John Denham announces compulsory training for the unemployed; lack of time and money in modern life is blamed as the main barrier to learning; Epic is bought by a private investor and professor Lord Robert Winston launches Ufi's report into the future of learning technologies. All these stories and more in our news round-up.

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Futuristic report gives vision of learning technologies

Connecting training to business challenges executives

Elearning giant Epic bought by private investor

Employees are too embarrassed to ask for pay rise

Compulsory training aims to get people back to work

PhD studentship calls for next generation of political leaders

Skills and training will help companies compete for Olympic contracts

Lack of skills major factor in UK recruitment and retention difficulties

Skint and busy: Skills gap blamed on modern lifestyles

UK top 50 IT training providers announced