John Clare answers your queries on understanding Oxford, American dreams and a hole in gap year travel.

History is vital as well as enjoyable so we should focus on teaching it properly, says Frank Furedi.

The Department for Education's latest league tables have been sharply criticised by organisations representing state and independent schools.

UNIONS last night warned that 474 public sector jobs in Glasgow are in the balance after the government unveiled the latest phase of its attempt to cut the civil service payroll.

ATTEMPTS to link the killer of the student Sally Geeson to other unsolved crimes have so far produced nothing, police said last night.

THE Ministry of Defence last night confirmed it would be reviewing procedures in the light of the Sally Geeson murder case to see "if lessons can be learned".

THE appeal for the victims of the tsunami is expected to raise £200 million, the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) said yesterday.

A HUSBAND and wife who appeared to have it all were last night starting five-year jail terms for killing a boy of three they were planning to adopt.

A WOMAN is suing a doctor for £300,000, claiming that her mother's death from meningitis was caused or contributed to by the GP's fault and negligence.

CLARENCE House last night insisted Prince Harry would not apologise in person for his appearance at a fancy dress party in a Nazi uniform, despite mounting public criticism.

UNIONS last night warned that more than 400 public sector jobs in Glasgow are hanging in the balance after the government unveiled the latest phase of its attempt to cut the civil service payroll.

SKETCHAFTER the calm, the storm. A deluge of critical questions about his holidays had been so confidently forecast that the only surprise was a First Minister in a suit rather than sou'wester, waterproof and wellingtons.

EUROPEAN Union structural funds have been a crucial ingredient of a wide range of economic development projects across Scotland.

THE IRON CHANCELLOR was melting all over Tanzania yesterday. He didn't just kiss babies - he went for their parents, squeezing hands and smiling all round. It was a vision Britain seldom sees: the soft side to Gordon Brown.

AN ELEVENTH-hour attempt has been launched to encourage Scotland's 24,000 Iraqis to vote in their country's first democratic elections in a generation.

TONY Blair yesterday moved to set his seal on Labour's election campaign, outlining a future of personalised public services and wealth creation markedly different from Gordon Brown's vision.

THE Scottish head of a multi-national GM crop company yesterday came under increasing pressure to quit his post as a business adviser to Scottish Enterprise.