Recently added articles from The Independent (London, England):

MORTGAGE CLINIC

May 14, 2008; Sam Dunn ... FINANCE Fewer than one in 10 borrowers in the UK has an offset mortgage,but this isn't down to shoddy products: rather, it's a matter ofsuitability. By "offsetting" your savings against a mortgage, you only payinterest on the difference. "In your case, you'd only pay ...

The full Monty

May 14, 2008; Laura Latham ... OVERSEAS Billionaires arrive by yacht, but direct flights will soon allowthe rest of us to pop over too. Laura Latham sizes up Montenegro Sandwiched between Bosnia, Croatia, Serbia and Albania, the smallcountry of Montenegro is becoming a big-hitter on the Europeanproperty ...

Shed of heaven

May 14, 2008; John Walsh ... FOCUS Some are used as cinema rooms, others guest suites - and with thecredit crunch biting, they're all smart ways to add space. From theoffice/sanctuary at the bottom of his garden, sings the praises ofnew-wave sheds The apotheosis of the garden shed has been one of ...

Chess

May 14, 2008; Jon Speelman ... The amazing Vassily Ivanchuk added a a fifth successive victoryin the Mtel masters in Sofia on Monday, defeating Levon Aronian in ahighly complex struggle to take his score to a perfect 5/5 at theend of the first half - and this against world class oppositionwithout exception, with, ...

The Ten Best Cookery courses

May 14, 2008; FOISOL AL-ALI ... INDEPENDENT.CO.UK/BEST 1 Rick Stein's Seafood School From 180 Stein's Padstow school teaches a relaxed approach to preparingseafood. The chef's aim was to create a course that "revolves aroundlunch". Here, cooks enjoy the fruits of their labours beside ...

MARKET NEWS

May 14, 2008; Paula John ... GOING UP ... Predictions for a significant leap in repossessions this yearappear to be borne out by the latest official figures. The Ministryof Justice reports that the number of homeowners in arrears andthreatened with a repossession order has shot up by 17 per cent inEngland and ...

Beauty and the beach

May 14, 2008; TESSA WILLIAMS-AKOTO ... MY HOME When London lost its mojo, Biba founder Barbara Hulanicki movedto Miami - and her new South Beach apartment takes style to anotherlevel I first came to Miami in the Sixties with my husband, Fitz. Weused to come here for short breaks to capture the amazing ...

THE RENOVATION GAME

May 14, 2008; TOBY GREEN ... STANNOCHY HOUSE, NEAR BRECHIN, SCOTLAND What's for sale? A seven-bedroom estate farm set in 1.5 acres. This has hugepotential if you've ever dreamt of running a B&B - with golfcourses, loch fishing and even ski slopes all within drivingdistance, the area is ...

A breath of fresh air

May 14, 2008; Kate Watson-Smyth ... DESIGN Why buy the same old garden furniture? Kate Watson-Smyth providesinspiration for making your outdoors great Plastic Fantastic chair Dutch design is where it's at at the moment and this range ofbaroque indoor/outdoor furniture certainly makes a statement ....

SIX TO VIEW

May 14, 2008; Kate Watson-Smyth ... Town and country MILL FARM HOUSE Marden, Kent Price: 975,000 Agent: Knight Frank Tel: 01892 515 035 They say: Set in open countryside but minutes away from amainline station that's 50 minutes from London, this farmhouse hasfour bedrooms ...

THE LATEST GREEN SHOWER HEADS SLASH WATER USAGE BY A THIRD - AND THEY FEEL GREAT

May 14, 2008; Donnachadh McCarthy ... THE HOME ECOLOGIST Now that some glorious sunshine is finally blessing the UK, ourthoughts should turn to conserving water during the summer. It's notjust the time of year when we're used to hose-pipe bans and watershortages; we shower and bathe more often, too. But there are ...

'A corner of our orchard now looks like Stalag 44. All I need now is a pair of alpacas - they make excellent guards'

May 14, 2008; Brian Viner bviner@independentcouk ... COUNTRY LIFE In the current economic climate, our list of the various houseimprovements we need has been filed away indefinitely. But we haveat least managed to fix an extension on the chicken run, prior toreplacing the flock that was wiped out by a fox last month. To bemore ...

Book Now

May 14, 2008 ... Dickens Unplugged An idiosyncratic musical comedy from Adam Long, creator of theReduced Shakespeare Company. Using a mix of musical styles andinstruments, from acoustic guitar to accordion and harmonica tohorns, the cast give voice to a host of Charles Dickens's mosteccentric and ...

Visual Arts

May 14, 2008; MICHAEL GLOVER ... MARIOROSSI SEASCAPES Village Underground LONDON ** To paint the sea is never just to paint the sea. How could it be?The sea is protean, ever shape-shifting, ever posing - and proposing- new threats, or new and unpredictable visual delights. To paintthe sea is to paint it in ...

Classical

May 14, 2008; EDWARD SECKERSON ... LSO / BOULEZ Barbican LONDON *** A concert of two distinct halves: the emotionally challengedversus the emotionally charged. What are we now to make ofSchoenberg's pretentious psychodrama Die glckliche Hand? I guessexistentialism was once sexy, or dangerous, or both. How ...

Oedipus lets rip in the upper classes

May 14, 2008; PAUL TAYLOR ... Theatre THAT FACE Duke of York's LONDON **** BORIS GODUNOV Warwick ArtsCentre WARWICK **** Polly Stenham must be (in roughly equal parts) the envy, despairand inspiration of fledgling dramatists. She wrote That Face whenshe was 19. She scooped three awards after the ...

Pop

May 14, 2008; ALASDAIR LEES ... NADA SURF Koko LONDON **** The NME recently anointed Brooklyn the new "creative centre ofthe musical universe", but there's clearly been magic in the waterthere for some time now if local veterans Nada Surf are anything togo by. This show by the quirky power-pop trio proves that a ...

Tahitian fleshpots are to blame for the mutiny on the 'Bounty'

May 14, 2008; NICHOLAS TUCKER ... The Wednesday Book MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY By John Boyne DOUBLEDAY, Pounds 12.99 Orderfor Pounds 11.69 (free p&p) on 0870 079 8897 John Jacob Turnstile, the narrator of this enthralling novel, isaged 14 and on his first sea voyage. But resemblances to otherpopular navy yarns ...

A meeting of minds in a divine setting

May 14, 2008; BEN NAYLOR ... Literature CHARLESTON FESTIVAL Charleston NR LEWES It's hard to imagine a more apt setting for a literary festivalthan the gardens of Charleston farmhouse. The former home ofVirginia Woolf's elder sister, the artist Vanessa Bell, it served asa countryside retreat for the ...

Laughs galore - and some are intentional

May 14, 2008; Alice Jones ... The Week In Radio As anyone who had the pleasure of hearing Charlotte Greendissolve in a fit of giggles on the Today programme a few weeks agowill know, radio can be very, very funny - intentionally orotherwise. I tuned in to BBC Radio 2's When Charles Met Wyclef onSaturday ...