Eliza Manningham-Buller's apparent lack of awareness of alleged US mistreatment of "war on terror" suspects is baffling (The ex-spy boss says she didn't know about torture, 11 March). Does she not read the newspapers, watch television or indeed even delve into her own agency's intelligence reports?From the Binyam Mohamed case – just one case

There are two big decisions about high-speed rail. First, is it needed in Britain? And second, if it is, where should it go?In many regards, yesterday was just another bad day for British transport. Rail maintenance workers decided to strike. Signallers may join them and shut the network over Easter. British Airways remained at loggerheads with its

So Zoe Williams reckons "there's a world of difference between a man who thinks he looks cool with a tough dog, and a young man ... encouraging it to be vicious" (Comment, 11 March). Really? I didn't notice the difference when my neighbour's pit bull/boxer cross tried to separate my cat from its head while he sat there smirking; I just wanted

Denise Fergus me the justice secretary over the return to prison of one of her son's killers, Jon VenablesThe justice secretary, Jack Straw, met James Bulger's mother today over the return to prison of one of her son's killers, Jon Venables.Straw has refused to say why the 27-year-old was returned to custody.A spokesman for Straw described the

I'm heartened that Labour's election strategy will target "middle-class mainstream mums", although I hope they extend this to all women (Report, 11 March). Fawcett polling shows that 49% of women don't think politicians are considering their view on key issues such as the economy, though they are more likely to vote for a party with a women's

Days of building intercity roads are over, says transport secretary Andrew Adonis, as government announces network of 250mph trains to be completed by 2026The government signalled the end of intercity motorway building today as it announced plans for a £30bn high-speed rail network, with the first phase between London and Birmingham opening in 202

Vicki Wood, who escaped jail for trying to murder her seriously ill husband, dies at Dignitas clinic in ZurichA woman convicted of trying to kill her husband in an act of mercy more than a decade ago has taken her own life at an assisted suicide clinic in Switzerland.Vicki Wood, 67, a toymaker and artist from Totnes, Devon, was spared jail in 1999

Britain has paid a horrific price for allowing the City to dictate credit policy. Yet there is no inquiry, no questioning, only silenceStill no inquiry. Still no answers. A trillion pounds has been devoted over the past 18 months to protect Britain's financial system from alleged Armageddon, with not a murmur of value for money. This stupefying s

Workers of seven more failed pension plans join PPF, bringing to 120 the number of schemes protected by governmentThe number of crashed pension funds in the government's lifeboat scheme swelled to 120 today after seven final-salary schemes were admitted.More than 2,500 former workers at a carpet factory in Lancashire, a car repair firm in London a

Banker widely respected for his five decades with Lloyds TSB, he continued to be active with Morgan Stanley and Virgin MoneySir Brian Pitman, who has died aged 78 after suffering a heart attack, was widely regarded as the most successful banker of his generation. In the 18 years up to 2001, as chief executive and then chairman of Lloyds Bank, he tr

Former president Ejup Ganic seized on extradition request from Serbia, which accuses him of war crimesA high court judge today released a former president of Bosnia accused of war crimes 18 years ago in a case that has inflamed the Balkans and revived claims of British anti-Bosnian partisanship.Ejup Ganic, an engineering professor and former presid

Polish man had no driving licence or insurance when he crashed into Olympic-standard sportsman Gavin Hustler-Brown in SouthamptonA Polish man who ran over one of Britain's best young divers and then left him for dead in the road, was jailed today for five years.Lukasz Banasik, then 23, had no driving licence or insurance when he crashed into Olymp

• European run is 'very important step' for club, says Hodgson• Juventus game will be the 46th of Fulham's seasonFulham arrived in a snow-covered Turin today for the 46th match of what feels like a never-ending season but no one connected with the west London club was complaining about the freezing conditions or fixture congestion. With Juve

• Quarter-final takes on added significance• Cup is only realistic chance of trophy after league slumpTony Mowbray, the Celtic manager, has claimed he is content with his side's progress and is not worried about losing his job as he heads into a game on Saturday which could determine his future at the club.Mowbray faces a crucial match at Kilm

The best pictures as Juventus host Fulham in the Europa League

It would be dangerous to write off a Fulham side who have already knocked out the Europa League holders but Roy Hodgson's players will need to deliver what would arguably be the greatest result in the club's history if they are to overcome Juventus at Craven Cottage on Thursday. Fulham contributed hugely to an absorbing match in Turin last night

The Manchester United and England striker has set lofty targets for club and country in the coming monthsWayne Rooney was supposed to play only the first half of the Fifa 2010 World Cup console game against the lucky competition winner at the exhibition centre in Earls Court. But the score was 0-0 and, with the contest being beamed simultaneously

• Battle lines drawn in fight for soul of famous club• Glazers sign sponsorship deal with telecoms firmLess than a fortnight since news of the first meeting of the Red Knights around a table in Fleet Street leaked, the battle lines have been drawn. On one side a group of up to 70 wealthy investors are prepared to pool their finances to fund a b

The treatment in court of the three MPs charged with fiddling their expenses claims was not what they are used toFor the three MPs charged with fiddling their expenses claims, it may have been the unkindest moment. Their brief, Julian Knowles, wearing one of those vast chalk-stripe suits that possibly only lawyers may, by law, ever wear, asked the

Or how the rich and vacuous decide on which party to supportLost in Showbiz doffs its chapeau to Vogue for doing our job for us this week with its Tom Wolfe-esque feature about who the "party people" will vote for in that general election thingummybob. Jade Jagger, Colin Firth's wife, someone called "model Poppy Delevigne" and other political

• John Pluthero in line for £11m under new pay plans• Investors ready to vote against 'excessive' pay awardsCable & Wireless faces a shareholder revolt over plans to pay senior executive John Pluthero up to £11m under a controversial incentive scheme that has already drawn fire from corporate governance bodies.The company is also braced for

Soldiers based in Musa Qala in northern Helmand to be redeployed, but 800 troops will remain in SanginControl of a key town in southern Afghanistan, twice captured by British troops and where 23 were killed, is to be handed over to the US marines, it was announced today.Five hundred British soldiers based in Musa Qala, in northern Helmand, will be

Neither Labour or the Tories can afford to let Lord Guthrie's views pass unchallengedDavid Cameron was furious during PMQs when Labour hecklers cried "They're Tories" after he reminded Gordon Brown that defence chiefs are criticising his military spending record. It was a crude jibe, though most MPs think Cameron made a mistake letting General

£30bn high-speed rail plan signals end of the road for motorwaysThe government signalled the end of intercity motorway building today as it announced plans for a £30bn high-speed rail network, with the first phase between London and Birmingham opening in 2026.Lord Adonis, the transport secretary, said the motorway network had reached its limit an

EMI told not to sell single tracks as downloads in ruling which could mean further losses for music labelPink Floyd, the British rock group behind platinum-selling albums The Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall, today secured a legal victory for the much-maligned genre of the concept album against the apparently inexorable march of the instant pop d

Sainsbury's and Tesco among stores caught out by wholesaler who passed off battery produce as organicFor those who made the conscious decision to spend more on free range or organic eggs, it was worth paying a premium to know the hens that laid them had been kept in ethical conditions.But those people who ended up paying over the odds for Keith Ow

Labour MPs and Tory peer plead not guilty and say workings of parliament should be dealt with by parliamentThree Labour MPs and a Conservative peer charged with theft over their expenses claims are to fight to keep their cases out of the criminal courts by attempting to invoke a 320-year-old law protecting them under parliamentary privilege.Elliot

• Chairman backs manager even if club are relegated• Every player gets 40% wage cut if club go downSunderland's chairman Niall Quinn expressed emphatic support yesterday for Steve Bruce, whom he said would remain as the club's manager even if Sunderland were to be relegated this season. Bruce admitted this week to wondering whether his positi

City politician proposes £600 fines for restaurants that use salt in recipesOver the past few years New York has gained a reputation for taking the health of its citizens seriously – or nannying them, depending on your point of view.Now a member of the city's legislative assembly has gone a step further by introducing a bill that would ban the

Authorities seize data on 15,000 private clients, but bank insists it will not be seen by tax investigatorsHSBC was being investigated by Swiss banking regulators last night after issuing a grovelling apology to 24,000 customers of its elite private bank who, it said, had their details stolen by a former employee.The Financial Services Authority wa

Saved permits can be used to meet future targets to cut emissions without reducing pollutionCompanies across Europe are hoarding permits to produce greenhouse gas emissions worth hundreds of millions of pounds, the Guardian can reveal.The surplus credits have been amassed from over-allocation of permits to pollute from the European emissions tradin

British IT expert held captive for two years after Baghdad kidnap tells of regret at not attempting to escape in early daysPeter Moore, the British IT expert who spent more than two years in captivity after being kidnapped in Iraq, tonight revealed how he regretted that he and his fellow captives did not try to escape during the early days of their

With two weeks until Dalton Philips takes the reins, the supermarket chain reports profits of £767mThe board of the supermarket chain Morrisons signalled its confidence in the operating performance of the business as it set new growth targets ahead of the arrival of its new chief executive, Dalton Philips, in a fortnight's time.Reporting annual

A radically minimalist trend has hit Paris fashion week – and three British designers are leading the charge. By Jess Cartner-MorleyIt is 10 o'clock on a Monday morning, and in the beaux arts splendour of the Paris Opera, fashion week is in full swing. Everyone is here, and I mean everyone – Mozart and Rossini standing guard from their st

Three Conservative committee members walk out claiming inquiry is pursuing Labour vendettaA Westminster inquiry into the row over Lord Ashcroft's peerage was thrown into turmoil when the Tory MPs on the committee walked out and said they were boycotting it permanently.In what is understood to be an unprecedented move, Conservative members have wit

Virginia Woolf's house, Gertrude Stein's flat – feminist pilgrimages are a great way to connect with history. So when Vera Groskop said girls were boring, her mother decided it was time for her first tripDespite my best efforts, my three-year-old daughter Vera hasn't exactly been celebrating her girlhood of late. In fact, influenced by her six

Television network denies claims that Until Nothing Remains depicts group as totalitarian and unethicalGermany's state broadcaster is locked in a row with the Church of Scientology which wants to block an upcoming feature film that depicts the controversial organisation as totalitarian and unethical.Bis Nichts Mehr Bleibt, or Until Nothing Remains

Mortlach 70-year-old Speyside sampled by a select group of tasters at ceremony in Edinburgh CastleThe world's oldest malt whisky went on sale today with a price tag of up to £10,000 a bottle.The Mortlach 70-year-old Speyside was sampled by a select group of tasters in a ceremony at Edinburgh Castle.Only 54 full-size bottles, costing £10,000 each

Three Conservative committee members walk out claiming inquiry is pursuing Labour vendettaA Westminster inquiry into the row over Lord Ashcroft's peerage was thrown into turmoil when the Tory MPs on the committee walked out and said they were boycotting it permanently.In what is understood to be an unprecedented move, Conservative members have wit

Minimalism, jazz, folk, classical – it all seemed impenetrable when I was hooked on the three-minute pop songArt is long, life is short; but not so short that you have to spend it cramming in culture. You can afford to take your time. Only recently have I learned that it's not going to go away if I slow down the pace and learn to appreciate it f