Whereas in a multilingual novel the one-language-fits-all gimmick plays unnoticed within the reader’s mind, heard out loud it jars hideously. One hoped that John Hurt’s huge comedy moustache would muffle his accented English, but it comes through more or less undistorted Shawn Slovo’s script doesn’t help matters. “I would not feel comfortable letting him down”, [...]

An aide said: “No one should underestimate his desire to see change. This will be a very big issue.”A key role in securing change is expected to be played by David Blunkett, the Education Secretary, who is tipped to succeed Jack Straw as Home Secretary after the election.One minister said of lawyers: “Their fees are [...]

The five-page “Berlin Declaration” hails the euro, calls for more regulation at European level and condemns “speculative capital movements”. It advocates more power for Brussels.A draft of the document states: “We want to … redefine the role of national parliaments, while simultaneously strengthening the European Parliament.” Tony Blair discussed the meeting in a telephone call [...]

The national rate for epidurals, in which anaesthetic is injected into the spine, numbing all feeling from the waist down, has risen from 17 per cent in 1990 to 24 per cent in 2000, and some hospitals report rates of more than 50 per cent The greatest demand is from educated, middle-class women. Delegates meeting [...]

Shackleton’s lifeboat James Caird, on display later this month at the National Maritime Museum’s Greenwich exhibition South, inspires genuflection in New York, where Shackleton (played by Kenneth Branagh in the imminent Channel 4 film of his epic expedition) is being elevated into a paragon of enlightened leadership for American businessmen.
Even Belgians joined the first Polar [...]

Within minutes Mr Byers announced the recovery package in the House of Commons and promised to stand by the sacked workers.The minister also outlined a £48maid package to help to regenerate parts of England hit by closures in the steel industry. A similar package of aid worth more than £50m was announced in Cardiff by [...]

Strangers grabbed them and hugged them hard as if to restrain their explosions of delirium.”Foday Sankoh hates me God hates me Sankoh has taken both my sons,” cried Mary Conteh “He killed Peter on 6 January last year He killed Abubakarr on 8 May. Sankoh is a beast,” she screamed.Abubakarr Conteh, 16, and Ms Gassama [...]

As the army lifted a dusk-to-dawn curfew thousands were gathering their meagre belongings.”Our cadres are advancing toward Jaffna city and there will be heavy firing and cross-firing,” the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eeelam said in a radio broadcast. “Please go to places of safety, as we can move into the city any moment.”International humanitarian organisations [...]

A colleague of mine took a round in the chest and was dead a few minutes later. Ramaphosa’s aides wanted to rush him out of the area, but he refused to panic. He was cool and collected and left when he had finished meeting the victims of the recent violence. The next day he was [...]

Or this could just be a spoiling tactic to push C&N into paying a higher price,” he saidInstitutional investors welcomed the news One said: “It is always nice when an auction develops. We are looking forward to next week.”One analyst said Thomson’s advisers would love to secure a deal at 170p per share. “Then they [...]