UK News from Times Online

Golden age of rising budgets is over, universities warned

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:01:10 GMT

Universities have been warned to expect heavy cuts next year as the head of their funding body told them that the “golden age” of rising budgets was over.

Sceptics publish climate e-mails 'stolen from East Anglia University'

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:01:00 GMT

E-mails allegedly written by some of the world’s leading climate scientists have been stolen by hackers and published on websites run by climate change sceptics.

Artwork for Powell and Pressburger’s The Red Shoes on show at BFI

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:01:00 GMT

Some of the original artwork for the 1948 film The Red Shoes, Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s masterpiece, are to go on show at BFI Southbank.

Wootton Bassett salutes war dead from Afghanistan for 100th time

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:01:00 GMT

Yesterday was the 100th time that the small Wiltshire town of Wootton Bassett has fallen silent as the bodies of servicemen killed in Afghanistan passed along the High Street.

Motorists back five-year jail clampdown on rogue clampers

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:01:00 GMT

Road users gave a cautious response to a Government announcement yesterday that cowboy wheelclampers could be jailed for up to five years under tough new regulations.

The path to war will come under new scrutiny

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:01:00 GMT

Events before and after the Iraq war are to be examined in microscopic detail when the long-awaited public inquiry begins hearing evidence next week.

Daniel White solves the Mandelbrot set with beautiful 3-D fractals

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:01:00 GMT

It may look like an underwater cave but this is the image of a three-dimensional fractal, the result of years of work by a computer programmer.

Johnny Morris’s zookeeper uniform from Animal Magic to be sold

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:01:00 GMT

The zookeeper’s uniform worn by the television presenter Johnny Morris on Animal Magic is to be sold at auction in Leith today.

Unlike Lord Mandelson, Baroness Ashton 'doesn’t know any oligarchs’

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:01:00 GMT

The poor relationship between Lord Mandelson and his successor as Trade Commissioner is an open secret at the top levels of the Government.

Amanda Knox murdered Meredith Kercher for revenge, court told

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:01:00 GMT

The American exchange student Amanda Knox murdered Meredith Kercher out of hatred and revenge during a drug-fuelled sex game — then staged a burglary to cover up the crime, an Italian prosecutor said yesterday.

Undergraduate drinking habits should be viewed as an occasional novelty

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:01:00 GMT

At university, I had this flatmate, a philosophy student, who found minor celebrity for his ability to strawpedo bottles of cheap wine. Strawpedo? Urbandictionary.com defines it as “the act of downing a bottle of drink through the use of a straw — often followed by physical convulsions and sickness”. And circa 2002, it seemed a fun way to break up the ennui of a Tuesday night in Birmingham.

Urban shepherds spend spare time watching the flocks mow the grass

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:01:00 GMT

On a Sussex hillside one breezy morning, a flock of more than a hundred sheep burp and waddle, chewing dry grass, some trailing bits of bramble in their fleece. Norman Watson, a retired IT manager, checks them for illness, and secures the electric fence that protects them from predators.

Opec wants compensation if climate deal cuts oil use

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:01:00 GMT

The chief of the Opec oil cartel said that oil-producing countries should be compensated for lost revenues if UN climate talks in Copenhagen next month reach a deal that cuts the use of oil.

Britain’s ancient bridges are now past their use-by date

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:01:00 GMT

As engineers struggled to inspect the battered bridges of Cumbria, experts warned yesterday that extreme weather would push Britain’s ageing transport infrastructure to the limits with increasing frequency.

‘It makes me really anxious when rain comes’

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:01:00 GMT

The torrential rains that swept Cumbria brought back memories for Sue Bunce of what happened to her two years ago. Speaking from her newly renovated home in Tewkesbury, she said that even now rain worries her. “It does make me anxious when the weather’s a bit stormy,” she said. “You don’t know what little event is going to trigger emotions.”

Killer heels? No, purring kittens

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:01:00 GMT

Aesthetically, 2009 has been what the fashion mags call bracing.

Creationism could be taught in schools under Tories, claims Ed Balls

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:01:00 GMT

Conservative plans to grant schools freedom from central control risk bringing the creationist doctrines of a “Religious Right” into the classroom, the Government warned last night.

Flood victim PC Bill Barker died doing what he loved: helping others

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:01:00 GMT

As the people of Cumbria began a massive clean-up operation last night, many were struggling to come to terms with the loss of a respected community policeman who was swept away in swollen flood waters as he went to the aid of stranded motorists.

Kitten heels: pointless but they won’t go away

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:01:00 GMT

It is ten years since kittens were relegated to an unfashionable hinterland — the shoe choice of the especially drab politician’s Wag. And yet, judging by the catwalk shows for spring 2010, the most pointless shoe design of all time is being cued up for a revival.

Christie’s auction of Duke of Kent’s family silver fetches £2.1m

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:01:00 GMT

It is an unpredictable business, selling off the family silver. When the family possessions of the late Duke of Kent were auctioned in London yesterday, there were two things of which one could be fairly certain: that there would be a huge interest in the sale and much speculation about why the Duke’s heirs — who include Prince Michael of Kent — needed to mount what has been described as the Royal Family’s car boot sale.

This vampire phenomenon won’t bite, but it might bleed you dry

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:01:00 GMT

The adolescent dreams of thousands of teenage girls were fulfilled yesterday as the latest Twilight film arrived on British screens, accompanied by an unprecedented merchandising blitz.

Britain braced for storms into December

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:01:00 GMT

Britain faces being battered by storms well into next month. The only comfort is that the Met Office believes that a slight shift in wind direction next week will bring cooler air, which means that rainfalls will diminish. But with the ground saturated and so many rivers running high, the slightest extra rainfall could trigger flooding in more regions.

Want a piece of Robbie Williams? Certainly, but it may just cost you an arm and a leg . . .

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:01:00 GMT

He gave us Angels, Britain’s most popular karaoke song, and roused us with Let Me Entertain You. Now he is inviting the City to give him up to £50 million to carry on with his recording career.

Pirates find easy new pickings in open waters of e-book publishing

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:01:00 GMT

Digital pirates, who for years have tormented the music and film industries, have found a new source of plunder in e-book publishing.

Patients spreading drug-resistant swine flu strain

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:01:00 GMT

A form of swine flu that is resistant to antiviral drugs has begun spreading between hospital patients in Wales, health officials said.