Former child soldier Mohammed lives a normal life now thanks to ActionAid

Independent Appeal

A child is reborn

Kim Sengupta: Mohammed was a child soldier in Afghanistan. He saw his father shot dead and was seen in a martyrdom video. Now he has been given the chance of a normal life.

Quiz of the decade

Whatever happened to the noughties? Try our NEWS quiz and you could win £500 of Red Letter Day vouchers, or a Pure digital radio.

More Irish bishops quit over abuse scandal

Eamonn Walsh and Raymond Field bowed to weeks of intense criticism and pressure.

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Fire hits central London hotel

Fire crews tackled a blaze at a London hotel today.

Americans 'face Pakistan terror charges'

Pakistani police say they are pursuing terrorism charges against five detained Americans.

Nicolas Anelka has suffered a torn hamstring and will be missing for two to three weeks

Drogba and Anelka leave striker crisis for Chelsea

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Weekly book agenda: Comic Market in Tokyo, Costa Awards in London

The semi-annual Comic Market comes to Tokyo in the last days of December. Coming in early 2010: Winners of the Costa Book Awards are announced in London, and comic books are back in the spotlight during the International Comics Festival in Angoulême, France.

Hollywood costume shop outfits hundreds of Santas

Each holiday season, Adele's of Hollywood, is the largest supplier of custom-made Santa Claus suits in the US. The costume shop provides malls and photographers with hundreds of red velour and white trimmed suits each season.

MPC unanimous against printing more money

Bank of England policy committee agrees to keep interest rates at record low

Look out! A great step for locust-kind

Researchers used a high-speed camera to observe insects on ladder.

Tony and Cherie Blair have wrapped up the sale of their four-bedroomed former pit manager's house, we're told

Pandora: Windfall for Blairs as Sedgefield home sells

*When Tony and Cherie Blair put their Sedgefield home, "Myrobella", on the market this autumn, property experts predicted a rapid sale despite the steep asking price.

TMZ gossip website to target sports stars

"Premier League boss caught in a brothel!" screamed The Sun. It's a salaciously poised headline offering just enough to whet its readers' appetite, satisfy lawyers and allow the guilty subject some short-term anonymity to plan his defence.

A child is reborn

Kim Sengupta: Mohammed was a child soldier in Afghanistan. He saw his father shot dead and was seen in a martyrdom video. Now he has been given the chance of a normal life.

IoS Christmas Appeal: 'I don't know why I was singled out'

ActionAid, with IoS support, helps all refugees in north-west Pakistan, but women often suffer most..

Polluting pets: the devastating impact of man's best friend

Man's best friend could be one of the environment's worst enemies, according to a new study which says the carbon pawprint of a pet dog is more than double that of a gas-guzzling sports utility vehicle.

The 110th Christmas Bird Count serves as a species census

Possible anthrax link to third addict death

Anthrax may be the cause of death of three drug users, it has been revealed.

Learn Spanish with The Independent

Cactus’ Language Minis is a Spanish podcast series, developed to offer easy learning on the go. It consists of seven levels, each with 10 downloadable podcast lessons and PDF workbooks, which take you from beginner through to advanced level.

Tories would let public schools keep charitable status, says Gove

Albert Scanlon: Busby Babe who survived the Munich disaster but never fulfilled his potential as a footballer

Albert Scanlon was the most enigmatic of Manchester United's Busby Babes, the group of young, extravagantly talented athletes who were pushing back the boundaries of what was hitherto deemed possible on the English football scene when their world was shattered by the Munich air disaster.