The Independent
i Newspaper
 
TheIPaper
The Independent around the web
Protecting our children: Shaun with one of his eight children

Christina Patterson: Abu Qatada's freedom is the price we must pay for ours

Most people don't seem happy that a man who called for mass murder might soon be free

Call to prayer: Muslim pilgrims at the Grand mosque in Mecca

Christina Patterson: Whether or not you have faith, the Hajj is one journey we all need to understand

You don't have to go round it seven times, but you almost feel you should. You almost feel, when you go into what used to be the reading room at the British Museum, where Marx, and Kipling, and Orwell used to work, and hear the wailing of a human voice that millions hear as a call to prayer, as if you should swap your jeans for a tunic. You almost feel you should shave your head. You almost feel like shouting "Allahu Akbar".

Christina Patterson: It's time to ditch the dumbing down and start the wising up

Once you could say it was better to overestimate the public's mentality than underestimate it

Jean-Claude Mas of PIP was arrested in France this week

Christina Patterson: We don't want your apologies, or your remorse - unless they're from the heart

When I first touched a silicone implant, I felt sick. It felt squashy, but not in the way a breast feels squashy. It felt squashy in the way that something like, say, a waterbed, feels squashy.

Christina Patterson: It's looking grim - unless, like Cameron, your talent is PR

They work in factories or construction or in shops and you'd have thought they'd be getting angry

Jean Dujardin and Bérénice Bejo are captivating in The Artist

Christina Patterson: The Artist is a reminder of some of the things we've lost

On Saturday night, in a cinema in Dalston, the audience clapped. They may or may not have clapped after the event that took place next, which was a "happening", involving live, human beings, and which sounded to me as weird as the outfits of the trilby-headed hipsters I had to squeeze past. But what they clapped when I was there wasn't human, and it wasn't alive. What they clapped was a film that had just finished called The Artist.

Christina Patterson: Let's turn this party in the park into something that will last

It would be quite hard for her jubilee not to be overshadowed by a party now costing £9bn

Where's her knight in shining armour? Madonna's W.E. premiere

Christina Patterson: Madonna's got a long wait for her knight in shining armour

She's one of the most powerful women in the world. She is, in fact, at least according to Time, which is very keen on lists, one of the 25 most powerful women of the last century. She looks a million dollars, and is worth several hundred million more. But there's one thing Madonna's millions can't buy her. Yup, you've guessed it: love.

Christina Patterson: No one believes in the old economic solutions now

Lots and lots of things seem to be bad for the economy. So many that it's hard to know what isn't

Happy family: Ed Miliband with his wife Justine and their sons

Christina Patterson: Please stop telling us about your 'kids', and your feelings, and just do your job

Ed Miliband's son has asked Santa for a Hoover.

Christina Patterson: If you don't like capitalism, why not try North Korea?

I'm not sure you could say 'socialism' in North Korea is on its way to being completely 'victorious'

The late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs paid the company's other co-founder Steve Wozniak much less than himself

Christina Patterson: What Steve Jobs taught us about willpower – and its limits

It isn't nice to want to punch someone who's dead in the face.

Christina Patterson: In a changed world, we need a new social contract

But only fantasists, and Labour politicians, don't have to make a choice. If you're in charge, you do
Caught out: senior Bell Pottinger executives brag of their 'dark arts'

Christina Patterson: Why boasting about who, and what, you know is bad for your 'brand'

It makes you wince for their mums.

Career Services

Day In a Page

Apple admits it has a human rights problem

Apple admits it has a human rights problem

After years of complaints and workers' suicides in China the technology giant faces up to the human cost of its gadgets
Peter Moore: 'I feel guilty I'm the only one alive'

Peter Moore interview

'I feel guilty I'm the only one alive'
Sellafield faces nuclear option as overspending threatens plant's future

Sellafield faces nuclear option

Overspending threatens plant's future
Israel blames Iran for embassy bomb attacks

Israel blames Iran for embassy bomb attacks

Tehran rejects Netanyahu's 'lies' after diplomats in India and Georgia targeted
Former manager enjoying Apoel crack at the big time

Tommy Cassidy interview

Former manager enjoying Apoel crack at the big time
James Lawton: Patience may not be a virtue this time, Roman – Andre Villas-Boas looks all at sea

James Lawton: AVB looks all at sea

Abramovich's visits to training reinforce the idea of a coach feeling pressure from above and below
The 10 Best sledges

The 10 Best sledges

Not all of them require snow...
Procrastination: Not now  – I'm busy

Procrastination: Not now – I'm busy

Confronting the real reasons for puttting things off can help us beat it
Fun in the sunset years

Fun in the sunset years

A new movie follows retirees moving to India for low-cost care and a culture of respect for the elderly. For many Britons, it's already a reality
Picture preview: Lucian Freud drawings

Lucian Freud drawings

Picture preview
Silent revolution at the Baftas as the French take top awards

Silent revolution at the Baftas

The Artist wins in seven categories, with Meryl Streep the other big success story
Whitney Houston: The diva who had – and lost – it all

The diva who had – and lost – it all

Nick Hasted charts the highs and lows of Whitney Houston's life
How Picasso won over (some of) the British

How Picasso won over (some of) the British

Winston Churchill and Evelyn Waugh hated his work, but Picasso provided inspiration for a whole generation of UK artists
Topshop: A Decade Of Design

Topshop: A Decade Of Design

When London Fashion Week starts on Friday, Topshop will celebrate 10 years backing its brightest young stars
John Prescott: 'My wife thought I'd just retire, but I'm not a slippers man'

'My wife thought I'd just retire, but I'm not a slippers man'

At 73, John Prescott isn't mellowing. In fact he's taking a shot at becoming a police commissioner