Latest fromUnited Kingdom

Private navy may help defeat pirates
London insurers have radical plans to reduce seaborne hijackings.

Groom's mistake serves as warning to travellers
A Queenstown man who went to Britain to get married was turned away at London's Heathrow airport as he didn't have the appropriate visa.

Minogue lifts the lid on love and heartbreak
Dannii Minogue has opened up about the loves of her life in her autobiography, My Story.

Kiwi to appear on UK <i>Apprentice</i>
A Peru-born Aucklander now living in London is set to be the first New Zealander to appear on the popular British version of The Apprentice.

Orkney Islands: Ancient settlements and hardy people
You have to be tough to survive in Orkney, writes Peter Calder.

The new face of the Sisterhood
It's female nature to overcome difficulties as a community, be it making the tea or getting the vote.

Pointless habit No.1: Counting calories
The Independent's Susie Rushton explains why, for her, attempting to monitor daily calorie intake is pure folly.

Cycling: Henderson back on his bike
Greg Henderson might not be flying British Airways again after his world road championships preprations were stalled by a lost bike.

Book Review: <i>Our kind of traitor</i>
John le Carre takes the reader into the vicious underside of the global free market.

Cricket: Vettori on guard against complacency
Daniel Vettori has warned against complacency as the Black Caps headed to Bangladesh today for a five-match ODI series.

Britain's first lady of chick lit
Best-known for her rollicking blockbuster romances set in the horse-riding world, Jilly Cooper is one of Britain's most-read authors. Robyn Langwell meets the prolific writer at home, a setting straight out of one of her novels.

Trouble in Eric's empire
After the Hanover debacle, Eric Watson might have hoped for a big win with his latest venture in the US. So far, it isn't working out that way, reports Denise McNabb.

Queen wanted poverty grant to heat palaces
The Queen was knocked back for a poverty handout to help heat her palaces by the British Government.

Going the green mile
Environmentally friendly fashion is all the rage in the industry at the moment, but what does it actually mean?

Cricket: Troubled tour hits new low
The most ill-starred cricket tour of modern times turned uglier this morning when two players were involved in a fight.

Wheelie-bin cat dumper charged
The woman who provoked outrage by dumping a cat in a rubbish bin has been charged with two criminal offences, the RSPCA in Britain said today.

Swimming: Amputee conquers Channel
A French quadruple amputee has swum the English Channel in 13.5 hours with the help of flipper-shaped prosthetic legs.

Scientists identify brain's region for introspection
Researchers found people who were more introspective tended to have larger volumes of nerve tissue in an area of the prefrontal cortex.