CATEGORIES

Reeves set to merge council pensions into ‘megafunds'

Pension “megafunds” are set to be created to help unlock billions of pounds of investment in UK businesses and infrastructure.

Tough medicine is exactly what the ailing NHS needs

Wes Streeting gets full marks for boldness: he delivered an unpalatable message to 800 health leaders at their annual conference in Liverpool.

Failing NHS bosses warned by Streeting in reform drive

Wes Streeting has warned NHS bosses that they will be sacked and blocked from taking a job in the sector again if their hospitals fail.

'It's happening!': Trump to veto Chagos Islands deal

The Independent understands the president-elect is seeking legal advice from the Pentagon to challenge the agreement

Springboks reveal insights into secrets of their success

Rugby is a game of grey areas. From foul play to scrum-time skirmish, one's opinion on a particular incident can vary greatly depending on the lens through which it is viewed.

Hall could solve England's specialist left-back problem

In their last 13 matches, England have only once started with a specialist left-back. Now a specialist left-back has emerged who debuted under Thomas Tuchel and who, even before the German takes charge, can benefit from the coaching of England's most-capped full-back.

Coote's sweary Klopp rant loads pressure on referees

When the video of referee David Coote ranting about Jurgen Klopp first came to light, some of the most influential figures at Premier League clubs were excitedly sending it around on WhatsApp.

Labour looks set to smash straight into a jobs problem

Is Labour hurtling towards a jobs problem? The latest official data release does not make for happy reading for our accidentprone government.

Watchdog fines Metro Bank £16m for failing customers

A major bank has been fined millions for errors that left customers at risk. Metro Bank has been fined 16.6m by regulators for failings over money laundering controls from 2016 to 2020.

Inconvenient truth about this year's Booker winner

Samantha Harvey's ‘Orbital', a meditation on the Earth and humanity, has scooped this year's prize. But Martin Chilton is sceptical it will make readers wake up to climate change

'Male actors do get paid, more than us - that's a fact'

Sarah Greene has reunited with her 'Bad Sisters' for a second series. She tells Ellie Harrison about misogyny, donning an eyepatch, and looks back on the success of 'Normal People'

KATHMANDU CHAOS

The Nepalese capital's shambolic main airport is a perfect case study in how to deter visitors, writes Simon Calder

Fox on the box: 25 years of Lineker's Match of the Day

Gary Lineker is leaving 'MOTD' at the end of this season, after a glittering tenure as the host of the BBC's flagship football show. Nick Hilton looks back on his highs and lows

Dumping Lineker is a move the BBC will live to regret

Watching the flagship BBC News at 10 programme on Monday night, you might have been forgiven for thinking all was well in the world - that Gaza was no longer a killing field, that Ukraine was safe from Putin, that the planet had started to cool down.

Stay-away Starmer needs to spend more time at home

You cannot win in politics. When Rishi Sunak became prime minister, he thought it was more important to stay at his desk, working on the people's priorities, than to waste time taking a plane to Sharm el-Sheikh and back for a photo opportunity with world leaders at Cop27.

Welby shouldn't be punished for the crimes of John Smyth

When the world was reeling from the appalling revelations about Jimmy Savile in 2012, almost as shocking as his abuse was that so many good people had known about it and said nothing.

Dozens dead as car ploughs into crowd in Chinese city

At least 35 people were killed and 43 others sustained injuries after a man rammed his car into people at a sports centre in the southern Chinese city of Zhuhai.

Toxic smog over Pakistan can now be seen from space

The thick and toxic smog hanging over Pakistan is visible from space, satellite imagery from Nasa confirmed, as recordbreaking levels of air pollution continued to endanger millions.

Israel flouts US demand to help aid operations in Gaza

Israel has failed to meet US demands to allow greater humanitarian access to the Gaza Strip, where conditions are worse than at any point in the 13-month-long war, a number of international aid organisations have said.

President-elect chooses Pentagon and CIA chiefs

President-elect Donald Trump moved to build out his foreign policy team yesterday, announcing he is nominating Fox News host and army veteran Pete Hegseth to serve as his defence secretary and John Ratcliffe, former director of National Intelligence, to lead the Central Intelligence Agency.

Shell wins appeal against landmark emissions ruling

A Dutch court has overturned a landmark ruling ordering fossilfuel giant Shell to significantly cut its carbon emissions, in a blow to climate campaigners. In the original 2021 ruling, hailed as a monumental victory” by activists, Shell was ordered to cut its carbon emissions by 45 per cent by 2030 compared to 2019 levels in line with the Paris climate accords.

Azerbaijan points finger at West as it defends Cop29

President Ilham Aliyev says oil is 'gift from God' and that country should host summit. Stuti Mishra reports from Baku

Edinburgh students told not to be 'snobs' to poorer peers

Edinburgh University has warned privileged students not to be \"snobs\" towards their working-class peers. The university has admitted there is a problem of class-related prejudice on campus, with poorer students being \"inadvertently or deliberately shamed by more privileged students\".

Harvey wins Booker Priz for space novel 'Orbital'

Samantha Harvey has won the Booker Prize for her poignant novel, Orbital. Ina ceremony held at Old Billingsgate, London last night, the writer was presented the award by last year’s winner, Irish author Paul Lynch.

Frank Auerbach, renowned post-war painter, dies at 93

Frank Auerbach, the renowned figurative painter who fled Nazi Germany as a child, has died aged 93. Having escaped to Britain via the Kindertransport scheme, Auerbach enjoyed a highly acclaimed career spanning seven decades, with his works displayed at every major national gallery around the world.

Campaign to return bible to Salisbury receives £10k gift

A campaign to return a 13th-century copy of the Bible to its ancestral home in Salisbury Cathedral has been hailed by the culture secretary as an example of our country at its best” as it received a 10,000 donation.

NHS pill to help thousands.avoid death from smoking

A daily pill designed to help people give up smoking will soon be rolled out on the NHS as experts hope it could prevent thousands of smoking-related deaths a year.

Hospital league tables to return in NHS reforms

Failing hospitals will be named and shamed in league tables and NHS managers sacked if they cannot improve patient care and take control of finances, the health secretary will say today.

Gray rejects offer of envoy job in fresh blow to Starmer

Sue Gray has turned down Sir Keir Starmer's offer to become the prime minister's envoy for the nations and regions, No 10 said, in yet another blow to the prime minister as questions continue about his Downing Street operation.

Truss was bracing for 'Putin to launch nuclear weapons'

Vladimir Putin was so close to using nuclear weapons in October 2022 that Liz Truss spent the dying days of her premiership preparing for the potential fallout, an updated version of her biography has claimed.