The Way We Live: It's pleasing that British morality can influence tough foreign farmers

Borgen, a new thriller from the makers of The Killing, centres on a trailblazing female politician. Move over, Sarah Lund, says Gerard Gilbert

Move over, Sarah Lund, says Gerard Gilbert

Whether in the cut-throat field of politics or the fashion industry's corridors of power, this year they left our planet a better place. Celebrate 10 of the best, nominated by Independent writers

After becoming an internet sensation, Siku - the baby polar bear taken into care because his mother couldn't produce enough milk to feed him - found a new home in Denmark this week.

Stoke goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen has signed a new contract with the Barclays Premier League club, the player has announced on his Twitter account.

1. Bauble wreath

The duo left their native Norway in stitches with their folksy baubles.

I came to cooking randomly My best friend entered chef school and as I didn't know what to do, I followed him. I'd never cooked in my life until then. But when the teacher asked us to cook a plate of food, rather than thinking about girls, I started thinking, what is food to me, why do I like to eat? It was my first adult thought and I fell in love with cooking.

The European Film Awards is seemingly becoming the award of rehabilitation. Two years in a row directors of the film picking up the top prize Best European Film have refused to attend the award ceremony for fear of landing themselves in trouble.

What do you do with A Danish sailor?

The offices of the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo are petrol-bombed the day the magazine releases its own ironic tribute to the Arab Spring with a special "sharia" issue. It is, of course, no coincidence. But the fact that such a violent act is taking place in secular France, which has the biggest Muslim and Jewish communities in the EU, is an unexpected and worrying development.

At one minute to midnight last night, Nato formally ended its mission in Libya, capping a seven-month intervention marred by accusations of "mission creep" and signs of deepening cracks within the alliance.