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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 September 28, 2002
10 Best Sites of the Week
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www.citycreator.com Fans of the city-building computer game franchise SimCity will probably enjoy CityCreator.com, in which you can build a virtual city from a various component parts. By dragging and dropping people, buildings, and other urban furniture,...
A Bigger Flash ; to Most of Us, It's Bad Weather. to Britain's Growing Band of "Storm- Chasers", It's the Stuff of Life Itself. Julia Stuart Discovers a Hair-Raising New Pastime
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A SHIRTLESS Tony Gilbert is standing next to his dark blue pick- up truck at a motorway service station near Milton Keynes. I can see a bulge of backside clad in baggy cotton shorts as he bends to study a radar image on his laptop, which is resting on...
A-LEVELS FIASCO: Crisis Goes Much Deeper Than the Actions of One Man
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SIR WILLIAM Stubbs' sacking may been the most dramatic moment of the last 24 hours of this summer's A-level marking fiasco. However, the picture painted in the report by Mike Tomlinson, the former chief schools inspector, shows that the crisis over A-levels...
A-LEVELS FIASCO: Marking Was `an Accident Waiting to Happen' ; THE REPORT
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THE TOMLINSON inquiry into the marking of this summer's A-levels made three important findings, relating to the marking of scripts in 12 subjects, the AS-level exam system and the pressure on boards to readjust the grade boundaries. THE INTRODUCTION...
A-LEVELS FIASCO: True Scale of Chaos Will Be Known Next Week ; CLAIMS
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How many students have been affected? Headteachers estimate that more than 10,000 students must have their papers re-graded. Mike Tomlinson yesterday refused to comment saying "it would be quite improper to set a hare running with a figure until we know...
A-LEVELS FIASCO: Universities Attempt to Clear Up Mess as Students Claim It Is `Too Little, Too Late' ; Reaction
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HEADTEACHERS SAID last night that the A-level exam was tarnished by the marking fiasco and would have to be replaced by a "better and broader" system. Headteachers welcomed the upholding of their allegations that the QCA had exerted pressure on exam...
A-LEVELS FIASCO: Wrongly Graded Students Have `Excellent Case' for Compensation ; CLAIMS
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A-LEVEL STUDENTS who have missed out on places at university because their exams have been remarked and upgraded could receive up to pounds 50,000 in compensation if they took their cases to court, a leading lawyer said yesterday. One London law firm...
Amid the Beggars, Delhi Spends $6Bn on Its New Metro
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THE OCCASION was ceremonious, despite the setting. Some Very, Very Important People - the official term used for India's most powerful - gathered in a railway maintenance depot, ate sweets and watched a Hindu priest appeal to the gods for success. A...
A Timely Reminder of the Irish Republic's Brush with a Kind of Ethnic Cleansing
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I doubt that I have read a book as moving in at least a decade. Now there's a claim. But, oh, does this novel deserve rapture. At the age of 74, William Trevor has produced a masterwork. The Story Of Lucy Gault was nominated this week for a Booker Prize,...
A Week in Books
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THE DREAMING spires have inspired writers since the first student crossed a campus. As a new academic year begins, among the freshers will be a select few dreaming of literary stardom. These are the students for MAs in creative writing, who have already...
Blair Strikes Conciliatory Tone with Peace Gesture to Rural Lobby
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TONY BLAIR offered an olive branch yesterday to countryside campaigners, calling for "dialogue, not confrontation" to solve the problems of Britain's troubled rural areas. He drew back from the aggressive tone of the Government's response to Sunday's...
Books: Hard Times for Easy ; Black America's Top Sleuth Returns - with a New Political Edge. Brian Morton Follows His Trail
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Bad Boy Brawly Brown Walter Mosley Serpent's Tail pounds 12 311pp WALTER MOSLEY is a political novelist. It's easy to pigeonhole his work as crime and mystery but, right from the beginning of the Easy Rawlins series, Mosley has told stories which open...
Books: How to Heal St Andrew's Fault ; A Brace of Scotland's Greatest Modern Minds Explore the Past and Future of Their Nation - and of the Tottering British State. Pat Kane Hails Two Leaders from the Republic of Thought
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IF A largely English-speaking Northern European nation wanted to show off its native talents to the world, it could do worse than put Tom Nairn and Neal Ascherson in a room together, and just transmit their conversation across the available bandwidth....
Books: Storm Warning ; A Disaster at Sea Darkened the Romantic Poets' Vision. Claire Tomalin Seeks the Passage from Tragedy to Art
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HERE IS that rare thing, a small and perfect book. Alethea Hayter has been inspired to investigate a shipwreck that sent 260 crew and passengers, men, women and babes in arms, to their deaths off the Dorset coast in 1805. The wreck makes a good grim...
Books: Streams of Consciousness ; Jane Jakeman Plunges into a Liquid Victorian Epic of the Study and the Streets
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The Crimson Petal and the White Michel Faber Canongate pounds 17.99 898pp THACKERAY FAMOUSLY lamented in the preface to Pendennis that he was "not permitted to depict to his utmost power a man". The Crimson Petal and the White (the title is from Tennyson,...
Books: `The Whole Chinese Language Is Full of Metaphors' ; Adeline Yen Mah, Whose Memoir Dared to Indict Her Own Family, Now Unveils the Historical Secrets Hidden in Chinese Proverbs. Julie Wheelwright Meets Her
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THERE IS a passage in Adeline Yen Mah's new book where she describes a miserable adolescence at a Hong Kong boarding school in the Forties. She wasn't allowed home for the holidays: like Jane Eyre, she is the unwanted and unloved child who must fend...
Books: Tsar Quality ; A Gripping Panorama of Russian Art and Life Reveals a Spiritual and Aristocratic Culture That the Soviet Decades Failed to Dent. These Days, George Walden Expects to See the Children of Russian Mafiosi Going to Eton
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"'TWAS ALL mere idle chatter/ 'Twixt Chateau Lafite and Veuve Cliquot./ Friendly disputes, epigrams/ Penetrating none too deep./ This science of sedition/ Was just the fruit of boredom, of idleness,/ The pranks of grown-up naughty boys." Orlando Figes...
BOXING: Hatton Ready to Leave Smith Feeling Blue
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WHEN NOT appearing in fights that attract in excess of 14,000 people to the MEN Arena in Manchester, Ricky Hatton alternates his hands as he plays darts at his local in Hattersley. Hatton is off the oche at the moment because tonight he defends his World...
Brown Calls on Europe to Quicken Reforms to Bolster Fragile Recovery
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GORDON BROWN yesterday urged Japan, Europe and the US to speed key economic reforms as the best means of underpinning the fragile and risk-fraught recovery. Speaking ahead of a meeting of finance ministers of the G7 industrial countries, the Chancellor...
Celebrities on the Warpath over Right-to-Roam Laws
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THEY ARRIVED with dreams of green wellies and a secluded antidote to the pressures of fame. But the idyll is turning sour for Britain's rural celebrity set. In ever increasing numbers, they are on the warpath over new rural liberties which are bringing...
Children: What to Do This Weekend
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Make Friends with Music Symphony Hall, Broad Street, Birmingham (0121-780 3333) tomorrow, 11am onwards, free This one-day festival of world music and dance features on-stage events ranging from Chinese opera to hip-hop and reggae, plus foyer activities...
Children: What to Do This Weekend in London ... and Beyond
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Carnival for All Victoria and Albert Museum, London SW7 (020-7942 2000) today, 11am-4.30pm, free For those who missed the Notting Hill Carnival, or just want to enjoy the experience all over again, the V&A is putting on a day of festivities, including...
Colombian Charged with Murder after Immunity Lifted
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A COLOMBIAN security officer whose diplomatic immunity was lifted by his government was charged yesterday with the murder of a man who was stabbed to death outside a supermarket in London. Jairo Soto-Mendoza, 44, was charged with killing Damian Broom,...
Colt Cuts 800 Jobs and Slices Pounds 550m off Value of Network
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COLT TELECOM, the business telecoms operator, yesterday axed 800 jobs and announced a pounds 550m write-down in the value of its pan- European network. The cuts come on top of 500 job losses announced in February and will reduce the company's workforce...
Complain - You've Nothing to Lose ; the Home-Owners Who Feel They Have Been Mis-Sold Their Endowments Must Seek Compensation, Writes WILLIAM KAY, but Free Financial Advice May Be on Its Way
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As the Consumers' Association began a campaign this week urging five million endowment holders to complain about mis-selling, the Government is considering setting up a national network of kiosks offering free financial advice. A source close to the...
`Concerns' over Appointment of Judges
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THE HEAD of an inquiry into the way judges and QCs are appointed said yesterday that he had serious concerns about the process and had uncovered "upsetting" evidence of the treatment of unsuccessful applicants to the bench. Sir Colin Campbell, the first...
Cricket: De Silva Orchestrates Demolition of Australia
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Australia 162 Sri Lanka 163-3 Sri Lanka win by 7 wickets AUSTRALIA WERE crushed yesterday. This is not a verdict which can be delivered often, so six weeks before the start of the Ashes it is worth reporting: Australia were vanquished, overwhelmed and...
Cricket: Third Umpire Trial Suggests There Is No Need for Change ; Television Experiment at ICC Champions Trophy Has Been a Worthwhile Exercise but Has Brought as Many Questions as Answers
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IT WAS hoped that the International Cricket Council's decision to experiment with the further use of technology during this month's ICC Champions Trophy in Sri Lanka would take a large slice of human error, and thereby controversy, away from the decision-making...
Cricket: Waugh Grimly Determined to Direct Another Ashes Triumph ; Australia's Captain Must Rediscover His Form to Stay in the Team to Face England This Winter
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STEVE WAUGH is clinging to the captaincy of Australia as though it was his wicket. He is digging in, preparing to repel boarders, refusing to surrender lightly. It is not necessarily a pretty sight but it is a grim and compelling struggle. Waugh is beleaguered...
Crying Blackmailer Allowed to Walk Free
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A HOUSING benefits officer who demanded her favourite supermarket evacuate all its London stores during a pounds 30,000 blackmail bid narrowly escaped jail yesterday. Convinced crime was the only way to clear her rising debts, 32- year-old Selina Aktar...
CYCLING: Britain's Trio Set Track Standard
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BRITAIN'S MEN were fastest qualifiers for the team sprint at the World Track Championships in Copenhagen yesterday morning. Chris Hoy, who won gold in the 1km time trial last night, Jamie Staff and Craig McLean completed the three laps in 44.813 seconds,...
Deals of the Week
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INSURANCE Liverpool Victoria has a new Home & Away policy combining home contents and annual travel insurance, ensuring customers do not pay twice for items such as luggage. Travel covers medical expenses, cancellation or curtailment of a holiday, for...
Design: Daring to Be Different ; Not for Sera Hersham-Loftus the Clean White Spaces of Minimalism. Judith Wilson Meets the Designer at Her Unusual North London Home - a Treasure Trove of Boho Flamboyance and Low-Tech Comfort. Photographs by Philip Sinden
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IN A WORLD obsessed with white and cubic design, Sera Hersham- Loftus's house bucks the trend. Black antique nets drape the windows, ceilings are chocolate brown and hand-painted pink blossoms scale its exterior walls. Sounds fantastical? It is. Step...
E Is for Education, Expensive and Expendable
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`Dear Mrs Sutcliffe," I wrote to my son's head teacher - correction, ex-head teacher. "In view of the recent allegations concerning A-level marking I would be grateful if James's history coursework could be re- assessed." Show me a bandwagon and, providing...
Faith & Reason: If There Is War Blair and Bush Will Reap a Whirlwind Back Home ; the Greatest Threat to the World Is Not Saddam Hussein but the Despair Felt by Frustrated People Given No Voice - or Whom the Democratic System Has Ignored
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TODAY, OVER a hundred thousand citizens of a democratic country are expected to demonstrate on the streets of the capital in protest of their government's proposed military action against another nation. The "Don't Attack Iraq - Freedom for Palestine"...
FAMILY TRAVEL: Q&A - PARENT: YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED ; Where Can We Find `Lord of the Rings Country' in New Zealand?
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QWe have booked a holiday to Australia to visit relations for three weeks over Christmas and New Year. Our two sons, aged 13 and 16, are big Lord of the Rings fans and have been pestering us to take them to New Zealand, as they have read that the film...
Fashion: Max Factor ; with the Minimum of Fuss and Designer Name-Dropping, MaxMara Has Spent 50 Years at the Top of the Ready-to-Wear Business. What's the Its Secret? Asks Jo-Ann Furniss
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"REGGIO EMILIA: Home Of The King Of Cheeses." As you drive into this provincial town in northern Italy, the gigantic sign proclaiming that you are in the spiritual home of Parmesan is impossible to ignore. But what is not mentioned on the billboard is...
Fianna Fail Spin Doctor Quits after Censure in Irish Corruption Report
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THE HEAD of the Irish government's campaign to secure a vital European vote resigned yesterday after he was judged to have failed to co-operate with a corruption tribunal. PJ Mara, who masterminded the Fianna Fail party's victory in the general election...
Film: The Five Best Films
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Talk to Her (15) Two men - one of them a nurse - form an unlikely friendship in a medical ward dedicated to persistently comatose patients. Pedro Almodvar's 14th feature is, almost unbelievably, another masterpiece of curveballs and unexpected joys....
Firefighters Accused of Putting Lives at Risk as Ballot Begins
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FIREFIGHTERS threatening national strikes were accused yesterday of "playing Russian roulette" with people's lives. As ballot papers were sent out to more than 50,000 members of the Fire Brigades Union, the leader of Britain's fire authorities pleaded...
Food & Drink: Drink
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ON THE FACE of it, Chile and South Africa have much in common as New World wine countries. With expanding vineyard areas similar in size to Bordeaux, when it comes to their place in the league table of New World wines sold in the UK they're jostling...
Food & Drink: Stop Making Faces ; It's Sacrilege to Turn Pumpkins into Spooky Lanterns, Says Mark Hix. Cooking with Them - and the Rest of the Squash Family - Is Far from Scary. Photographs by Jason Lowe
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WE SEEM to think of pumpkins only at Halloween, when we throw away their sweet, tasty flesh and carve scary faces into the magnificent orange skin. But it's sacrilege to use pumpkins to spook the neighbours when instead we could be turning these massive...
Football: Arsenal's Team Spirit Makes Henry Feel at Home ; Frenchman Has Found Happiness with Gunners and Is Eager to Repay Wenger's Faith but Refuses to Get Carried Away with the Hype
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THE TELEVISION in Arsenal's training ground canteen was showing the Ryder Cup. Several players were watching before boarding the team coach to Leeds and today's high noon fixture. Thierry Henry was not interested. "I don't play golf," he said. "I need...
Football: Azerbaijan Trailblazers at Home in Hertfordshire ; Gomrukcu Baku, the Team from the Troubled Former Soviet Republic, Are Holding Their Own at the Uefa Women's Cup
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PERHAPS IT was inevitable that there should be misconceptions about the ladies of Gomrukcu Baku, footballing champions of Azerbaijan. After all, little was known about a team which had only been formed two years earlier, and which was based this week...
Football: City Banking on Premiership to Pay Mortgage ; INSIDE FOOTBALL; Keegan Era Has Cheered Up Maine Road but Club Accounts Reveal Huge Cost of Winning Promotion from First Division
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MANCHESTER CITY fans discovered this week the cost of promotion Kevin Keegan style - pounds 31m and counting - and that City are to pay this off via a pounds 30m mortgage on future gate receipts at the new Commonwealth Games stadium, whose athletics...
Football: Ehiogu Works on Creating Aura of Calm
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WHILE PETER REID'S regime at Sunderland lurches towards a terminal crisis and Newcastle United struggle to come to terms with the demands of the Champions' League, Middlesbrough seem surrounded by an aura of calm; forgotten amid the grand dramas playing...
Football: European Preview - Milan Equipped to Restore Old Order in Italy
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IT MAY be early days, but first indications from Serie A point ominously towards a return to the old balance of power in Italy. Roma, champions in 2001, have started disastrously, while Milan, who dominated in the 1990s, look ominously equipped to return...
Football: First Division - Adams Steers Leicester City on Recovery Trail after Restoring the Confidence So Clearly Absent Last Season to Face Tough Test against a Recharged Wolves
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THE SUCCESS inspired by Micky Adams during his spells in charge of Fulham, Brentford and, most notably, Brighton quite rightly earned the 39-year-old Yorkshireman a reputation as one of the brightest young managers around. The upward curve of his career...
Football in Brief Premiership Denies Interference
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The Premier League denied yesterday that it wants to take over the running of the England team but said it wanted a greater say in the administration of the national side. "It is common knowledge there are constructive discussions going on with the FA...
Football: Murray and Charlton Face Uneven Playing Field Head On
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THE PITCH at The Valley, strewn with weeds and rubbish a decade ago, is a source of pride these days to Charlton Athletic's award- winning groundsman and former winger Colin "Paddy" Powell. He will understand, though, if anyone turning up for this afternoon's...
Football: ON THIS DAY 29 SEPTEMBER 1990
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ARSENAL TOOK home a hard-earned point from Leeds United when the sides met on this weekend 12 years ago, although it was not enough to impact on Liverpool's lead at the top of the First Division after the Anfield side established a club record by winning...
Football: Premiership Index
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ARSENAL'S THREE leading players in The Independent's Index rankings are all strikers, led by Thierry Henry (average 7.5 out of 10 per game) and followed by Dennis Bergkamp (7) and Sylvain Wiltord (6.9). Such consistency is one of the reasons the Gunners...
Football: Sad Lack of Imagination in the Footballers' Nickname Game
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FRUSTRATINGLY, I missed seeing an old footballing acquaintance of mine at an Arsenal Ladies match on Thursday night. Danny O'Shea, with whom I used to play in a midweek league, has always had links with Highbury. His son, of the same name, played a couple...
Football: Scottish Preview - Rangers Waiting on Sukur Decision
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THE RANGERS manager Alex McLeish has confirmed that negotiations are under way with Turkish striker Hakan Sukur, and the Ibrox manager expects to learn within the next five days whether the 31- year-old, who is also wanted by Besiktas in his homeland,...
Football: Weekend Guide to the Premiership
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Leeds v Arsenal Kick-off: Today 12pm. Last season: 1-1 TV: Sky Sports 2: Live TERRY VENABLES could have the unenviable task of trying to subdue the free-scoring champions without his first-choice centre-back pairing today. Dominic Matteo, the club captain...
Foster and Liebeskind on Shortlist to Redevelop Ground Zero
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SIX OF the world's top teams of architects, including Lord Foster of Thames Bank and Daniel Liebeskind, were named as the finalists to redevelop ground zero in New York yesterday. The firms, selected from more than 400 bids, will be expected to submit...
French Behind Srebrenica Massacre, Claims Milosevic
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THE FORMER Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic claimed yesterday that the massacre of about 7,000 men and boys at Srebrenica was orchestrated by the French secret service to turn world opinion against the Serbs. Mr Milosevic, who faces genocide charges...
French Shipbuilder Plans to Build Jules Verne's `Dream Isle' Says `QM2' Ship Firm
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IMAGINE A cruise ship so large it has its own commuter railway, its own yacht harbour and its own lagoon, with an island in the middle. Or imagine a floating holiday resort, as big as a Club Med village and almost as big as the Vatican, capable of cruising...
Games: Chess
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Of all the players who never became world champion, the great Estonian Paul Keres was one of the very strongest. Born in Narva in 1916, Keres initially honed his prodigious talent through correspondence chess but became Estonian champion in 1934; and...
Gardening: At Home with the Simpsons ; Anna Pavord Finds Her Treasured Crop of Tomatoes Destroyed by Blight, but Help Is at Hand from a Family in Wiltshire
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WHILE I have been stomping through Scottish heather in the Highlands of Wester Ross, our garden has been behaving badly. We returned to scenes of unprecedented anarchy and disaster, especially among the fruit and veg. When I left, there was a fine stand...
Gardening: Motion Pictures ; Grasses Bring Movement as Well as Variety to the Autumn Border. Ursula Buchan Rolls the Credits
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GRACE, ESPECIALLY grace under pressure, is a virtue we value as much in plants as in people. At this time of year, with the winds beginning to pick up speed, the garden can seem a restless place, as branches and foliage are tossed and bent this way and...
Golf: Ryder Cup 2002 - Fasth Revels in Fourballs Pressure
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DESPITE being rested yesterday afternoon, Niclas Fasth, the only one of Sam Torrance's rookies to play in the morning fourballs, could not wait for another taste of Ryder Cup action. Fasth found himself in a classic match as the Swede and Padraig Harrington...
Golf: Ryder Cup 2002 - Garcia Applies Steadying Influence to March through Moments of Crisis ; Captain's Masterly Pairing Revitalises Westwood's Nerve and Confidence as World No 1's Weakness in Matchplay Is Exposed by Europeans
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THE SOUNDS of the Ryder Cup make up a sort of bush telegraph that brings good news or bad, according to affiliation; thunderous cheers, groans of disappointment, polite applause; the sounds give you some idea of how things are going elsewhere on the...
Golf: Ryder Cup 2002 - Schedule, Television, Weather
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SCHEDULE Today: 08.00 Foursomes matches. 12.30 Fourball matches. Tomorrow: 11:15 Singles matches. 16.30 Closing ceremony. TELEVISION Today: 07.00-19.00 Sky Sports 1 Live coverage including special guests, Butch Harmon and Nick Faldo. 19.00- 22.00 Sky...
Golf: Ryder Cup 2002: Stars and Stripes Fades before Black Country Humour ; Security Concerns Are Never Far Away at the Belfry but Both Sets of Supporters Are Determined Not to Repeat the Excesses of Brookline
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HECKLER-KOCH sounds like one of the American pairings in today's Ryder Cup foursomes. It's not hard to picture a Butch Heckler and a Scott Koch losing 3 & 2 to Colin Montgomerie and Bernhard Langer. But in fact a Heckler-Koch MP5, to give it its full...
Golf: Ryder Cup 2002 - Woods' Game Falls Apart as His Cup Demons Reappear
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TIGER WOODS isn't playing golf here, at least not the kind that has shaped his life - and his expectations - since his toddling days. No, he is experiencing something like travail, and with the added pain that the desperately extended birthpangs have...
Golf: RYDER CUP: Europe Edge First-Day Thriller ; Woods Loses Twice but Americans Launch Fightback after Torrance's Team Dominate Morning Fourballs
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AN OPENING-DAY lead for Europe, something that had appeared assured for much of the proceedings, was confirmed only on the green at the final hole of the last match of the afternoon foursomes. In a denouement to match any climax to a regular tournament,...
How Do I Look? Pam Ferris, 52, Actor
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"FEMALE CHARACTER actors have so much freedom with their appearance. There's the question of to bra or not to bra, to pad out or to corset in. We can change our face and our body shape dramatically - and I don't think that's so open to men. "At the moment...
Huntley and Carr Set to Be in Court Together
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THE COUPLE at the centre of the investigation into the murders of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman could appear in court together after prosecutors insisted yesterday it was only "common sense" to link their cases. But Maxine Carr and Ian Huntley will...
IN FOREIGN PARTS: Livingstonia, Africa's Dream of a Model Society, Fights Its Demons
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THE DAWN bus chugged out of Mzuzu and headed north along the stringy shoreline of Lake Malawi. It was, of course, jam-packed: I was wedged into a row with one man, two mothers, a dozing infant and a small banana tree in a plastic bag. In an effort to...
Inside Travel: Book Later to Avoid Disappointment?
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Winter begins tomorrow, at least according to Britain's train operators. The schedules between now and next May show some welcome improvements. The biggest enhancements will be seen on Virgin Trains' cross-country trains. For the first time, regular-interval...
Inside Travel: Branson's Virgin Express Is Run out of Britain ; SIMON CALDER THE MAN WHO PAYS HIS WAY
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As we approach the 100th year of powered flight, you would think that the aviation industry might finally start to behave rationally. But instead some of the people who run airlines and airports seem to be becoming ever more eccentric. Eighty-six Swiss...
Inside Travel: Something to Declare - the Column That Gives the Global Picture
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Destination of the week: Geneva Expect the mother of all fare wars to Switzerland's second city one month from now. By the start of November, three new airlines will begin services from the Midlands to Geneva - and the existing carrier is planning to...
Interview: Peter Harrison - Harrison Steers Britain's Quest to Make History
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FOR A GADZILLIONAIRE - the son of a Manchester bus driver who was scolded by his dad for his "big ideas", then in 1976 started his own telecommunications business and two years ago sold up for nigh on a third of a billion pounds - Peter Harrison at first...
Investment: Forget the Tube, I'm on Investment Strike ; THE PRIVATE INVESTOR
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YET ANOTHER depressing week in the markets. The reason is not, of course, hard to see; we're all very worried indeed about what a war on Iraq will do to the world economy. The only assets that seem to have done well out of this uncertainty are gold and,...
Investment: In This Market, the Innocents Suffer along with the Guilty
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One of the main reasons stock markets have again been falling is the evidence that corporate earnings have been coming in well below expectations. Like all statements about the market as a whole, even such a simple one as this turns out not to be quite...
Investment: NO PAIN NO GAIN - I Hold Three of a Kind, a Profitable Hand
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IN THESE bleak times it is pleasing to record that in the past few weeks three constituents of the no pain, no gain portfolio have rolled out results ranging from the solidly acceptable to the superb. And, underlining their appeal, the shares of my three...
INVESTMENT: THE WEEK IN REVIEW - Enterprise Thirst for New Pub Trawl
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T&S Stores T&S Stores is one of the hidden gems of the retail sector, with a portfolio including 867 One Stop convenience stores. T&S has benefited from the shift in consumer habits towards buying food and drink for the evening meal on the way home that...
IRAQ THE THREAT OF WAR; Saddam's Powerbase Braces for US-Led Attack ; HOMETOWN
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FOR DECADES, Tikrit has enjoyed the trappings that come with being the birthplace and powerbase of Saddam Hussein. It is from this region, and its tight-knit clan, that he draws his most senior military, security and civil advisers, the place he can...
IRAQ THE THREAT OF WAR; Worst Weapons `Must Be Ceded within Six Months' ; Diplomacy
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IRAQ WILL suffer a military strike unless it cedes its deadliest weapon programmes within six months of the arrival of United Nations inspectors, according to the draft Security Council resolution for which Britain and America are seeking support. If...
Jazz & Blues
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Still energetic after all these years as an organist, singer and band leader, Georgie Fame does not obviously have a lot in common with Stacey Kent (above), the expatriate American whose easy singing style has done a great deal to turn new audiences...
Jazz & Blues
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It is fair to say that Andy Bey is hardly a household name - even in the homes of jazz fans. However, among aficionados, he is held in the highest esteem, not least for the fact that he has enjoyed a career spanning five decades. Still a wonderfully...
LABOUR CONFERENCE: Blair Faces Unions' Wrath over Public-Private Deals ; Iraq Aside, Union-Led Hostility over Public-Private Partnerships Is Expected to Test Party Unity in Blackpool Next Week
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THE DIVISIONS within Labour over private-sector involvement in public services widened yesterday as three of Britain's largest unions appeared ready to inflict a damaging party conference defeat on Tony Blair. The giant Transport and General Workers'...
LABOUR CONFERENCE: Constituencies Furious over Public-Private `Dirty Tricks' ; Anger at `Model Motions' and Union-Led Hostility over Public- Private Partnerships Expected to Test Unity in Blackpool
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LABOUR'S HIGH command was accused last night of playing "dirty tricks" in an attempt to avoid defeat at the party conference next week over the Government's controversial private finance initiative.At least two constituencies have protested that motions...
LABOUR CONFERENCE: Hospital Chief Quits after Merger
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THE CHIEF executive of one of the first hospitals built through the private finance initiative has resigned after learning that his job had disappeared in a reorganisation. Steven Mason, head of the troubled North Durham Health Care NHS Trust, told staff...
Leading Article: In Praise of Mr Clarke's Plain-Speaking on the Euro
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NO SOONER did Charles Kennedy, the Liberal Democrat leader, call on the Government to end the conspiracy of silence on the euro than Charles Clarke, the Labour Party chairman, duly obliged. In his interview in our pages today, he becomes the first Cabinet...
Leading Article: The A-Level Furore Must Not Obscure Wider Failures in the Education System
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WITH ALL the inevitability of a slow-motion train crash, the crisis over this year's A-level grades claimed its first victim yesterday. As Mike Tomlinson, the head of the inquiry, said, "It was an accident waiting to happen." But it will take more than...
Lloyds TSB to Pay Interest to Small Firms at a Cost of Pounds 100m
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LLOYDS TSB yesterday became the first of the Big Four banks to give details of how it would improve its services to small business customers, pledging to pay 1.5 per cent interest on current accounts from 10 December. The move follows a stinging report...
MARKET MOVERS: Broker Notes Boost Bt + Penna Dives on Warning + Director Buying Lifts Retail Decisions + Profile Media Delays Results
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bReuters 238p (up 12.5p, 5.5 per cent). Talk of major contract win excites. bBT Group 175p (up 7.75p, 4.6 per cent). Positive broker comment supports shares after assurances from the company that it will hit targets. bAlliance UniChem 535p (up 23p, 4.5...
MARKET REPORT: Rumours of Pounds 385m Advertising Contract Spark Demand for WPP
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TALK OF a major contract win for WPP sent investors clambering over one another to buy shares in the advertising agency. The stock finished near the top of the FTSE 100 index gainers list, rising 19p to 446p, as rumours circulated through City dealing...
Mea Culpa: How to Cut a Dash with This Season's Punctuation
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Fashion shapes usage, in punctuation as in dress or art. The dash, for example, was big in the 18th century, as can be seen from a perusal of novels and published correspondence of that era; but gradually it seems to have slipped away, to be replaced...
Motoring: Big Can Be Beautiful ; Finally, a Seven-Seater That Doesn't Feel like a Van. John Simister Finds Room to Manoeuvre in the Citroen C8
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FULL-SIZE MPVs aren't as popular as they were. After all, what does a big one offer that a compact, Renault Scenic-sized small one does not? Extra seating, mainly - but it's not often that you see an MPV travelling seven-up. It's versatility that sells,...
MY WEEK: Lisa Jardine the Professor of Renaissance Studies at London University Who Chairs the Booker Prize Judges Panel
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SUNDAY A quiet day. Go for a long walk and later write a book review of Peter Ackroyd's Albion. MONDAY Today is the beginning of term. I give an online interview about my new book on Sir Christopher Wren before starting work. This evening, I'm picked...
Never Mind the Choice, Just Give Me the Quality
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Recently arrived on my desk is a stylish yellow and white brochure that looks for all the world like a company annual report or the sort of privatisation propaganda that "Sid" tried to seduce us with many moons ago. It is, in fact, the Liberal Democrats'...
New Witness Saw Couple Feared Missing in Spain
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A WITNESS has come forward in the search for a British couple who failed to return home two weeks ago after a house-hunting visit to Spain. An estate agent saw Linda and Anthony O'Malley at a hotel in Benidorm on 12 September, eight days after the last...
Obituary: Barbara Adams ; Egyptologist Based at the Petrie Museum
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BARBARA ADAMS was one of the most respected scholars of Predynastic and Early Dynastic Egypt. She was for over 36 years a curator at the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology at University College London, which houses probably the most important collection...
Obituary: Derek Davies ; `Far Eastern Economic Review' Editor
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DEREK DAVIES was unique in Asian journalism. In 25 years as Editor of the Hong Kong-based Far Eastern Economic Review, he transformed a loss- making, turgidly written penny sheet into a profitable, glossy magazine with a weekly circulation of 75,000....
Obituary: Eduard Gufeld ; Soviet Chess Grandmaster Widely Reputed to Be in the Pay of the KGB
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IN THE pantheon of great Russian chess players, Eduard Gufeld was never destined to gain a prominent place. Yet he was, for 30 years or more, one of the most prolific grandmasters from the old Soviet Union, and one of the greatest ambassadors for the...
Obituary: Tony Martinez ; Puerto Rican Bandleader Who Broke into US Television
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THE PUERTO Rican-born bandleader-turned-actor Tony Martinez played Sancho Panza in 2,245 performances of the musical Man of La Mancha on tour in the United States and on Broadway, but he reached his biggest audience as the Mexican farmhand Pepino Garcia...
Ono Wins Battle with Employee Who Exploited Lennon Legacy
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YOKO ONO has won a bitter and long-running legal battle with a former personal assistant who was forced to admit yesterday that he had exploited the Lennon legacy for profit. Frederick Seaman issued a public apology to Ms Ono, her late husband and their...
