Police have shot dead five men who were allegedly planning to rob money changers, jewellers and other targets on Indonesia's resort island of Bali in a suspected bid to fund terrorist attacks, officials said today.

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When writing a recent novel, I spent time thinking about the concept of identity; the idea that people can fool not just their close associates, but even themselves, and literally become the person they believe they are. It became increasingly clear to me that nobody ever really knows another person. And my mind kept returning to John le Carré's 'A Perfect Spy', where the world of spies and double-spies becomes a metaphor for the treachery of the human heart, where identity can become lost and confused in a web of hidden corridors.

I would really not like to find anyone's pubic hair anywhere, thank you," remarked Frances Young, owner of Stoberry Park bed and breakfast. Ah, the irony. She is to be undone by such a follicle, lingering in the corner of a shower, just a few short hours later. But in the meantime, welcome back, Three in a Bed, the latest voyeuristic hybrid to reach our screens courtesy of Channel 4. Voyeuristic, but not bad. Part Come Dine with Me, part Ideal Home, it's a guilty pleasure of considerable proportions.

Fresh flowers, Egyptian cotton and fine food are not just for boutique hotels. A new breed of luxurious guesthouses is rising to the challenge. Rhiannon Batten puts them to the test

The hotel

Opening tomorrow, The Frogmore Hotel near Cheltenham. Snap up its introductory offer of £49 per room per night.

Go to bespokehotels.com

1 France: Seven nights at the two-bedroom Hameau de Peemor Pen in Brittany costs £50 per person per night, based on four sharing, saving 40 per cent. Ferry included. Contact lagrange-holidays.co.uk.

The rapprochement between Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou and easyJet proved all too brief yesterday when the airline's founder said he would vote down the £1m pay deal for its former chief executive Andrew Harrison at next week's annual meeting.

Christian hotel owners who refused a gay couple a double room acted unlawfully, a judge ruled today.

Paul Vallely meets the charity workers scouring Britain's cities in search of children vulnerable to prostitution

The Independent is pleased to be supporting Liverpool Biennial 2010; the largest and one of the most exciting contemporary visual arts events in the UK, with 975,000 visits in 2008. Liverpool Biennial 2010 will offer a concentration of quality contemporary art unprecedented in the UK, built on newly commissioned works from the world’s most challenging and ambitious artists.