MORE NEWS

Suicide bomber kills seven CIA agents

The attack on the base in the east Afghan province of Khost is the intelligence agency’s worst loss of life since 1983

Van Morrison denies his website's baby story

Mystery surrounds the singer's repudiation of the existence of a love child whose birth was announced on his own website

P.D. James attacks BBC chief over salaries

Crime writer and former BBC governor confronts director-general over ageism and 'extraordinarily large' salaries

Business news  

Nationwide says house prices rose 5.9% in 2009

Building society says that prices have climbed by 0.4% in December but that the outlook remains uncertain

• The recovery of the housing market: A year of two halves

• How you can still win in a sluggish property market

Apple off the hook over iPod volumes

US group is not to blame if iPod owners damage their hearing by playing their music too loudly, a court rules

Blue chips rally on last trading day

FTSE 100 index is on course to end the year with its highest annual percentage gain since 1997

Sport News  

Portsmouth fail to pay players again

The troubled South Coast club say that they are hoping to pay outstanding December salaries on January 5

• Portsmouth face fight for survival

• Winding-up petition is last resort

Johnson ruled out for at least a month

Liverpool confirm that England defender will miss next four weeks after he sustained a tear of the medial ligament in his right knee

Swann administers fitting last rites

South Africa v England: Andrew Strauss and Andy Flower's calm leadership turns near-defeat into a stunning England victory

Comment  

Lipstick and daffodils won’t save us

Little treats at Christmas don’t mean the recession is over. Labour has caused terrible damage

• Rosemary Righter

Ambition always comes before a fall

The Burj Dubai is just the latest example of mankind’s ‘edifice complex’

• Ben Macintyre

I have Miss Smilla's feeling for snow

The thing about snow is it makes you do things you have never even thought about

• Magnus Linklater

Life and Style  

An outfit for every New Year's Eve celebration

Whether you’re staying in, donning black tie or braving Trafalgar Square, it’s not too late to welcome 2010 in style

Loneliness epidemic sweeping through UK

Age Concern says that half a million over-65s spent Christmas Day alone. But initiatives to banish isolation offer hope

The bench: intimate thoughts, far horizons

Grace Chapman loved ‘her’ bench and its Atlantic view — so she left a box on it for others to share their musings

Arts & Entertainment  

Three stars for Mickey Rooney in Cinderella

The Hollywood veteran appears bewildered, as well he might, given the references to everything from Katie Price to the MK Dons

British theatre's new king and queen

Husband and wife team have become the most powerful people in British theatre 17 years after starting a shopping centre

Banksy rival has final word in art feud

Attempt to paint over lauded work by street artist King Robbo results in an online backlash and a novel form of revenge