MORE NEWS

Man shot dead and robbed of £10,000

Gunman grabbed briefcase full of money and laptop from Khurram Ashraf, 30, as he left money exchange shop in Manchester

Corus to axe 1,700 jobs and mothball plant

Steelmaker makes a further round of staff cuts in a blow to Teesside, where it will shut down one of its sites

Lloyds to join RBS in bumper bonus payout

Row as 200 executives at Lloyds, the partly state-owned bank, to receive payments worth up to 80 per cent of salaries

Business news  

US reveals surprise fall in unemployment rate

American businesses cut the fewest jobs in November since the recession began, lowering the rate to 10 per cent

Morrisons chief asked to leave a month early

Retailer is left without a chief executive as Marc Bolland, the incoming M&S boss, leaves before January departure date

Tesco 'plans massive superstore surge'

The country’s largest retailer has lodged nearly double the number of planning applications as its two biggest rivals

Sport News  

Spain and Portugal sorry for breaking bid protocol

USA furious after Luis Figo's entrance disturbs showing of video presentation, whilst David Beckham steals the show

• Bomb scare at World Cup draw venue

• Kevin Eason at large: Beckham saves the day

Strauss says England would welcome Flintoff

Captain dismisses suggestion by Graeme Smith that his life is made easier by the absence of ‘big names’ from his side

'Woods's wife should have used driver'

"We probably thought he was a better guy than he is," says Swedish golfer who acted as matchmaker for the world No1

Comment  

A degree of passion is what’s needed most

The Black & Decker Workmate, the folding bicycle – we must allow the talent of our ‘hands-on’ enthusiasts to flourish

• The Duke of Edinburgh

Barack Obama’s plan is seriously flawed. We need more

The US President has given us a strong military plan, but where was the political strategy — and the famous confidence?

• Paddy Ashdown

Big bank bonuses make failure more likely

Are bankers uniquely talented? No. If RBS got rid of the million-pound traders it could actually be more profitable

• Anatole Kaletsky

Life and Style  

Celebrity Watch: Easy Tiger!

See who’s under par and who scored a hole in one in this week’s tournament of fickle fame

Meeting my cleaner was a bit like falling in love

The poet Kate Clanchy tells Janice Turner why she chose to write a book about the life of Antigona, her cleaning lady

How to uncook an egg

From turkey in the dishwasher to sand in sauces, the father of molecular gastronomy is challenging culinary tradition

Arts & Entertainment  

Four stars for star-filled Nine

Sharp-suited and full of Italian Sixties zing, this musical razzle-dazzles us with grit as well as glitter. We give it four stars

Andy Serkis brings Ian Dury back to life

Thanks to a career-defining role as Ian Dury, Serkis will soon be seen as one of the greatest actors of his generation

The verdict on Chris Brown's comeback album

Brown sounds like a man whose enforced spells of community service have involved negligible amounts of soul-searching