guardian.co.uk Politics:
The taxpayer is having to bail out the police pension fund with almost half a billion pounds a year, it has emerged. The shortfall has raised fresh questions about the long term viability of public sector pensions – and the public's appetite for funding them. Figures released by the government in answer to parliamentary qu (Read More)
The Guardian:
Invest & Give, the investment fund that gives part of your fee to the Prince's Trust, is just one of many financial products appealing to our charitable instincts, says Heather ConnonDo you want your money to work for you and for your favourite charities this Christmas? There are a number of ways to do this, from buying pre (Read More)
guardian.co.uk Society:
The way we treat people with dementia suggests we're a long way from being the caring country we claim to beEven after last week's storms, a praetorian handful of leaves still gamely cling to the lower branches of the oak in our garden. And in churches on Sunday the lists of the sick and the dying and the recently deceased (Read More)
guardian.co.uk Politics:
The east coast line's fortunes have been revived since it passed from National Express to state ownership, raising hopes of a return to network integration last seen in the days of British RailLord Adonis, the transport secretary, has big plans for Britain's largest rail franchise. Asked by the Observer last week if he was (Read More)
www.guardian.co.uk:
Biogas sourced from food waste and sewage is to piped into British homes under a new 'green gas' tariffRotting leftovers, wilted salad and even sewage are to provide a new source of "green gas" to heat our homes.From today, British householders will be able to register for Ecotricity's new tariff to buy green gas – commonly (Read More)
guardian.co.uk Politics:
Peter Robinson warns Sinn Féin that policing and justice row threatens devolutionNorthern Ireland's first minister vowed yesterday not to walk away from the Assembly, even if the row with Sinn Féin over policing and justice remains unresolved. But Peter Robinson warned Sinn Féin that its threats to the assembly's institutio (Read More)
The Guardian:
Despite growing optimism that the downturn is over, there are concerns that £100bn of property bank loans requiring refinancing within three years could trigger another crisisThe new property vehicle of Sir Stuart Lipton and Elliott Bernerd lost £101m last year in a serious blow to the veteran tycoons and their wealthy back (Read More)
The Guardian:
Customers of Harlequin Property express anxiety about delayed holiday home developments on Barbados, St Vincent, St Lucia and Dominican Republic, says Graham NorwoodBuyers of Caribbean holiday homes from a British developer fear their flats and villas will never be built and that they may lose tens of thousands of pounds.Ha (Read More)
The Guardian:
Robert Yates returns to the streets of Liverpool, where he grew up, to report on a story of deprivation and hopeIn a parade of shops on County Road in Walton, north Liverpool, a couple of signs compete for attention. "Slip! Trip!" offers the first, in the window of Walton Accident Claims – the jaunty exclamation marks expla (Read More)
guardian.co.uk Society:
Extending property rights to those who move in together, but don't marry, will only lead to heartbreak and pain for the youngYears ago, I used to urge my students at Oxford to conduct their love affairs in silence. I told them that the laws that govern property ownership might depend on the way in which the title of their h (Read More)
The Guardian:
In a desperate attempt to secure its electoral base, the government is shamefully wooing religious extremistsAs every middlebrow with a newspaper column or Radio 4 slot to fill agrees, a vulgar "new atheism" is sweeping Britain. The readers of Richard Dawkins, Philip Pullman and Christopher Hitchens are, they tell us, crass (Read More)
The Guardian:
She's Latin America's hottest singer with fans around the world. But in her native Colombia Shakira is as well known for her work with the country's poorest children. Euan Ferguson meets a popstar with real attitudeSomething very strange happens, in the company of Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoli, to cynicism. After a while, e (Read More)
The Guardian:
In putting fans and tradition before profit, the Bundesliga upholds values the Premier League has lostRobert Enke had been capped eight times at the time of his death and had not quite cemented his position as Germany's No1 goalkeeper. Watching the sincere and moving tributes from team-mates and taking note of the fact that (Read More)
The Guardian:
Hollywood figures quit 'rip-off' church as Australian prime minister threatens parliamentary inquiry into its activitiesThe security at the red-brick and glass-walled horseshoe of the John Joseph Moakley courthouse on Boston's waterfront was unusually tight. Anybody who was not a member of the city's bar association was swe (Read More)
The Guardian:
African version of Spitting Image has delighted big audiences by ridiculing corrupt politiciansA rapping president describes himself as "a real bad dude"; a prime minister and vice-president fight over lavatories; and a set of parliamentarians suffer from a brain disease called "corruptophaelia".Welcome to Kenya, as seen an (Read More)