable'
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A senior Tory has broken ranks with his party by saying that the London suicide attacks were 'totally explicable' because of the deep anger felt by many British Muslims over Iraq. The Tory leadership distanced itself from Dominic Grieve, the shadow Attorney...
Bad Debts and Rising Costs Cloud Outlook for Alliance & Leicester
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The mortgage bank Alliance & Leicester delivered flat first-half profits yesterday amid a steep rise in bad debts, and pledged to slash costs to revive its lacklustre performance. While the former building society clawed back mortgage market share and...
Bank Must 'Get off the Fence' and Cut Rates, Says CBI
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Sir Digby Jones, the figurehead of British business, urged the Bank of England yesterday to 'get off the fence' and cut interest rates as new figures showed retail sales fell in July for the fifth month in a row. A survey of 125 retail groups by the...
Barton Appeals to Brother to Give Himself Up to Police
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The Premiership footballer Joey Barton has appealed to his brother to give himself up, along with his cousin, to detectives investigating the racist murder of a black student in Merseyside, Anthony Walker. The Manchester City midfield player told his...
Blair Will Quit as MP at Next Election, His Agent Believes
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Tony Blair's election agent added fuel to the speculation that the Prime Minister will quit the House of Commons at the next general election. Mr Blair's decision is intended to give Gordon Brown a clear run at the leadership, without Mr Blair remaining...
BUILDING WORK: How to Treat the Builders: The Bottom Line ; Are You Being Nice to Your Workmen? Big Mistake, Reckons Christopher Middleton. If You Want the Job Finished on Time, Show No Mercy
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You wouldn't have thought a temporary loo could wreck a marriage, would you? Well, a couple of streets away, one of those green plastic conveniences came close to doing just that. The couple concerned were having a ground-floor extension built, but their...
BUSINESS ANALYSIS: Millionaire Accountants Reap the Profits of Previous Audit Scandals
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Life has never been so good for accountants. While many of us may think the job is tedium personified, it is producing a new generation of millionaires who are earning seven-figure annual salaries in a booming profession witnessing top-level poaching,...
BUY OF THE WEEK: NORMANDY: A Classic French Thriller ; Hand-Painted Murals, Ornate Wood Panels and Floor-Length Windows Set the Scene Inside This Romantic Normandy Castle
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When Rhoisin Beresford took a trip to visit a childhood friend near the town of Argentan in 1989, she was instantly enchanted. Other friends of hers had bought in Normandy, and were snapping up bargains for a tenth of the price of a London home. When...
CAN YOU AFFORD IT?: Two-Bedroom Apartment Pounds 220,000 Wembley Park, Middlesex Agent: Charles Russell 020 8863 6269
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What you get: Brand-new, second-floor flat in a three-storey building with two bedrooms. Open-plan kitchen/living area, balcony, residents- only communal gardens and parking. 125-year lease. Where: Part of a large development, short walk to Metropolitan...
Cassava Founders Could Pocket Pounds 700m from Float
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Two Israeli families look set to make as much as pounds 700m this year if they go ahead with floating the online gambling business they set up nine years ago in London. Sources close to Cassava Enterprises, behind the 888.com online casino brand and...
CHARITIES IN CRISIS: Emergency Appeal for Pounds 8m to Avert Famine in Niger
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A campaign to raise pounds 8m to try to avert the famine in Niger was launched last night, with charities collaborating in a bid to help starving millions. A drought and a locust plague have left almost eight million people at risk in Niger, the second-poorest...
Children's Fiction: SEX, DRUGS & VIOLENCE ; A Book about a Teenge Suicide Bomber Has Become a Surprise Bestseller, Underlining How Children's Books Are at the Forefront of Tackling Some of the Most Controversial Aspects of Modern Life. by Boyd Tonkin
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A celebrated children's author is galloping up the charts with a novel that depicts the drift of a dispossessed teenager who comes from a racial underclass into violent protest and, finally, into terrorism. The heroine ends up agreeing to become a suicide...
Country Life: When Vegetables Get between a Chap and His Cricket, It's Time to Take Stock
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THE MARSHALLS autumn vegetable seed catalogue arrived today, and to my embarrassment I realised that I was ripping open the envelope with an excitement that teetered on the unseemly, like a man expecting a cheque from the lottery. There is a lot about...
CREAM OF THE COUNTRY: MONMOUTH: New Life, New Times for a Medieval Stronghold ; It's Had Its Ups and Downs, but This Border Town Is Firmly Back on the Map
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The little Welsh border town of Monmouth is set amid some spectacular countryside in the heart of the Wye Valley. It's a landscape of stark contrasts, with the tangled wilderness of the Forest of Dean and the gently rolling hills of the Cotswolds to...
Cricket: Grounds for Optimism as England Aim to Launch Comeback at 'Lucky' Edgbaston ; Angus Fraser Reveals Why England Love Playing in Front of the Football-Style Crowds in This Leafy Suburb of Birmingham
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If Lord's, a venue where England have not beaten Australia since 1934, was an inappropriate place for Michael Vaughan's side to begin its Ashes campaign, Edgbaston could provide them with the perfect stage on which to claw their way back into the series....
CRICKET: SECOND ASHES TEST: Buchanan to Exploit 'Psychological Damage'
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As England pondered whether to omit the beleaguered Ashley Giles from their line-up for the second Test at Edgbaston tomorrow, the Australian coach, John Buchanan, last night warned that any mental weaknesses in the home side's make-up would be exploited....
CRICKET: SECOND ASHES TEST: Collingwood's Chances Are Enhanced by Concerns over Vaughan's Fitness
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England's preparations for the second Test at Edgbaston may have been overshadowed by the injury to captain Michael Vaughan yesterday but despite the painful blow he took on the elbow in the nets, there were no immediate plans last night to place another...
Diary of an Eco-Builder: There Are Three Ways of Dealing with Water Vapour " and We Are Pursuing All of Them
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GOOD GOD, I'm picking colours. After 10 months of devotion to foundations and structure, could this be the dawning of the era of colour charts and soft furnishings? Actually, the colour I'm picking is for the render board that will provide much of the...
FDA to Investigate Drug Companies' Advertising
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America's drugs regulator is understood to be preparing to launch a major review of the billions of dollars pharmaceuticals companies spend on direct marketing of prescription medicine to consumers through television and newspaper adverts. The Food and...
Football: Celtic Go Close in Fight for Salvation ; CELTIC 4 ARTMEDIA BRATISLAVA 0 Artmedia Win 5-4 on Aggregate
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They came close. Agonisingly, thrillingly close. But although Gordon Strachan's Celtic gave him the first win of his reign here last night with a stirring display, it will do little to lessen the disappointment of losing on aggregate to a mediocre Slovakian...
Football: Gerrard Takes Centre Stage to Revive Liverpool Again ; LIVERPOOL 2 FBK KAUNAS O Liverpool Win 5-1 on Aggregate
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Two men accepted the responsibility of enlivening the formality of Liverpool's laboured progress into the final qualifying round of the Champions' League last night, one predictable, the other seizing his first chance to shine at Anfield. Steven Gerrard...
FOOTBALL: Gill Offered Pounds 25,000 for Anti-Glazer Action, Say United Fans
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Manchester United's chief executive, David Gill, was so opposed to Malcolm Glazer's takeover in the months before it was completed that he offered an anti-Glazer campaign group pounds 25,000 of his own money to help ward off the tycoon's advances for...
Football: Johnson Stays at Palace but Agent Row Escalates
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Simon Jordan, the Crystal Palace chairman, yesterday launched a vitriolic attack on the agent of Andy Johnson " accusing him of being 'mealy-mouthed', 'divisive' and of trying to unsettle the England striker in order to make more money for himself. Jordan...
Football: Jordan Backs Viafara to Make Instant Impact
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Joe Jordan, the Portsmouth coach, believes that John Viafara can make an impact on the Premiership if he can learn English to communicate with his team-mates. Viafara, the 26-year-old Colombia midfielder, speaks in Spanish but is learning English through...
Football: Robson Believes Loan Deal May Help Richardson's World Cup Ambition
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West Bromwich Albion expect to find out this week if the winger Kieran Richardson will play for them next season as he tries to force his way into England's World Cup squad. The Manchester United player, 20, impressed last season on loan at West Bromwich...
Football: Selhurst Park Golden Boy Seals Top-Flight Contract to Resist Lure of Premiership ; Striker's Status as Highest-Paid Player in the Championship Could Become a Millstone If the Goals Suddenly Dry Up and Crystal Palace Remain outside the Big League
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It was with an extraordinary cocktail of faith, cold calculation and, above all, sheer bloodymindedness that Simon Jordan secured Andrew Johnson on a new five-year contract to make him the highest- paid player in the Coca-Cola Championship on pounds...
Football: United Approach for Owen Depends on the New Keane
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Manchester United will make a move for Michael Owen only if the fee that Real Madrid are looking for allows Sir Alex Ferguson enough resources to purchase the player he regards as an absolute priority over the next 12 months " a replacement for Roy Keane....
Ford Axes Marketing Deal with Eminem over Explicit Lyrics
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The carmaker Ford has pulled out of a marketing deal with the rapper Eminem because of the lyrics of the star's latest song. 'It just wasn't Ford,' a spokesman for the company said yesterday in response to the rapper's hit, 'Ass Like That'. Ford said...
Games: CHESS
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The annual Canadian Open Championship took place in Edmonton from 9 to 17 July. Canada itself, with just six grandmasters, isn't a hugely strong chess country, but by arranging for them also to put on some sort of display (such as a simultaneous exhibition...
GB Sports Deal Brings Car Making Back to Longbridge
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Car making is to resume at the Longbridge plant " home to the collapsed MG Rover Group " against the odds. When the firm went into administration in April after the collapse of a putative deal with the Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation, few gave...
German Mother Is Accused of Killing Nine Babies
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A German woman accused of killing nine newborn babies has confessed to being the mother but cannot remember how they were killed because she was drunk when she gave birth. Police with sniffer dogs searched back gardens in an east German village after...
Get Rid of These Paternalistic Laws
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Now that the suspected terrorists have been captured, the media moves into murky territory about what it can tell the public. The police are in a difficult position. They know the public wants information but, as an officer involved in the investigation...
Help. Charities in Crisis
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Charities in Britain have suffered a devastating loss of funding and some are even threatened with closure due to high-profile appeals for international disasters. Public donations have fallen by as much as 30 per cent, some organisations say. New figures...
Hundreds Escape as Flames Engulf Jet in Crash Landing
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More than 300 passengers and crew had an extraordinary escape yesterday after a transatlantic jet crashed and burst into flames while landing during a thunderstorm. Officials confirmed last night that the 297 passengers and 12 crew were evacuated from...
In Defence of Baby Bonds: A Totemic Policy for an Age of Spiralling Inequality
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Whenever one of the Government's (rare) left-wing policies stumbles slightly, the British press and politicians invariably inflate and hyperbolise the problem into a crisis, a disaster, a humiliation " and nobody answers back. Sure, the government mumbles...
INVESTMENT: STUDENT ACCOMMODATION - New Blocks for the Kids ; as Demand Rockets for University Digs, Parents Can Help Their Offspring " and Earn a Tidy Profit, Too
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Students are paying more than ever for digs. On average, student rents have risen by more than 10 per cent over the last three years - which is an opportunity for parents to help their kids out and make a solid investment at the same time. Buying a flat...
Israel Heads off Mass Rally of Pro-Settler Protesters
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The Israeli government moved to scale down an anti-disengagement rally as police embarked on a fresh and potentially decisive trial of strength with settlers' leaders planning a march towards the Gaza Strip. Gideon Ezra, the Public Security minister,...
Keeping Up with Ms Jones ; Tomorrow, the Nation's Favourite Neurotic, Sozzled, Singleton Returns to 'The Independent'. in the Meantime, John Walsh Reveals How Bridget Was Born " and Brings You Up to Date with the Story So Far
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The girl with inner poise, the country's top singleton, has returned. The nation's most popular diarist since Adrian Mole is facing the challenge of urban life circa 2005. For emotional fuckwits, smug marrieds and female jellyfish everywhere, there will...
LAST NIGHT'S TV: No Pain, No Profit Gain ; Tsunami Prayers BBC2 Looking for China Girl " This World BBC2
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In 1348, the Black Death killed off something like a third of Britain's population. This led to a shortage of labourers, which meant that the ones left could demand more money, so that in the end the living standards of the poorest classes rose considerably....
Leading Article: EMERGENCY APPEAL: Why Did No One Hear the Alarm Bells from Niger?
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Every second counts, said the head of the Disasters Emergency Committee yesterday as he launched an appeal to prevent three million people from starving in Niger. This appeal is vital, and should be supported by everyone. But it does rather beg the question...
Leading Article: STOP AND SEARCH: Heavy-Handed Policing Will Not Make Us Safer
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The Home Office minister Hazel Blears is seeking to allay the concerns of Muslim communities by insisting that the use of stop- and- search powers by police in their attempts to prevent further terror attacks can be sensitively applied. Nobody will be...
Leading Article:THE THIRD LEADER CHARLES NEVIN: Life Is One Long Crisis
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Today I should like to extend the hand of fraternity, place the arm of sympathy round the shoulders, and apply the light punch of rueful camaraderie to the chests of male readers aged between 25 and 44, many of whom, I learn from a Mintel report, are...
Lighthouse That Inspired Woolf Is to Shine On
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The lighthouse which inspired Virginia Woolf's most famous novel is to remain lit after a campaign by fishermen and sailors against its closure. Proposals to extinguish the beacon at Godrevy, near St Ives in Cornwall, by 2010 led to a campaign by Woolf...
MARKET REPORT: Goldman's Approval Breathes Life into BSkyB
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Goldman Sachs had a simple message for investors before today's results from BSkyB: buy the stock as the company's figures are likely to make pleasant reading for shareholders. This stance from the heavyweight broker sent shares in the satellite broadcaster...
McKillop Drafted on to RBS Board
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Royal Bank of Scotland has appointed Sir Tom McKillop, the outgoing chief executive of AstraZeneca, as deputy chairman, fuelling speculation that he is in line to become chairman next year. AstraZeneca, the UK's No 2 drugmaker, announced last week that...
Meet the Four-Legged Threat to the US Environment
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Drive into California's hot and dusty San Joaquin Valley in mid- summer and the chances are you will be greeted by a noxious cloud of air pollution hanging over the irrigated farm lands and sprawling suburban communities. The valley is one of the three...
Mid-Life Crises Come Early for Men Seeking Success for Anxiety- Ridden Men
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They are young, ambitious and in the prime of their lives. Yet many young men in Britain are so racked with worry and consumed by the pressures of modern- day living that they are having early-life crises. Research has found that men aged between 25...
MY HOME: TANYA SARNE: The Spirit of Ladbroke Grove ; at the Home of the Founder of the Ghost Fashion Label, Clutter Is Something to Be Celebrated
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Tanya Sarne, founder and creative director of the Ghost label, lives in a rambling house in west London with her partner Andrew McGibbon My bedroom is where I spend most of my time. It's a bit like a bedsit really. There's a pink sequined Ghost quilt...
New Evidence 'Proves' Bamber Could Not Have Killed His Sister
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Photographs of the sister of Jeremy Bamber taken within hours of her death but not put before a jury will clear the convicted killer of wiping out his family, it has been claimed. Legal advisers to Bamber believe the graphic police pictures of Sheila...
Obituary: DANNY SIMON ; Comedy Writer
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'A long time ago, I realised I didn't like writing,' said Danny Simon in a 1980s interview. Despite this allergy, the diminutive, nattily dressed Simon had a thriving six-decade career, turning out comedy material for such laughter-makers as Sid Caesar,...
Obituary: HEDY WEST ; Nitty-Gritty Singer of the Folk Revival
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Hedy West was part of the music-making phenomenon known in Europe as the folk revival. Unlike most of her American compatriots, who came to Europe to tour, see the sights and go home, she spent lengthy periods in Europe, including several years in Britain....
Obituary: MICHAEL GEARIN-TOSH ; Oxford English Don and Author of 'Living Proof'
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Michael Gearin-Tosh was for nearly 40 years an inspirational teacher of English literature at St Catherine's College, Oxford, and an exotic figure in the university. Three years ago he achieved wider notoriety when he published a book about his long...
Obituary: WIM DUISENBERG ; First President of the European Central Bank Who Oversaw the Introduction of the Euro
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Two days after the near faultless introduction of nine billion euro banknotes and more than 51 billion euro coins on 1 January 2002, Wim Duisenberg, the first President of the European Central Bank, began a press conference with the bold statement: 'Good...
Our Economy Is like That of 100 Years Ago
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So tomorrow interest rates start to come down at last. Or at least if they don't there are going to be a lot of seriously worried people. Since the Bank of England's monetary committee voted last month against a cut by the narrowest possible majority,...
Our Woman in Crouch End: Six Ways to Survive the Summer Holidays for People Who Weren't Meant to Be Parents
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Ah, school is out, the long summer is here, and how to cope with the kids? Here are some tips, for what they are worth, which I accept is very little, if anything, as I'm just the sort of person who should never have had children in the first place:...
OUTLOOK: . Brown's Borrowing Thrown off Track
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There is some government borrowing which Gordon Brown has contrived to keep off the public finances with the aid of the Office for National Statistics. Most controversially, the pounds 21bn of Network Rail debt which is miraculously deemed to belong...
OUTLOOK: . Fuel Surcharge by Stealth at Ryanair
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Michael O'Leary has vowed that hell will freeze over before Ryanair imposes a fuel surcharge on its passengers. The budget airline's latest sparkling set of results demonstrates why. Ryanair's yields " in other words the average fare per passenger "...
OUTLOOK: Qinetiq Energy Wasted on Squabble over Who Gets Richest from Pounds 1bn Technology Float
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Everyone has heard of carbon fibre, liquid crystal displays and infra-red sensors. But fewer people are familiar with Qinetiq, the company responsible for these inventions and a host of other technologies spun out of publicly funded research conducted...
OVERSEAS: ITALY: La Dolce Vita? It Just Got Cheaper ; Now You Don't Have to Be John Mortimer to Buy Your Own Italian Paradise, Says Graham Norwood
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For years the country has been a favourite British holiday location, but until now Italy's property prices have deterred all but the wealthiest buyers. Our own Office of National Statistics says only 3,000 Britons own homes in Italy and while this is...
Pandora
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Grade keeps a weather eye on the map (but denies interfering) As if it hadn't already come in for enough stick, the BBC's new weather map is now causing ructions between the two biggest beasts in broadcasting: Mark Thompson and Michael Grade. The mud-brown...
Qinetiq Pays $288M for US Defence Technology Firm
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Qinetiq, the defence technology group which is gearing up for a pounds 1bn flotation, unveiled its biggest overseas acquisition yesterday since it was part-privatised two years ago. The company, which is 31 per cent owned by the American private equity...
Racecourses Overturn Ruling on TV Rights Deal
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An Office of Fair Trading (OFT) ruling against the horseracing industry and its media rights was overturned yesterday, in what could prove to be a landmark decision for horseracing and other sports. The decision also helps the racing industry fight a...
Racing: Knight Rules out New Sole Mate for Best Mate
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For Best Mate, the future is to be one of friends reunited rather than intimacy a deux. The triple Cheltenham Gold Cup winner has lost his long-time partner with the retirement of Jim Culloty, but no regular replacement is planned. 'I think it will be...
RUGBY LEAGUE: Leigh Part Company with Abram as the Drop Looms
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Darren Abram has left his post as coach of Leigh in the week that their relegation from Super League is likely to be confirmed. Defeat by the league leaders, Leeds, on Sunday will send Leigh back into National League 1 " but Abram, the coach who took...
Ryanair Shrugs off Rising Oil Prices to Lift Profits by 21%
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Ryanair said yesterday its policy not to impose fuel surcharges on customers despite soaring oil prices had paid off, with the low- cost airline defying its rivals and reporting record first-quarter results. The company said the fuel surcharges introduced...
SAILING: Robertson Lifts Second Major Prize in Patches
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It was pistols at lunchtime on the Solent yesterday as, after a frustrating third day ashore with no wind, the 1,000-plus yachts competing in Skandia Cowes Week were treated, on the fourth, to one of those gloriously perverse days that are the trademark...
Saved for the Nation: A Rare Beauty from 200 Years Ago
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An important drawing by Sir Thomas Lawrence, a child prodigy who went on to succeed Sir Joshua Reynolds as Britain's foremost portrait painter, is to remain in Britain. The drawing " a rare work from Lawrence's early career " has recently been identified...
SCIENCE &TECHNOLOGY: I Know What's Good for Me ; Sick Chimps Will Gnaw on Just the Right Plants to Make Themselves Feel Better. and, Says Laura Spinney, Their Self-Medication Could Teach Us a Thing or Two
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Chausiku, an adult female chimpanzee, wasn't well. She moved painfully slowly, lagging behind the rest of her group, and later lay listlessly on her bed of branches. Her appetite seemed to have vanished, except when it came to one particular plant: Vernonia...
Science & Technology: The Solar System; (as You've Never Seen It before) ; for Decades We've Believed That Nine Planets Orbit Our Sun. Now, with the Discovery of 'Xena', All That Has Changed. Steve Connor Presents a Guide to Our Cosmic Neighbours
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VENUS Orbit 108,200,000km from the Sun Diameter 12,104km Discovered Prehistoric times The Greeks called it Aphrodite, the Babylonians Ishtar " the goddess of love. It is the brightest of the planets and the third most luminous object after the Sun and...
SELF-BUILD: A USER'S GUIDE: Get Rid of the Grand Delusions ; despite All the Hype, Building Your Own Home Can Be Easier Than You Think, Discovers Will Anderson
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Self-build is big business in Britain: more houses are built every year by self-builders than by the country's biggest housing developer. Yet for most people who care about their living spaces, designing and building a home to a personal specification...
SELF-BUILD: CASE HISTORY: An Inspired Labour of Love ; Will Anderson Is Impressed by a Couple Who Have Spent Five Years Creating a Home from Scratch
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Some time around the end of the last century, in the depths of south London, Bridget and John Barton decided to renovate a wrecked property as a route to living in a decent space in an expensive city. Despite their lack of experience in the building...
Six to View: Properties of the Week
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Open-plan living in the Home Counties NORTHWAYS East Woodhay Berkshire Price: pounds 975,000 Agent: Jackston-Stops & Staff Tel: 01635 45501 They say: This striking house was built three years ago for the present owners by Huf Haus. This innovative building...
South Africa May Seize Land from White Farmers
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South Africa's 50,000 white farmers are threatened with forced land expropriation after a government land summit called for a 'fast- track' programme of redistribution. The weekend summit was convened by the government to review the slow pace of land...
Television: WATCH ROUND THE CLOCK ; YOUR GUIDE TO TODAY'S MUST-SEE TV
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BEFORE 6PM Shall We Dance? 1PM BBC2 Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers (right) " who else? " star in a solid hoofer flick with a Gershwin score. The Running Man 2.30PM CHANNEL 4 Carol Reed's splendid feature is the second in Channel 4's Laurence Harvey double...
The 5-Minute Interview; Mike Benner; 'I'm a Fan of Any Celebrity Chef Who Recommends Beer with Food' ; Chief Executive of the Campaign for Real Ale
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Camra's annual Great British Beer Festival is at Kensington Olympia in London from 2"6 August. What's the Great British Beer Festival all about? It's a national celebration of British beer. There will be 700 beers and 450 real ales from British brewers...
THE GEEK: The High Price of Changing How We Watch TV
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Good news if you've just bought a high definition TV " one of those very wide-screen ones. At present, owners of HDTVs only get an advantage when watching DVDs made in widescreen format. Now, they're finally going to benefit even when watching everyday...
THE INVESTMENT COLUMN: BOC Still Worth Buying as a Long-Term Investment
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BOC Group, the industrial gases giant, put it plainly and simply yesterday. Profits at its BOC Edwards subsidiary, a source of heart- ache for most of the past five years, are not currently, and are not predicted to be, adequate for a BOC business. So...
The Tiny Pest That Threatens to Gobble Up the Big Easy
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In New Orleans the battle against the termites that threaten to devour the hot, humid city is relentless. At its core is a desire to protect the historic French Quarter, a draw that lures hundreds of thousands of tourists every year. But new data suggests...
The Unheralded God Who Walked on Water
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I have recently spent a wonderful holiday in the south-west of France, renting a house belonging to a family called Freeth, and just near enough to the Atlantic coast to make it worth driving there one day for a day on the beach. I thought we might have...
THE WEDNESDAY BOOK: Where Do Our Languages Come from? Ask Mae West ; THE UNFOLDING OF LANGUAGE by Guy Deutscher HEINEMANN, Pounds 20. ORDER FOR Pounds 18 (FREE P&P) FROM 0870 079 8897
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As Guy Deutscher shows with quotations from Cicero, Swift, Orwell, French Academicians and Samuel Johnson, 'Tongues, like governments, have a natural tendency to degeneration.' Language is never what it was in the good old days. But, while puncturing...
Thousands Defy Israeli Warnings to Protest for Settlers
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Thousands of defiant anti-disengagement demonstrators rallied last night as police embarked on a fresh and potentially decisive trial of strength with settlers' leaders planning a march towards the Gaza Strip. Police estimated the numbers attending the...
Turkey Must Recognise Cyprus If It Wants EU Talks, Says French PM
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Turkey's hopes of starting EU membership talks in two months took a nosedive yesterday when Paris threatened to wreck negotiations unless Ankara first recognises Cyprus. In comments that could spark another Anglo-French rift, France's Prime Minister,...
US Campaign Forces Chinese to Abandon $18.5Bn Bid for Unocal
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Business relations between America and China suffered a severe blow yesterday after the Hong Kong-based Cnooc blamed 'unprecedented political opposition' in the US for its decision to abandon a $18.5bn (pounds 10.4bn) bid for the Californian oil company...
VOX PROP: Should Water Meters Be Compulsory?
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Due to the driest winter and spring in nearly 30 years, there is a critical water shortage in southeastern England Andrew Boyd, spokesman for Thames Water: It is widely agreed that water metering will contribute to the protection of the environment....
