Darren Clarke

Former Open champion suffering from hamstring injury

i Newspaper
 
TheIPaper
The Independent around the web
E-break Time
Independent Crossword

Yes, we have no Bahamas. But ...

Britain still has a handful of tiny dependencies, the last outposts of a once great empire, to muck up. Paul Vallely looks at the latest upheavals in St Helena, once home to Napoleon

British concern over PNG dogs of war

Britain has joined Australia in expressing its concerns to the Papua New Guinea government over its hiring of a London-based mercenary company in its war against secessionists on the tropical island of Bougainville.

FOR AS LITTLE AS ...

pounds 10

Leading Article: Stupid fibs, bad liars

Perhaps it is only right, in this year of panic about our politicians' probity, that Parliament should close for Christmas with a final flurry of lies settling like so much fake snow. On Wednesday, Tony Blair told Des O'Connor about the time he absconded en route to school and boarded a plane. "I think it was to the Bahamas," he giggled. This impish lark by the boy Blair might have lent a likeable edge to the cheerless prude his advisers fear we're growing not to love - were it not for the Daily Mail's discovery that the airport in question did not run flights to the Bahamas at all. Its most exotic destination in 1968 was, gloated the Mail, the Isle of Man. Then came the Prime Minister's cosy disclosure to Good Housekeeping that, chez Major, Norma goes by the petname "Little Grub". This was news to the lady herself. "We don't have nicknames for each other," she said. "What rubbish." How we chuckled! The week's other deception, from the Tory whips' office - a kind of multiple share application for parliamentary pairs - was taken more seriously. Yet this lie had, at least, the distinction of a good reason behind it. The need by Messrs Blair and Major to make things up in order to sound like human beings is more troubling.

grub street

Politicians are made of the same clay as us; it's just that they almost always get found out

Blair launches prime-time television offensive

Tony Blair yesterday pictured on the Des O'Connor Show as part of a charm offensive to dispel his "smarmy" image. Added to an appearance on BBc Radio 4's Woman's Hour, he was trying to show that like other 14- year-old schoolboys, he was a bit of a teenage tearaway, writes Colin Brown.

WHAT WOULD YOU DO WITH A YEAR OFF?

Tim Holley, chief executive, Camelot Group: "I would learn Italian and then work as a chef in an Italian restaurant."

Getting off Scott free

Hugo Barnacle re-visits an old political scandal Rinkagate: The Rise and Fall of Jeremy Thorpe by Simon Freeman and Barrie Penrose, Bloomsbury pounds 16.99

The Simon Calder Column

Today you have the chance to win what is probably the least appealing prize ever offered by a newspaper travel section. To celebrate 10 years of Independent travel, you can compete for a place on a writing assignment to East Berlin with me. It is offered on usual Independent terms for this sort of trip: strictly economy. And that, I believe, is the way it should be.

Journalists behaving badly in the Bahamas

People & Business

Hurricane warning worries yachtsmen: ATLANTA '96

Olympic yachtsmen were forced to flee from their regatta base in Savannah, Georgia, in the United States yesterday after warnings that Hurricane Bertha, which has claimed three lives as it passed through the Caribbean, could arrive there soon.

US rate fears set Footsie on a roller-coaster ride

MARKET REPORT

Peer sells up for new life in the sun

He had already blown pounds 7m of his fortune on a drugs habit and sold a clutch of surplus manorial titles. Yesterday, the Marquess of Bristol sent the last of his family's silver, porcelain and furniture under the auctioneer's hammer to fund a new life in the Bahamas.

Royal scandals: the stories they couldn't prove

Was the Duke of Windsor responsible for framing an innocent man?
Career Services

Day In a Page

Independent Travel Shop See all offers »
India and Shimla
14 nights from only £1899pp Find out more
Prague city break
Three nights from £199pp Find out more
4* Soreda hotel break, Malta
Seven nights all-inclusive from £399pp Find out more
California and the golden west
14 nights from £1,499pp Find out more
Venice city break
Two nights from only £199pp - third night free on selected dates Find out more
Blu St Lucia, St Lucia, Caribbean
Up to 42% off
OFFER ENDS 26 MAY Find out more
Hotel Savoy, Rome, Italy
Up to 61% off
OFFER ENDS 26 MAY Find out more
Spa day at Nutfield Priory Hotel, Redhill, Surrey
Up to 30% off
OFFER ENDS 26 MAY Find out more
'There is a battle going on inside us that is never discussed'

Masculinity in crisis?

'There is a battle going on inside us that is never discussed'
Have US shock jocks gone too far?

Have US shock jocks gone too far?

An incendiary remark from Rush Limbaugh may be the beginning of the end for outspoken right-wing US broadcasters
The ‘Beverly Hills’ of Surrey pays more income tax than big cities of the North

The ‘Beverly Hills’ of Surrey

Elmbridge pays more income tax than big cities of the North
Heavenly Bodies

Heavenly Bodies

Michael Landy's artistic marriage made in heaven... and hell
'He will always be a friend': Jackie Stewart backs Polanski

'He will always be a friend'

Jackie Stewart backs Roman Polanski
The price of pacifism: Refusing to go to war is finally being recognised as a brave act

The price of pacifism

From the Second World War refusenik to the 19-year-old Israeli, Holly Williams talks to five people who risked shame and suffering to take a stand as conscientious objector.
'It was mass hysteria': Jason Isaacs on groupies, theatre bores and snogging James Bond

Jason Isaacs: Groupies, theatre bores and James Bond

To millions, Jason Isaacs is one of Harry Potter's arch enemies – but his wife prefers him as a Scottish TV detective.
Notes from a small island: Is Sealand an independent 'micronation' or an illegal fortress?

Sealand: 'Micronation' or illegal fortress?

Thomas Hodgkinson spent a week at the tiny platform off the Suffolk coast to find out.
Not a bad bone: Mark Hix cooks with cutlets and ribs

Mark Hix cooks with cutlets and ribs

If you ignore cutlets and ribs, you'll risk missing out on some delicious and easy meals, says our chef.
The experts' guide to summer: From getting fit for the beach to recreating that Olympic buzz

The experts' guide to summer

From getting fit for the beach to recreating that Olympic buzz
Sex, drugs and fast cars: The legend of James Hunt has set Hollywood hearts racing

Legend of James Hunt has set Hollywood hearts racing

Early glimpses of Ron Howard's film Rush suggest it will portray Hunt as a high-living lothario, with an insatiable appetite for partying.
Macklemore: 'I don't have moderation when using drugs and alcohol. It was hurting my life'

Macklemore: 'I don't have moderation'

The next Vanilla Ice or the next Eminem? Macklemore doesn't have a record contract – but he does have the UK's biggest-selling single of the year.
Don't be shy: Bill Granger's Sri Lankan recipes

Don't be shy: Bill Granger's Sri Lankan recipes

Sri Lankan cuisine is light, sunny, wonderfully spiced – and so easy to cook from scratch. Just as soon as you've broken into the coconut, that is.
Sir James Dyson’s latest project: Cleaning up hospitals

Sir James Dyson’s latest project: Cleaning up hospitals

Doctors are hailing the revamp of a Bath neonatal unit, where babies sleep more and feed better, as the model for patient care
One man returns to Argentina's town that drowned

One man returns to Argentina's town that drowned

Epecuen was submerged under 10 metres of water in 1985. Now the floods have gone – and 83-year-old Pablo Novak has moved back in