The buzz around Trafigura and Carter-Ruck is getting louder again on the web
As reports vanish and mainstream media says it's sorry, the buzz about Trafigura and Carter-Ruck gets louder on blogs and other online outletsIn May, Trafigura's lawyers announced that they had brought libel proceedings against the BBC over its...

UK public borrowing hits new high
Government borrowing swelled to £20.3bn last month, taking Britain's net debt to 60.2% of GDP, official figures showBritain's budget deficit ballooned to a record £20bn for the month of November alone, taking the country's net debt to 60.2% of GDP,...

Italy's challenge to internet freedom
The Italian government's attempt to stop online 'hatred' about the attack on Berlusconi is likely to bring it into conflict with the EUThe debate about freedom of expression on the internet has heated up again in Italy, following the online response...

The decade's best unread books
While people are busy ranking the hit books of the last 10 years, many a publishing insider is quietly mourning a volume that unnaccountably never made the 'best of' or bestseller lists, but should have. Here publishers, agents and translators speak up...

Microsoft admits stealing from startup
Microsoft has suspended a new internet messaging service in China, after it emerged that the site was partially based on code stolen from a rival startup.The site, Juku, launched in November is similar in concept to other online messaging systems like...

The seven deadly sins of playing live
For his Christmas concert at the Royal Albert Hall, Rufus Wainwright managed to cram in every cliche of live performance. So here is a list of offences that all musicians should avoid ...This week I witnessed the most excruciatingly boring gig of my life...

New Guardian iPhone app
Want to view the Guardian in double quick time, with slicker graphics and better clarity on your iPhone? Well there's an app for that...

When Evan met Shakira: 'Women singing … it's doing very well at the moment'
Evan! Please stop! Why are you interviewing Shakira on the Today programme in such an embarrassing manner? In fact why are you interviewing her at all?It was not Evan Davis's finest hour. Indeed, it might have been his worst three-and-a-half minutes...

Self-help course led to suicide – coroner
Rebekah Lawrence jumped from a window after a psychotic breakdown that had its origins in a self-help course, coroner findsAn Australian woman suffered a psychotic breakdown before leaping to her death from an office window in front of horrified...

Google Goggles: search by sight
Google is testing a new mobile service that enables users to perform searches using their smartphone's cameraGoogle Goggles marks not only a huge leap forward in the field of visual search, but marks a big step for the mobile internet as well. The...

Tom Waits to star in The Hobbit?
The gravel-voiced one is reportedly being considered for a role in the forthcoming film of JRR Tolkien's novel. Our bet is that he'll play Smaug, the fire-breathing dragonWill Tom Waits battle Bilbo Baggins? A "trusted" source working on Guillermo...

US 'neglected' southern Iraq, inquiry hears
Edward Chaplin tells inquiry that despite billions of dollars being poured into Iraq by the US, little went to the main UK area of operations around BasraAmerica failed to direct resources to the reconstruction of Basra and southern Iraq in the aftermath...

Swine flu: second vaccine jab can give children fever, say experts
Government seeks advice on smaller doses after European Medicines Agency warns of temperatures topping 38CChildren who have been given a second injection of the vaccine against swine flu could develop a fever, European medical officials warned today.The...

Vibrating kettles: The power stations of the future?
Researchers at Bristol University want to harness power of vibration to provide free energy. From BusinessGreen.com, part of the Guardian Environment NetworkA team at Bristol University hopes to harvest kinetic energy from vibrating household appliances...

GM chief executive Fritz Henderson resigns
Fritz Henderson departs eight months after predecessor Rick Wagoner was fired by the Obama administrationThe troubled carmaker General Motors sent shockwaves through the automotive industry tonight by announcing the abrupt resignation of its chief...

'Twitter' declared word of 2009
Global Language Monitor's vast survey of print and social media places Twitter ahead of Obama and H1N1 as most used wordAs world leaders prepare for the climate-change summit in Copenhagen and stock markets around the world get the Dubai shakes, a...