Experts agree politicking has triumphed over ambition in the appointment of two new leaders Martin Rowson

Stephen K Amos, DVD/On tour Seemingly poised for stardom with his own BBC2 series due in 2010, Stephen K Amos's debut DVD, Find The Funny, gives those new to his charms the chance to find out what the rest of us have been sniggering to ourselves about all these years. Intermingling tersely insightful ...

New Forest There is something enchanting about a group of scarlet-capped fly agaric fungi nestling within a circle of silver birches. The fungus is among the brightest of autumnal sights. With its red top seemingly sprinkled with finely chopped cheese, this poisonous species is associated with birch, ...

BBC was criticised for ageism after dropping veteran newsreader Moira Stuart after four decades More than two years after the BBC dropped her – sparking accusations of ageism – veteran newsreader Moira Stuart is being lined up for a return to the airwaves on Chris Evans's BBC Radio 2 breakfast show. ...

New injunctions against gangs and action on wheelclampers included in Alan Johnson's crime bill New antisocial behaviour injunctions – dubbed gangbos – aimed at tackling teenage gang members as young as 14 are to be introduced as part of the new crime and security bill, the home secretary disclosed ...

 On Monday we went to the National Theatre to see Alan Bennett's new play, The Habit of Art, about a fictional meeting between WH Auden and Benjamin Britten. It was the performance before press night, so there had been no notices in the papers, although the word of mouth was not particularly good and ...

He left Britain after his girlfriend Rachel Nickell was murdered 17 years ago, to escape the trauma and the press. This week André Hanscombe returned – to force the police to face their mistakes The picture is attractive – pale skin, a drift of blonde hair, a wide, imperfect smile that makes her approachable ...

The pharmaceutical industry has taken almost two years to disseminate important information Once your medicines regulator decides it should change the side-effect warnings contained in the patient information of a drug taken by millions of people, how long do you think it would take for that change ...

Suburban sitcom Outnumbered could easily have flopped. Instead its child stars are up against Charlie Brooker for a comedy award Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkin's sitcom Outnumbered should have been a disaster. At least three-fifths of its humour depends on the improvisatory skills of a trio of child actors, ...

On a walkabout in east London, Nick Griffin is a magnet for feelings of grief as well as anger On Thursday Nick Griffin paid his first official visit to Barking and Dagenham as the newly declared British National party candidate in next year's election. This took the form of "walkabouts" and the one ...