More news

Private schools secretly up for sale

At least 25 independent schools are facing a spate of takeovers as pupil numbers decline in the economic downturn

Council tax debt-chasers on £600 an hour

The huge charges of insolvency accountants who chase up small council tax arrears of a few hundred pounds are revealed

Internet travel seaches drop 42 per cent

January and the period immediately after Christmas are usually a busy time for the industry as people start booking breaks

Business news 

Banks swoop to sell Merckle UK interests

Phoenix Group, owner of UK's third-largest drugs distribution business, and Rowlands pharmacy chain put on the market

Carmakers seek banks' cash amid bailout fears

With the Treasury's proposed rescue programme now in doubt, car companies are going directly to the banks for help

Santander to miss targets over Madoff

Spain’s biggest bank predicted to miss its €10bn profit target after compensating clients on Madoff and Lehman bonds

Sport News 

Strauss asked to pick up the pieces

Kevin Pietersen and Peter Moores lose their jobs on a dramatic day that leaves England cricket in state of chaos again

• Atherton: tough time ahead for new captain

• Pietersen: England's flawed genius

Chelsea want Ballack to take pay cut

German, out of contract in the summer, must settle for drop in £121,000-a-week salary and more performance-based bonuses

Southgate could defy chairman over Downing

Window watch: Middlesbrough manager could be tempted into accepting big-money bid for unsettled England midfielder

Comment 

A loose cannon all too likely to be fired

The clash between England's cricket captain and coach should never had been allowed to happen

• John Woodcock

Wealth will bloom again

Whether it is flowerbulbs or derivatives there is nothing new about irrational speculation

• Ben Macintyre

Victory by air attack? Pie in the sky

Israel imagined it could defeat Hamas though aerial bombardment. It hasn't learnt the lessons of history

• Correlli Barnett

Life and Style 

Is there a future in psychics?

Some best-loved US presidents consulted them. A moving spirit or pure hokum? A psychics' insight can be startling

How job loss can affect relationships

When a partner loses his or her job, it can break an unspoken agreement between the two of you and damage your love life

Of course Tintin's gay. Ask Snowy

His adventures have been translated into 50 languages and he is nearly 80. But how well do we know Tintin?

Arts & Entertainment 

Goofy gets to play Lady Macbeth

Anne Hathaway, rom-com queen, tells Kevin Maher what it’s like finally to tear up the scenery — and go for an Oscar

Four stars for Slumdog Millionaire

Danny Boyle’s Hindi epic is exactly the kind of exotic, edgy thriller that the new generation of Academy voters adore

Our first turkey of 2009: one star for Bride Wars

This staggeringly unfunny bitch fest fails to utilise the talents of its cast and is an unbridled mess, says Wendy Ide