Sports Calendar

Columnists  

Labour’s control is strangling everyone

Many voters' loyalty to Labour has snapped over its extension of state power into areas that should be matters of choice

• Jenni Russell

Miliband will scratch your eyes out

China’s mild response to British anger over a drug smuggler's execution could stem from the fact that it had nothing to fear

• Dominic Lawson

From meritocracy to mediocrity in a decade

Everyone must have a voice and that voice must be heard and taken seriously, even if it is a very, very, stupid voice

• Rod Liddle

Bring on the pills that make us smarter

Top scientists are popping pills to bolster their already bulging brains. Why not, if the drugs are safe and effective?

• Minette Marrin

Joy now, pain later as we binge on sales

I spend more on servicing my credit cards than I do on my children. Most of that debt was incurred by running after bargains

• Melanie McDonagh

Stop, thief – the night sky is a great jewel

We are losing part of our heritage. The night sky is an amazing spectacle that 90% of the population doesn’t get to see

• Charles Clover

Leading articles

Don't ignore this Al-Qaeda wake-up call

The clues to the Detroit airline bomb attack were there, but the intelligence agencies did not share their information

Our public sector needs rapid surgery

More than 20% of the population work for the state, nearly 1m more than when Labour came to power, and it is easy to see why

A baroness with a mind to murder the DG

A magnificent filleting job was done by P D James on Mark Thompson, demolishing his defence of exorbitant BBC salaries

Faith  

'Good riddance to a gruelling decade'

Dr Rowan Williams says terrorism, war and the financial collapse have bedevilled the past decade in his new year message

Anger as diaries drop religious names

Prayer Book Society calls for a boycott of Letts diaries over publisher's decision to rename the Sundays before Lent

Catholic school condemned over admissions

Cardinal Vaughan School told parts of its admission procedure are 'unlawful' and have the potential for racial discrimination

Vatican defends sainthood move for wartime pope

Jewish groups have reacted angrily to the current Pope’s approval of a decree recognising the 'heroic virtues' of Pius XII

Obituaries  

Tim Hart

Pioneer of the electrification of English folk music in the late 1960s and founding member of the band Steeleye Span

Ronnie Stennett-Willson

Glassmaker, designer and salesman who introduced the Swedish style to Britain and provided inspiration for Terence Conran

Vyacheslav Tikhonov

Russian film star who made his name internationally in the 1967 version of War and Peace and was honoured by his countrymen

Rusty Kanokogi

Judo champion who won the right for woman to compete in the sport at the Olympic Games after a long battle with the IOC

Join the Debate  

2010

How should we name the new decade?

No Trade in Hostages

The welcome release of a British captive in Iraq cannot obscure the depravity of the crime and the futility of bargaining with kidnappers

Lack of buyers threatens UK housing recovery

New-buyer registrations have fallen, raising prospect of further falls in prices over the next year