Changing times in the North East

Is Britain broken? Leading Times writers are returning to the streets where they grew up. Robert Crampton goes back to Hull

Rural Africa needs light before enlightenment

Solar Aid, one of The Times Christmas charities, is working to provide power to communities far from the electricity grid

Man killed in pub shooting

The incident happened at the Newton Arms pub, in Queen’s Road, Croydon, South London just a few hours into the new year

Sade slinks back into the music charts

The reclusive star who provided the soundtrack for the 80s yuppie boom is to return to a market saturated by female artists

British bomb disposal expert dies in Helmand

The latest death comes as figures reveal that the Army is seriously short of specialists capable of dismantling explosives

Three-chord trick that's worth an OBE

The rockers Status Quo have been hailed as a British institution and have now been recognised for their years of work

‘Boarding makes you more independent’

Shanice Gibbons, 15, has boarded at the Royal Alexandra and Albert School since her parents divorced when she was just 8

Hollow Lamborghini has £40,000 price tag

Benedict Radcliffe spent five months building the model out of wire using his skills as an architect, fabricator and artist

SFO forced to write off £1.2m on failed IT plan

The Serious Fraud Office’s new management was accused last year of allowing its budget to spiral out of control

Campaign says regular coffee not its cup of tea

Saying 'regular' to describe drink sizes is an irregular use of the word and should stop, the Plain English Campaign says

Is 2010 the decade of Terrible Teens?

Few people fell in love with the Noughties. To find a better successor leaves pundits struggling with a teensy few tensions

Being released is a 're-entry to Earth'

Terry Waite and Brian Keenan have both compared their release from captivity to being a diver returning from the seabed

Bleak midwinter defied for new year parade

Half a million people greeted the New Year’s Day parade through Central London, a 15-deep crowd lining the two-mile route

J. M. Barrie’s hometown aims to escape never land

Kirriemuir, where the author of Peter Pan grew up, is celebrating his 150th anniversary with an economy-boosting arts festival

Executives find rewards outside the City

Disillusioned by their careers, high-flyers are turning to charities and work where success is not measured in pounds

Hostage survival brings its own traumas

Today’s generation returning from imprisonment or war can be assured of better treatment than was previously available

Tory guru’s bulletins from the thick of it

David Cameron has denied that Steve Hilton is like the TV comedy character, but his strategy e-mails to MPs are cool stuff