http://www.independent.co.uk/?service=Rss http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/europe/the-travellers-guide-to-christmas-markets-1818053.html http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/europe/the-travellers-guide-to-christmas-markets-1818053.html ]]> Europe Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:55 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/features/the-ten-best-grinders-1818751.html http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/features/the-ten-best-grinders-1818751.html ]]> Features Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:17 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/has-cameron-done-a-deal-with-murdoch-1819010.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/has-cameron-done-a-deal-with-murdoch-1819010.html <p>David Cameron has been accused of making a "contract" with Britain's biggest media company to trade political support before an election for government favours afterwards if the Tories win.</p> UK Politics Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/testing-and-assessment-we-will-fail-him-on-the-beaches-1819013.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/testing-and-assessment-we-will-fail-him-on-the-beaches-1819013.html ]]> <p>It is one of the most famous and inspirational speeches ever to be given in the House of Commons, its bold refrain coming to symbolise the indomitable British spirit in the Second World War.</p> Education News Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/they-come-in-search-of-justice-ndash-but-end-up-thrown-into-jail-1819033.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/they-come-in-search-of-justice-ndash-but-end-up-thrown-into-jail-1819033.html <p>They travel thousands of miles to Beijing to bring their problems – land-grabbing, bullying, eviction or abuse by local officials – to the government's attention. But instead of obtaining justice, a shocking new report reveals that many are thrown into sordid and illegal "black jails" where they may be abused, beaten, tortured, raped, robbed, and deprived of food, sleep and medical care. </p> Asia Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/obamas-asian-odyssey-1819046.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/obamas-asian-odyssey-1819046.html <p>Barack Obama's first visit to Asia as President will feature a familiar array of weighty topics: North Korea and its nuclear threat; climate change; and America's huge trade imbalances with China and Japan. But his biggest challenge is more fundamental: how does the US maintain its relevance in a resurgent region, with the most dynamic economy on the planet?</p> Americas Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/parent-power-sara-payne-on-being-an-ordinary-mother-in-whitehall-1818835.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/parent-power-sara-payne-on-being-an-ordinary-mother-in-whitehall-1818835.html ]]> <p>She was an ordinary mother, but her child's shocking death gave her a national platform – and the power to make a Prime Minister sit up, listen and respond to what she was saying.</p> Profiles Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/exministers-call-for-vote-on-war-in-afghanistan-1819011.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/exministers-call-for-vote-on-war-in-afghanistan-1819011.html ]]> <p>The challenge to Gordon Brown's authority from within his own party grew last night as four former ministers joined calls for a Commons vote on the war in Afghanistan. They are pressing for an early parliamentary debate on Britain's military role and objectives in the country, and a timetable for pulling out of the region.</p> UK Politics Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/unemployment-may-have-peaked-figures-suggest-1819023.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/unemployment-may-have-peaked-figures-suggest-1819023.html <p>Unemployment has fallen for the second successive month, suggesting for the first time that the number of people out of work may have peaked. At 2,461,000, the jobless figure for the three months to September this year is marginally – 8,000 – below that recorded in the previous three months. These "rolling averages", from the Office for National Statistics suggest that unemployment may even have peaked, for now, in June at 2,470,000. </p> Business News Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/transatlantic-buggy-wars-1819027.html http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/transatlantic-buggy-wars-1819027.html ]]> <p>The buggy manufacturer Maclaren came under increasing pressure yesterday to issue British parents with safety kits that prevent the slicing off of children's fingertips.</p> Health News Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/undercurrent-of-doubt-over-electric-motors-1819016.html http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/undercurrent-of-doubt-over-electric-motors-1819016.html ]]> <p>Electric cars, which emit no carbon dioxide from their tailpipe, are not the answer some people think they are to environmental transport problems, a new report claims today.</p> Climate Change Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/student/postgraduate/mbas-guide/cheer-up-it-still-pays-to-go-to-business-school-1818629.html http://www.independent.co.uk/student/postgraduate/mbas-guide/cheer-up-it-still-pays-to-go-to-business-school-1818629.html <p>When the financial crisis erupted just over a year ago a collective frisson went down the spines of business schools and their graduates. Was this the end of a bull run for MBAs which had mirrored that of the markets? Did the MBA and other courses need reform? Would business schools have to reinvent themselves? The broad answer to all these questions from a new report by the Association of MBAs is that the fears were exaggerated and life has continued largely unaffected.</p> MBAs Guide Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/student/career-planning/getting-job/buying-and-selling-houses-is-hot-again-1818630.html http://www.independent.co.uk/student/career-planning/getting-job/buying-and-selling-houses-is-hot-again-1818630.html <p>At the beginning of the decade, a career in the property industry was a guaranteed money-spinner. Glossy TV programmes told us that all we needed to do was stick some decking in the garden and create an "inside-outside space" and we'd all be millionaires.</p> Getting a Job Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/higher/students-get-new-courses-for-the-21st-century-1818633.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/higher/students-get-new-courses-for-the-21st-century-1818633.html ]]> <p>In 1495 a medieval bishop established a university in the small northern Scottish port of Aberdeen, famous today for its bracing climate and offshore oil. Columbus had just discovered America and witches were still burnt at the stake. </p> Higher Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/schools/steve-mccormack-why-do-we-spend-so-much-money-on-schools-1818632.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/schools/steve-mccormack-why-do-we-spend-so-much-money-on-schools-1818632.html <p>Like all public sectors, the education world is holding its breath to see where and when the spending axe will fall. The ubiquitous question: who will suffer when the funding tap – free flowing since the early Blair days – is squeezed? But I have a different question. Are we, in our blinkered British bubble, deluding ourselves in assuming that less money will necessarily mean a less effective education system? And the reverse applies equally. Does more money necessarily mean more learning?</p> Schools Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/higher/leading-article-good-start-for-fees-review-1818631.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/higher/leading-article-good-start-for-fees-review-1818631.html <p>Lord Mandelson has managed to secure an impressive line-up for his review of university funding, which is expected to recommended that top-up fees be increased. Lord Browne, who spent his life in BP, rising from lowly graduate recruit to CEO, is widely admired for his expertise and will be ably supported, among others, by Sir Michael Barber, the former head of Tony Blair's delivery unit, the economist Diane Coyle, formerly of this newspaper, and Professor David Eastwood, Vice-Chancellor of Birmingham University and one of the cleverest minds in higher education. Moreover he has managed to keep the NUS happy by including a young person, Ranjay Naik, who used be on the English Secondary Students Association.</p> Higher Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/passedfailed-an-education-in-the-life-of-allegra-mcevedy-chef-writer-broadcaster-and-restaurateur-1818634.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/passedfailed-an-education-in-the-life-of-allegra-mcevedy-chef-writer-broadcaster-and-restaurateur-1818634.html ]]> <p> <b>Allegra McEvedy MBE, 38, was one of the presenters of BBC2's Economy Gastronomy and is co-author of the book of the series. She is also a co-founder of the nine award-winning Leon restaurants. She will be speaking at the National Everywoman Conference on 18 November at the Hotel Russell, London (www.everywoman.com).</b> </p> Profiles Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/schools/time-for-change-how-a-young-woman-plans-to-shake-up-the-school-system-1818636.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/schools/time-for-change-how-a-young-woman-plans-to-shake-up-the-school-system-1818636.html ]]> <p>Meet Rachel Wolf, who at just 24, is aiming to transform the school landscape. And, if the Tories come to power next year, she may well succeed. She plans to encourage parents, charities and for-profit companies to set up hundreds of new independent state schools. </p> Schools Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/schools/education-quandary-i-am-very-physical-in-how-i-teach-drama--but-my-new-headteacher-has-told-me-to-change-the-way-i-work-do-i-really-have-to-1818635.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/schools/education-quandary-i-am-very-physical-in-how-i-teach-drama--but-my-new-headteacher-has-told-me-to-change-the-way-i-work-do-i-really-have-to-1818635.html Schools Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/opening-doors-and-windows-by-james-rooseevans-1818833.html http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/opening-doors-and-windows-by-james-rooseevans-1818833.html ]]> <p>The theatre world is littered with self-styled gurus and shamans, but it is rare to find a director who is also an Anglican priest. In this charming and insightful memoir, 82-year-old James Roose-Evans takes us on a spiritual and creative journey from his literally tortured adolescence (he was prone to self-flagellation) to the twin heights of ordination in Hereford cathedral and Broadway success.</p> Reviews Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/reviews/the-kreutzer-sonata-gate-theatre-london-1818832.html http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/reviews/the-kreutzer-sonata-gate-theatre-london-1818832.html ]]> <p>The motion of a train loosens the tongue, confides Pozdnyshev, our companion in a railway carriage for the 85 minutes of this extraordinarily compelling stage adaptation of Tolstoy's great, warped novella The Kreutzer Sonata. In Natalie Abrahami's pitch-perfect production at the tiny Gate Theatre, this figure is a kind of bourgeois Russian Ancient Mariner, compelled to re-tell the story of how he murdered his arguably adulterous wife. She may have been playing more than piano with a newly arrived violinist, who had been a childhood friend of Pozdnyshev. Emphasising the subjective nature of the protagonist's testimony, this couple are seen here fitfully illuminated behind a scrim either making music or love in candle-lit flashes that are like the lingering neuralgic throb of an obsession that has survived Pozdnyshev's acquittal for homicide.</p> Reviews Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/just-jack-shepherds-bush-empire-london-1818831.html http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/just-jack-shepherds-bush-empire-london-1818831.html <p> A happy-go-lucky Jack Allsopp steps forward to meet the crowd, peers around and announces: "I just saw my mum and dad up there. That's pretty cool." He explains his usual trick of finding something to greet each new audience with, concluding, a little relieved, "We're home." </p> Reviews Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/hit-and-run/hit-amp-run-simplicity-computer-delivers-over50s-to-the-digital-age-1818830.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/hit-and-run/hit-amp-run-simplicity-computer-delivers-over50s-to-the-digital-age-1818830.html ]]> <p>If social networking is something you do at the bingo hall, windows require (net) curtains, and a Mac is to be worn in the rain, chances are you're old. Because, apparently, old people don't do computers. Things like Twitter and spreadsheets only bother them when they're on the One O'Clock News. But anyone watching the BBC's lunchtime bulletin yesterday will have seen a pensioner called Betty using a computer designed to deliver her generation to the digital age. </p> Hit & Run Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/monica-pidgeon-influential-editor-of-architectural-design-for-more-than-30-years-1818794.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/monica-pidgeon-influential-editor-of-architectural-design-for-more-than-30-years-1818794.html <p>For more than three decades Monica Pidgeon edited the Bloomsbury-based Architectural Design (AD). This influential and radical journal was a prime source of information on contemporary architectural culture, and had an international reach. It gave prominence to the work of such architects as Le Corbusier, Jose Luis Sert, Mies van der Rohe, Walter Gropius, Richard Buckminster Fuller, and Alison and Peter Smithson.</p> Obituaries Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/professor-thamsanqa-kambule-inspirational-teacher-who-fought-for-highquality-black-education-in-apartheid-south-africa-1818793.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/professor-thamsanqa-kambule-inspirational-teacher-who-fought-for-highquality-black-education-in-apartheid-south-africa-1818793.html <p>It was an article of faith among many whites in apartheid South Africa that blacks were incapable of doing mathematics. Their belief was that black brains were simply not up to it. Thamsanqa Wilkinson "Wilkie" Kambule mocked the myth and gave the lie to it: he was black and a gifted mathematician; he was also an inspiring teacher who spoke with pride of several pupils who emigrated and went on to study nuclear physics, a field denied to them at home. </p> Obituaries Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/gavin-hodge-celebrity-hairdresser-who-scandalised-sixties-society-when-he-eloped-with-a-teenager-1818792.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/gavin-hodge-celebrity-hairdresser-who-scandalised-sixties-society-when-he-eloped-with-a-teenager-1818792.html <p>Gavin Hodge was a hugely fashionable hairdresser who, beginning in the London of the swinging Sixties, packed into his life an inordinate amount of drink, drugs and sex. While his claim to have bedded 2,000 women seems implausible, his frank admission that he was addicted to women had the ring of truth about it.</p> Obituaries Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/student/postgraduate/postgraduate-study/serenas-story-how-one-student-is-demanding-a-better-deal-for-postgraduates-1818660.html http://www.independent.co.uk/student/postgraduate/postgraduate-study/serenas-story-how-one-student-is-demanding-a-better-deal-for-postgraduates-1818660.html <p>Postgraduate students who are struggling with the pressures of advanced academic work may find solace in the latest report from the National Student Forum (NSF). Set up last year to reflect the experiences of the 500,000 postgraduates in the UK, the forum argues that, while much progress has been made, the consistency and sometimes the level of support postgraduates receive still lags behind that given to undergraduates.</p> Postgraduate Study Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/student/postgraduate/postgraduate-study/postgraduate-queries-can-a-diploma-be-converted-which-green-course-is-best-1818659.html http://www.independent.co.uk/student/postgraduate/postgraduate-study/postgraduate-queries-can-a-diploma-be-converted-which-green-course-is-best-1818659.html Postgraduate Study Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/features/how-low-can-you-go-do-reducedalcohol-wines-past-the-taste-test-1818842.html http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/features/how-low-can-you-go-do-reducedalcohol-wines-past-the-taste-test-1818842.html ]]> <p>Cough medicine? Ribena? Or is it just sparkling mineral water with a bit of fruit juice added to it? Has someone tipped a load of sugar into a perfectly decent white wine... ?? </p> Features Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/columnists/brian-viner/brian-viner-why-would-my-children-collect-sticks-when-they-could-be-on-facebook-1818841.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/columnists/brian-viner/brian-viner-why-would-my-children-collect-sticks-when-they-could-be-on-facebook-1818841.html <p>The time has come when I can no longer send my children into our little wood to collect kindling. This is partly because they are no longer the obliging creatures they used to be, and why would anyone want to be picking up twigs when they could be on Facebook, and partly because it's November, and even after a mostly dry autumn the twigs are damp.</p> Brian Viner Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/threeminute-therapy-can-speed-shrinking-fix-your-head-in-180-seconds-1818840.html http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/threeminute-therapy-can-speed-shrinking-fix-your-head-in-180-seconds-1818840.html ]]> <p>Three, two, one...Speed Shrink!" booms a voice over the loudspeaker. Having three minutes to spill your most intimate secrets to a stranger in a crowded room may not sound like everyone's route to good mental health, even in the world capital of psychotherapy. But for today's time – and increasingly cash – poor New Yorkers, it offers a potential quick fix that is hard to resist.</p> Features Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/opera-sheds-new-light-on-tchaikovskys-gay-lifestyle-1818839.html http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/opera-sheds-new-light-on-tchaikovskys-gay-lifestyle-1818839.html ]]> <p>An opera by Tchaikovsky? It must be about Fate, with a capital F. Duels in the frosty dawn, blood on the snow. A fragile, innocent heroine, doomed love, incipient madness. Tchaikovsky: the ultimate gloomy Russian bastard. You can hear it in his music, can't you? </p> Features Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/staff-benda-bilili-barbican-london-1818838.html http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/staff-benda-bilili-barbican-london-1818838.html <p>When Staff Benda Bilili spin wheelchairs, dance on their legs' stumps and pluck instruments created from abandoned debris, they are embodying their nation's contradictions. They are homeless youths and paraplegic men from Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, sub-Saharan Africa's most cursed country. But their UK debut proved that a history of colonial and local dictators, civil wars and corporate mineral-stripping can still fuel defiant art.</p> Reviews Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/recipes/twoapple-pizza-with-walnuts-1818837.html http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/recipes/twoapple-pizza-with-walnuts-1818837.html Recipes Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/the-week-in-radio-when-poetry-becomes-an-adventure-1818836.html http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/the-week-in-radio-when-poetry-becomes-an-adventure-1818836.html <p>If I had a fiver for everyone I've heard say, "I never watch any television apart from the news and David Attenborough", well, it would probably cover my licence fee. But while there being Nothing on TV has been a staple moan of British cultural life for some time now, radio is in far happier shape. The Rajar figures for the third quarter of the year were good for the BBC, especially Radios 3, 4 and 5 Live. There were all sorts of explanations, including the Ashes and the Proms and global economic meltdown to explain why people were reaching for the radio. Yet perhaps it comes down to the fact that radio simply does some things better. </p> Features Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/features/perfect-pasta-silver-spoon-cookbook-devotes-volume-to-worlds-favourite-comfort-food-1818834.html http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/features/perfect-pasta-silver-spoon-cookbook-devotes-volume-to-worlds-favourite-comfort-food-1818834.html ]]> <p>What is it about pasta that makes it soul food for Westerners? I believe it's all about the resemblance of cooked egg pasta and sauce to our own internal workings, and a folk memory of cannibalism. It's by some way the least tidy food of any culture: those long strings and ribbons of fettuccine and pappardelle, those precise little fingers of penne (mind those sharp nails) and little ears of conchiglie, they're all simulacra of bodily guts and organs and tender flesh, with arrabbiata and puttanesca sauces masquerading as assorted items of blood and gore. Just look at that plateful of fusilli in cuttlefish ink and tell me we're not responding to something darkly, secretly intestinal...</p> Features Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/motor-racing/brawn-button-should-seek-sponsors-to-boost-salary-1818899.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/motor-racing/brawn-button-should-seek-sponsors-to-boost-salary-1818899.html ]]> <p>Ross Brawn has indicated Jenson Button's salary demands will not be met and is instead prepared to offer the new world champion more freedom to seek out personal sponsorship deals to boost his income. </p> Motor Racing Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/cricket/no-easy-gigs-for-pietersen-on-his-comeback-tour-1818898.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/cricket/no-easy-gigs-for-pietersen-on-his-comeback-tour-1818898.html ]]> <p>He swept in and the anticipation was palpable. Kevin Pietersen was excited and his audience was excited to see him. It had been too long and now after four worrying months in which his career has been under threat he is ready to bat for England again.</p> Cricket Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/general/rugby-league/leigh-thrown-a-lifeline-by-gateshead-demise-1818897.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/general/rugby-league/leigh-thrown-a-lifeline-by-gateshead-demise-1818897.html ]]> <p>Leigh, a Super League club four years ago, have been reprieved from relegation to Championship One. Due to drop from the Co-operative Championship, they have been thrown a lifeline by an Rugby Football League decision to send Gateshead, who finished above them on points difference, down instead.</p> Rugby League Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/cricket/anderson-and-onions-expected-to-be-fit-for-t20-1818896.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/cricket/anderson-and-onions-expected-to-be-fit-for-t20-1818896.html ]]> <p>As Kevin Pietersen declared his readiness to return to the international arena yesterday, England were dealing with their habitual slew of injuries on tour. Their three leading fast bowlers were all suffering a variety of niggles as was the off-spinner, Graeme Swann.</p> Cricket Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/racing/ballyfitz-shows-class-for-gold-cup-1818895.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/racing/ballyfitz-shows-class-for-gold-cup-1818895.html ]]> <p>Horseracing seldom demands more of its stage hands than the change of scene completed tomorrow, just six days after the Breeders' Cup. In fairness, the Flat season reached so giddy a climax at Santa Anita that there could be no seeking of a fresh pinnacle, only a fresh start. And that is precisely what can be enjoyed over the next three days at Cheltenham, in a meeting long cherished as the first proper showcase of the jumps season.</p> Racing Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/tennis/nadal-limps-to-win-over-almagro-1818894.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/tennis/nadal-limps-to-win-over-almagro-1818894.html ]]> <p>He is still the world No 2 and acclaimed as one of the greatest clay-court players of all time, but as the 2009 season approaches its finale the tennis world might start to wonder whether it might already have seen the best of Rafael Nadal. The 23-year-old Spaniard has not won a tournament since May and is looking a shadow of the player who left Roger Federer in tears when he took possession of the third of the game's four Grand Slam titles at the Australian Open at the start of this year.</p> Tennis Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/tennis/davydenko-and-verdasco-chase-seat-at-the-top-table-1818893.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/tennis/davydenko-and-verdasco-chase-seat-at-the-top-table-1818893.html ]]> <p>Six places on board the boat heading for the O2 Arena are already booked, while Fernando Verdasco and Nikolay Davydenko could secure their seats as early as tonight. </p> Tennis Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/stewart-lansley-the-unreported-cause-of-the-financial-crisis-is-shrinking-wages-1818880.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/stewart-lansley-the-unreported-cause-of-the-financial-crisis-is-shrinking-wages-1818880.html <p>Rising personal debt, global imbalances and reckless financial risk-taking all helped to cause the economic meltdown, but the role of wages has been largely ignored. In the 25 years from 1945, wages took a steady 60 per cent share of the UK's output. That rose to an unsustainable high point of 65 per cent in 1975, but has since fallen to a mere 53 per cent. But the better off have done much better at hanging on to their share. Living standards in the UK have nearly doubled over the last 30 years, but while the better off have done better than this, most middle- and low-income workers have enjoyed only small rises in real wages.</p> Commentators Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/christina-patterson/christina-patterson-why-its-hard-to-be-a-blonde-in-the-city-1818879.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/christina-patterson/christina-patterson-why-its-hard-to-be-a-blonde-in-the-city-1818879.html <p>Two tales of the City. In the first, an attractive blonde meets a City financier, and is very, very cross because she is treated like "an Eastern European mail-order bride". In the second, an attractive blonde meets a City financier and is very, very cross because, she says, he tried to kiss her, even though he doesn't fancy blondes. Dearie me. It's hard to be a blonde in the City.</p> Christina Patterson Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/the-big-question-why-is-britains-dna-database-the-biggest-in-the-world-and-is-it-effective-1818878.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/the-big-question-why-is-britains-dna-database-the-biggest-in-the-world-and-is-it-effective-1818878.html Home News Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/yvonne-roberts-the-real-meaning-of-social-enterprise-1818877.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/yvonne-roberts-the-real-meaning-of-social-enterprise-1818877.html <p>Mark Peters is 32. His parents fostered a number of children, one of whom, John, was sectioned in his late teens. John's dispiriting treatment prompted Mark, a community youth worker and fitness instructor, to set up a social enterprise, Start Again. It homes in on the particular passion of a young person – in John's case, playing the drums – to motivate them to start afresh. In the past year, Start Again, with 10 volunteers, has helped more than a hundred young people, many coming out of care, to return to education, training or employment.</p> Commentators Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/guy-adams-not-even-a-godfather-can-sell-me-a-bluray-1818876.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/guy-adams-not-even-a-godfather-can-sell-me-a-bluray-1818876.html <p>Martin Scorsese is one of the world's greatest film-makers, possibly the finest of his generation, and if you want someone to tell a story about people who make other people sleep with fishes, he's your man. But I wouldn't pay much attention to his soothsaying about the future of the movie business.</p> Commentators Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/peter-galbraith-the-un-is-losing-credibility-by-keeping-karzai-in-power-1818875.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/peter-galbraith-the-un-is-losing-credibility-by-keeping-karzai-in-power-1818875.html <p>The election fraud in Afghanistan which has brought President Hamid Karzai back for a second term next week has not only shaken the confidence of Nato governments in the whole project. Its mishandling has also undermined the UN's credibility in that country and may well define Ban Ki-Moon's tenure as UN Secretary-General. </p> Commentators Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/letters/letters-afghanistan-1818874.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/letters/letters-afghanistan-1818874.html <p>Listening to a minister justifying the presence and suffering of our army in Afghanistan, I heard him use the words "Afghan National Army" and "Afghan police". </p> Letters Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/leading-articles/leading-article-a-landmark-for-london-1818873.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/leading-articles/leading-article-a-landmark-for-london-1818873.html <p>After months of anxious planning, the elegantly undulating roof of the London Aquatics Centre has been successfully lowered into place. It is not only an inspiring sight, but it marks two significant and cheering developments.</p> Leading Articles Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/leading-articles/leading-article-mr-obamas-pacific-prospects-1818872.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/leading-articles/leading-article-mr-obamas-pacific-prospects-1818872.html <p>Barack Obama sent a forceful message about his foreign policy priorities even before he set out on his first visit as US President to Asia. By staying away from Europe's celebrations for the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, in order – so it was said – to concentrate on preparations for his Far Eastern tour, he disappointed Chancellor Angela Merkel, but clearly demonstrated that he wanted nothing to detract from the idea that the US is also a Pacific power. </p> Leading Articles Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/leading-articles/leading-article-we-remain-suspects-in-the-eyes-of-this-government-1818871.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/leading-articles/leading-article-we-remain-suspects-in-the-eyes-of-this-government-1818871.html <p>Forensic science has been a boon to the criminal justice system. In the past two decades the police DNA database has helped to secure convictions of those who have perpetrated some truly heinous crimes. But the technology's benefits should not be overstated. Fewer than one per cent of all recorded crimes have been solved with the help of the database. And the advances of this technology also raise some difficult questions about privacy and the proper limits of the state.</p> Leading Articles Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/adrian-hamilton/adrian-hamilton-lies-damn-lies-and-berlin-speeches-1818870.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/adrian-hamilton/adrian-hamilton-lies-damn-lies-and-berlin-speeches-1818870.html <p>One by one, the leaders of the West trooped out in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin this week to say what a great blow for freedom the fall of the Wall had been and how that momentum must be sustained throughout the world today.</p> Adrian Hamilton Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/matthew-norman/matthew-norman-resistance-is-futile-in-the-face-of-this-master-of-psychology-1818869.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/matthew-norman/matthew-norman-resistance-is-futile-in-the-face-of-this-master-of-psychology-1818869.html <p>The shame and self-hatred bubble away like sulphuric acid in the soul as I write these words, which should be spoken only to a group of fellow sufferers, protected by the privacy of the confessional. But my name is Matthew and I'm a Cowelloholic.</p> Matthew Norman Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/comment/sean-ogrady-the-worst-is-yet-to-come-1819021.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/comment/sean-ogrady-the-worst-is-yet-to-come-1819021.html <p>There are three powerful reasons why the financial pain is far from over. First, the credit crunch is still with us, and still making life difficult for the banks and the rest of us. The uncomfortable truth is that the entire credit system remains reliant on life support from the Treasury and the Bank of England.</p> Business Comment Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/simon-carr/the-sketch-questions-are-not-there-to-be-dignified-1819020.html http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/simon-carr/the-sketch-questions-are-not-there-to-be-dignified-1819020.html <p>What is going through the Prime Minister's mind when he says of Cameron: "This is the man who made a cast-iron guarantee on a referendum on the Lisbon treaty!" He laughs lingeringly, and seems to enjoy the sally. His back benches roar away. </p> Simon Carr Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/teen-committed-rape-days-after-sex-assault-conviction-1819019.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/teen-committed-rape-days-after-sex-assault-conviction-1819019.html <p>A teenager who raped a five-year-old boy days after being spared custody for a sex assault on another youngster was locked up for almost three years yesterday. </p> Home News Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/home-secretary-agrees-protocol-with-advisers-1819012.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/home-secretary-agrees-protocol-with-advisers-1819012.html <p>The Home Secretary will write formally to his drugs advisers in future to explain any decision on classification that goes against their advice, it emerged yesterday. Alan Johnson has also pledged not to "pre-judge" decisions on drug classification ahead of receiving scientific advice.</p> Home News Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/sharewatch/investment-column-buy-into-this-powerful-investment-case-1818986.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/sharewatch/investment-column-buy-into-this-powerful-investment-case-1818986.html <p><b>Our view:</b> Buy </p> Sharewatch Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/sharewatch/market-report-recovery-hopes-drive-dsg-to-fresh-high-1818985.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/sharewatch/market-report-recovery-hopes-drive-dsg-to-fresh-high-1818985.html <p>DSG International last night closed at its highest level since October 2008, rallying by more than 8 per cent on hopes of an improvement in the electricals market. </p> Sharewatch Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/sainsburys-boss-warns-against-vat-on-food-as-profits-jump-1818984.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/sainsburys-boss-warns-against-vat-on-food-as-profits-jump-1818984.html <p>The chief executive of Sainsbury's has warned the next government against imposing Value Added Tax (VAT) on food sales, saying it would hurt some of Britain's poorest people. </p> Business News Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/greggs-looks-at-threshers-stores-to-drive-expansion-1818983.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/greggs-looks-at-threshers-stores-to-drive-expansion-1818983.html <p>Greggs, the bakery chain, is eyeing about 100 shops of First Quench Retailing, owner of Threshers, which fell into administration last month. </p> Business News Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/new-setback-for-national-express-as-cosmens-attack-rights-issue-plans-1818982.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/new-setback-for-national-express-as-cosmens-attack-rights-issue-plans-1818982.html <p>National Express's biggest shareholder yesterday reacted angrily to the terms of a rescue rights issue, which the company hopes will put to bed worries about its £1bn debt pile.</p> Business News Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/macys-disappoints-wall-street-with-gloomy-outlook-for-sales-1818981.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/macys-disappoints-wall-street-with-gloomy-outlook-for-sales-1818981.html <p>The US department store operator Macy's dashed Wall Street hopes for strong holiday sales yesterday, with forecasts of a 1 to 2 per cent fall in fourth-quarter sales. </p> Business News Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/labour-confident-of-success-in-byelection-1819018.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/labour-confident-of-success-in-byelection-1819018.html <p>Labour is quietly confident that history will not repeat itself today when voters go to the polls in a parliamentary by-election in Glasgow North East.</p> UK Politics Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/mandelson-to-become-governments-tv-face-1819017.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/mandelson-to-become-governments-tv-face-1819017.html <p>Lord Mandelson will become the "public face" of the Government by giving regular televised press conferences as it tries to sharpen its message in the run-up to the general election.</p> UK Politics Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/incoming/pressure-grows-for-vote-on-afghan-war-1819015.html http://www.independent.co.uk/incoming/pressure-grows-for-vote-on-afghan-war-1819015.html <p>THE CHALLENGE to Gordon Brown's authority from within his own party grew last night as four former ministers joined calls for a Commons vote on the war in Afghanistan. They are pressing for an early parliamentary debate on Britain's military role and objectives in the country, and timetable for pulling out of the region.</p> New Articles Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/afghan-police-need-three-years-of-training-1819014.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/afghan-police-need-three-years-of-training-1819014.html <p>The Afghan National Police needs another three years of training and investment to be turned into a credible force, said a senior British officer. Lieutenant Colonel Jasper de Quincey Adams, chief mentor to the ANP, said a professional force would not be created overnight, but methods such as "embedded partnering", where British and Afghan forces live and work by each other, were making progress.</p> Asia Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/us-drugs-board-approves-gsks-swine-flu-vaccine-1818980.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/us-drugs-board-approves-gsks-swine-flu-vaccine-1818980.html <p>Glaxosmithkline received a further fillip to its growing swine flu vaccine sales yesterday when the Food and Drug Administration, the regulatory body in the United States, approved the group's treatment. </p> Business News Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/gm-chairman-looks-to-assert-group-as-a-global-player-1818979.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/gm-chairman-looks-to-assert-group-as-a-global-player-1818979.html <p>Fritz Henderson, appointed chief executive of General Motors in the spring after 25 years with the company, is coming under intense public pressure from his new boss, chairman Ed Whitacre.</p> Business News Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/rising-oil-price-could--stall-recovery-warns-opec-1818978.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/rising-oil-price-could--stall-recovery-warns-opec-1818978.html <p>Rising oil prices could dampen the steadily strengthening demand for crude amid the fragile beginnings of economic recovery, the cartel of the world's biggest oil-producing countries warned yesterday.</p> Business News Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/gold-hits-new-record-high-as-demand-for-the-dollar-continues-to-weaken-1818977.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/gold-hits-new-record-high-as-demand-for-the-dollar-continues-to-weaken-1818977.html <p>Gold hit another record high yesterday with investors continuing to buy the precious metal as a hedge against further falls in the US dollar. The new high watermark of $1,117.05 a troy ounce comes after the US dollar slipped for a third consecutive day, registering a 15-month low. </p> Business News Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/james-smith-we-need-a-worldwide-carbon-trade-1818976.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/james-smith-we-need-a-worldwide-carbon-trade-1818976.html <p>As one of the original "Seven Sisters" international oil giants, Royal Dutch Shell might seem a strange candidate for a front-row seat at the UN climate summit in Copenhagen in a few weeks' time. But James Smith, the company's UK chairman and a standard bearer for corporate environmentalism, sees no contradiction between big oil and a green future.</p> Profiles Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/banking-selloff-to-take-up-to-seven-years-1818975.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/banking-selloff-to-take-up-to-seven-years-1818975.html <p>Ministers should forget any hopes of a quick sale of the taxpayer's stake in the banking system, a report from the accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers will warn today. </p> Business News Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/comment/david-prosser-budget-pleas-set-to-fall-on-deaf-ears-1818974.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/comment/david-prosser-budget-pleas-set-to-fall-on-deaf-ears-1818974.html <p><b>Outlook</b> Bless. Within hours of the Treasury announcing yesterday that the Chancellor will deliver the pre-Budget report on 9 December, every special interest group under the sun was publishing its list of demands. There are sure going to be a lot of disappointed folk around come 10 December.</p> Business Comment Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/comment/david-prosser-cameron-gets-a-warning-1818973.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/comment/david-prosser-cameron-gets-a-warning-1818973.html <p><b>Outlook</b> A sign of trouble ahead? Mervyn King has wasted no time firing a shot across the bows of the Conservatives. The Bank of England Governor seems to have been irked by David Cameron's speech to his party conference last month, during which the Tory leader said the quantitative easing programme would have to stop because "in the end, printing money leads to inflation". Mr King warned Mr Cameron off yesterday, insisting the decision was "one for the Bank".</p> Business Comment Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/comment/david-prosser-time-running-out-for-stamp-duty-saving-1818972.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/comment/david-prosser-time-running-out-for-stamp-duty-saving-1818972.html <p><b>Outlook</b> The recovery of the UK housing market has never looked sustainable and the latest lending figures suggest it may already be beginning to run out of steam. The number of mortgages for house purchase agreed in September was only marginally higher than in August, The Council of Mortgage Lenders reports, and lower than July's figure. And while we're still up significantly on the same months of last year, the low base makes the comparisons pretty meaningless.</p> Business Comment Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/ad-revenue-declines-slow-to-19-per-cent-at-johnston-1818971.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/ad-revenue-declines-slow-to-19-per-cent-at-johnston-1818971.html <p>Johnston Press, which owns the Yorkshire Post and The Scotsman, yesterday backed the "greater stability" in its advertising revenues, as the declines slowed over the past 10 weeks.</p> Business News Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/business-diary-darling-steps-in-for-absent-comic-1818970.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/business-diary-darling-steps-in-for-absent-comic-1818970.html <p>To the National Business Awards at the Grosvenor House Hotel, where the Chancellor of the Exchequer was on hand to give out some gongs. No comedian as entertainment, but Mr Darling was happy to step in. With the taxpayer-owned Royal Bank of Scotland behind one of the trophies, the Chancellor ad-libbed: "I'm delighted to see my bank is sponsoring one of these awards". Someone liked it: the Chancellor was asked for his autograph during dinner.</p> Business News Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/reed-elseviers-chief-executive-quits-after-just-eight-months-1818969.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/reed-elseviers-chief-executive-quits-after-just-eight-months-1818969.html <p>The chief executive of Reed Elsevier, publisher of New Scientist and Variety, shocked the market yesterday by resigning after just eight months.</p> Business News Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/guardian-publisher-set-to-cut-over-100-jobs-after-strategic-review-1818968.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/guardian-publisher-set-to-cut-over-100-jobs-after-strategic-review-1818968.html <p>The Guardian and The Observer newspapers are set to axe up to 10 per cent of their journalists, as the group looks to combat plummeting revenues brought on by the worst advertising recession in living memory. </p> Business News Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/king-we-face-a-long-wait-for-signs-of-convincing-recovery-1818967.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/king-we-face-a-long-wait-for-signs-of-convincing-recovery-1818967.html <p>the immediate prospects for Britain's economy are grimmer than in any previous forecast and output is unlikely to revert to pre-crisis levels before 2011, the Bank of England said in a stern warning yesterday.</p> Business News Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/ferguson-to-reignite-row-over-unfit-referees-1818909.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/ferguson-to-reignite-row-over-unfit-referees-1818909.html ]]> <p>An unrepentant Sir Alex Ferguson will risk further condemnation over his attack on referee Alan Wiley today by telling a Football Association tribunal that the fitness of officials should be better.</p> Premier League Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/ireland-robinho-is-a-changed-man-1818908.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/ireland-robinho-is-a-changed-man-1818908.html ]]> <p>For a clue as to which Manchester City player has looked Robinho hard and unflinchingly in the eye this week and searched for evidence that he is really has the spirit for City's journey, cast your mind back to 11 May 2008 and the 8-1 defeat at Middlesbrough which marked the end of Sven Goran Eriksson's reign. </p> Premier League Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/sky-provokes-backlash-after-iphone-viewing-offer-1818907.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/sky-provokes-backlash-after-iphone-viewing-offer-1818907.html <p>BSkyB said last night it was not worried that its new Sky Mobile TV service for iPhones, where all Sky's sport content is now available for an all-time low price of £6 per month, will cannabilise sales of its core product – pay-TV sport – and damage its business model.</p> News & Comment Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/ian-herbert-fa-is-caught-between-a-rock-and-a-hard-place-1818906.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/ian-herbert-fa-is-caught-between-a-rock-and-a-hard-place-1818906.html <p>It was a classic Ferguson distraction technique, of course. Manchester United had just spent much of the early evening labouring against Sunderland, requiring a large slice of fortune and an even larger deflection off Anton Ferdinand for an equaliser in a game which illustrated the deficiencies which we know more about now, a month or so on. They're why United are five points off the top of the Premier League table. </p> News & Comment Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/european/steve-mcclaren-i-survived-ultimate-failure-now-i-fear-nothing-1818905.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/european/steve-mcclaren-i-survived-ultimate-failure-now-i-fear-nothing-1818905.html ]]> <p>On Sunday at the Grolsch Veste stadium in the eastern Netherlands the name of Steve McClaren was sung – as it at most home games – by the supporters of FC Twente, who know little and care even less about his past as England manager. All they cared about on Sunday was that their team had beaten Martin Jol's Ajax Amsterdam.</p> European Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/internationals/young-refuses-to-change-his-mind-on-england-retirement-1818904.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/internationals/young-refuses-to-change-his-mind-on-england-retirement-1818904.html ]]> <p>Fabio Capello gave the Aston Villa defender Luke Young a chance to reverse his secret decision to retire from international football this week, it emerged yesterday, but was told by the player's representatives that Young did not want to play for England again.</p> International Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-union/international/hartley-hooks-a-starting-berth-1818903.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-union/international/hartley-hooks-a-starting-berth-1818903.html ]]> <p>Three changes to the spine of the team – at scrum-half, hooker and No 8 – plus an enforced switch in the crucial position of tight-head prop? Martin Johnson, who might consider himself beleaguered but for the unprecedented pledges of job security offered him by his employers at the Rugby Football Union, would hardly claim this to be ideal preparation for a Test match against a team as dangerous as Argentina, who pitch up at Twickenham this weekend.</p> International Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/pavlyuchenko-has-to-leave-1818902.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/pavlyuchenko-has-to-leave-1818902.html ]]> <p>The Tottenham Hotspur striker Roman Pavlyuchenko is planning showdown talks with his manager Harry Redknapp after the international break during which he will "insist" on being allowed to leave the club in January.</p> Premier League Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-union/international/hodgson-can-be-englands-bright-spark-1818901.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-union/international/hodgson-can-be-englands-bright-spark-1818901.html ]]> <p>Paul Hodgson, who makes his first start as England's scrum-half against Argentina this weekend, was not overly blessed by the gods of rugby: certainly, their gifts to him did not include the acceleration of a Danny Care, or the freakish straight-line speed of a Joe Simpson, or the exaggerated physicality of a Harry Ellis. Instead, he made his own way to the top, drawing on unusually rich reserves of instinct and intelligence. He is the thinking man's No 9 who must have thought his moment would never come.</p> International Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/the-andy-cole-column-when-sir-alex-says-jump-i-still-ask-him-how-high-1818900.html http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/the-andy-cole-column-when-sir-alex-says-jump-i-still-ask-him-how-high-1818900.html ]]> <p>Sir Alex Ferguson's influence on his players doesn't stop when they leave Manchester United: I saw him last week and he gave me a verbal boot up the backside for not getting stuck into my coaching badges yet. The upshot is that he's invited me to United to work on them and there's no better club in the world to learn your trade. </p> News & Comment Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/student/postgraduate/postgraduate-study/who-should-pay-for-degrees-1818658.html http://www.independent.co.uk/student/postgraduate/postgraduate-study/who-should-pay-for-degrees-1818658.html <p>As the number of postgraduates surges to more than 500,000 students in Britain, the spotlight is increasingly falling on what students are getting for their money, whether employers are satisfied with the standards of Masters degrees and PhDs, and whether or not the UK is internationally competitive in the postgraduate marketplace.</p> Postgraduate Study Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/student/postgraduate/postgraduate-study/postgrad-lives-my-research-has-the-potential-to-have-a-real-impact-1818657.html http://www.independent.co.uk/student/postgraduate/postgraduate-study/postgrad-lives-my-research-has-the-potential-to-have-a-real-impact-1818657.html <p> <b>Lucy Gell, 23, recently started a PhD looking into alcohol and health inequalities at the University of Sheffield's School of Health and Related Research. </b> </p> Postgraduate Study Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.independent.co.uk/student/postgraduate/postgraduate-study/how-to-get-a-doctorate-in-digital-entertainment-and-earn-real-money-while-you-study-1818656.html http://www.independent.co.uk/student/postgraduate/postgraduate-study/how-to-get-a-doctorate-in-digital-entertainment-and-earn-real-money-while-you-study-1818656.html <p> There's nothing remarkable about courses that train doctors in the mechanics of the human body. But it takes a particular kind of doctoral education to provide an in-depth knowledge of the physiology of characters generated by computer.</p> Postgraduate Study Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000