The River of Death

For the people living alongside the Payapon river the slow-moving waters have always been a sustainer of life. Now the same river is delivering the dead.

As Clinton campaign flounders, hopes of 'dream ticket' resurface

Could the long and bitter battle for the Democratic nomination end with Barack Obama and the all-but-vanquished Hillary Clinton united?

On The Campaign Trail

BBC failed to pass on money pledged to charity

The BBC has been forced to apologise over money raised during television phone-ins which was not paid to the intended charities.

Fritzl may be tried for murder over son's death

Josef Fritzl, the Austrian rapist who imprisoned his daughter in a cellar for 24 years and fathered her seven children, may face a murder charge over the death of one of his newborn sons whose corpse he admitted "getting rid of" in a boiler furnace.

Crewe voters set to derail Labour's fightback

Labour supporters are in open revolt in Crewe, and that can only mean one thing: Mr Brown is in deep trouble.

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Top travel book deals England a damning blow
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His extraordinary confessions from the cellar

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As the magazine turns 20, we leaf through its colourful history
ITV con
Astonishing series of deceptions revealed in report

The Premier League quiz
Are you a Cristiano Ronaldo or a Tom Hicks when it comes to Premier League knowledge? Take The Independent Premier League quiz and find out

After the first sun of the year comes the first smog

Just when the country was beginning to enjoy some warm weather, experts warned that the sun has arrived with a sting in its tail – the first smog of summer.

Hizbollah rules west Beirut in Iran's proxy war with US

Another American humiliation. The Shia gunmen who drove past my apartment in west Beirut yesterday afternoon were hooting their horns, making V-signs, leaning out of the windows of SUVs with their rifles in the air, proving to the Muslims of the capital that the elected government of Lebanon has lost.

Berlusconi imposes his authority with cabinet of cronies and beautiful women

Silvio Berlusconi's new government was sworn in yesterday afternoon, completing a changing of the guard from the government of Romano Prodi transacted at blinding speed by Italian standards.

A perfect 10? Ferguson questions Bolton as race promises thrilling finale

It is at moments like this that Sir Alex Ferguson reflects contentedly on the way that his wife told him, a few years back, that he was not to walk away from it all. "It's the only time I've ever been bullied," the Manchester United manager said of Lady Cathy's refusal to let him retire. "I don't know how I would be feeling watching today, sat in the directors' box. It would have been difficult."

Royal Mail calls for end to price controls after profits collapse

Royal Mail's chief executive, Adam Crozier, is to call for price controls in the market to be lifted after revealing that the company lost £200m on its regulated letters and parcels business last year.

Circumcision 'is the best weapon in fight against Aids'

The billions of dollars spent on Aids prevention programmes based on HIV vaccines, wide-scale testing and the promotion of condoms or sexual abstinence have turned out to be less effective than a simple surgical operation to remove the foreskin.

After 200-year quest, scientists finally unravel the bizarre origins of the duck-billed platypus

How do you get a debut novel published? It helps if your surname is Depp

Set in the celebrity-studded enclave of the Hollywood Hills, the novel sees a private investigator hired by an A-list actor who is receiving a series of chilling death threats from an obsessive fan.

Abortion: the battle lines are drawn

The next target for anti-abortion campaigners: a 13-week limit

Dingo fence has damaged sacred sites, say Aborigines

Construction of a controversial dingo fence around resort areas on Fraser Island, one of Australia's leading tourist destinations, is to continue despite objections from Aboriginal traditional owners.

How the Government's plans to end child poverty were botched

Hopes were high for the Government's scheme to lift children out of poverty and low attainment. But, until recently, Sure Start has been a costly mistake.

Has Gordon Ramsay bitten off more than he can chew?

He's no stranger to controversy – but now Britain's most famous chef has opened a can of worms by demanding chefs should only cook with seasonal vegetables. Martin Hickman reports

My Secret Life: Sa Dingding, Singer & musician, 25

The home I grew up in... As a child I lived with my grandmother, leading the life of a nomad. In springtime we stayed in a tent in the inner-Mongolian grasslands and in the winter we moved to a house in a city called Xilinhot, about 650km north of Beijing. When I was six, I moved with my parents to Jinan, Shandong Province, just south of Beijing.

Elaine Dundy: Author of 'The Dud Avocado' who first took up writing as a response to life as 'poor little Mrs Tynan'

Elaine Dundy, the author of The Dud Avocado (1958) and biographies of Peter Finch and Elvis Presley, was a remarkable writer, playwright and glamorous actress whose marriage to Kenneth Tynan was, perhaps, the greatest drama of her life.