General news

• Turkish President Erdogan fined 10,000 lira for calling statue symbolising peace a 'monstrosity'

  05-03-2015 23:58
  
  An Istanbul court has ordered Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to pay an artist 10,000 Turkish Lira (£2,500) in compensation, after the politician called his sculpture a “monstrosity.”
  
  Read more

• Mohamed Salah brace gives Fiorentina advantage over Juventus in Italian Cup

  05-03-2015 23:58
  
  • Juventus 1-2 Fiorentina (Llorente 24; Salah 11, 56)
  • Juve fall to first home defeat in two years, in semi-final first leg
  • As it happened: read Jacob Steinberg’s MBM reportJuventus suffered their first home defeat in two years on Thursday night when Mohamed Salah scored twice to give Fiorentina a 2-1 Italian Cup win in Turin.The Egyptian, on loan from Chelsea, opened the scoring in the semi-final first leg when he collected the ball inside his own half, burst clear of the defence and
  
  Read more

• Roy Hodgson keen to remain England manager until 2018 World Cup

  05-03-2015 23:53
  
  • Hodgson’s extended tenure dependent on Euro 2016
  • Manager eager to keep working at highest level into his 70s
  • Hodgson believes Harry Kane’s U21 benefits outweigh burnout riskRoy Hodgson wants to remain as manager until the next World Cup if England do enough in next year’s European Championship to demonstrate to his employers at the Football Association that he should be kept on for a fourth tournament.Hodgson’s contract expires after Euro 2016 in France and he will be alm
  
  Read more

• Chinese premier cuts country's growth target

  05-03-2015 23:39
  
  Li Keqiang warns ‘the difficulties we are to encounter in the year ahead may be even more formidable than those of last year’China’s premier Li Keqiang cut the nation’s growth target to “around” 7% on Thursday, reiterating the need to pursue reform as development slows and the likelihood of tougher times ahead for the world’s second largest economy.
  Systemic, institutional and structural problems have become ‘tigers in the road’ holding up development. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Bafétimbi Gomis collapse had us fearing the worst, says Brad Friedel

  05-03-2015 23:30
  
  • Spurs keeper admits scare brought back memories of Fabrice Muamba incident
  • ‘My first thought was: Please no, not again’
  • Relief for Bafétimbi Gomis dominates Tottenham’s victory over Swansea Brad Friedel has articulated the sense of fear that he and his fellow players felt on Wednesday night when Bafétimbi Gomis collapsed to the White Hart Lane turf – just as Fabrice Muamba had done, in almost fatal circumstances, in March 2012.It would emerge that the Swansea City
  
  Read more

• Chelsea Manning: court order bans US military from referring to soldier as 'he'

  05-03-2015 23:29
  
  Court order banning military from referring to Manning using masculine pronouns marks another advance towards army soldier’s gender transition goalChelsea Manning, the US army soldier serving 35 years in prison for leaking a huge stash of state secrets, has won a small but significant victory in her bid to transition to living as a woman.
  Manning has taken on the might of the US military, challenging its ongoing refusal to refer to her as a woman, and won. A court order from the US army cour
  
  Read more

• Boston Marathon victim's father testifies at trial: 'We were unlucky that day'

  05-03-2015 23:28
  
  Bill Richard describes day with his family before the blast that left him half-deaf, his wife half-blind, his daughter maimed and his youngest son deadBill and Denise Richard loved going to the Boston Marathon, even before they had children.In emotional testimony that brought tears to the eyes of several jurors in the ongoing trial of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev – the survivor of two brothers accused of perpetrating the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing – Richard described the day he and his family shared,
  
  Read more

• Majority of UK adults wasting £3,000 a year

  05-03-2015 23:20
  
  The majority of adults in the UK waste a staggering £3,000 a year according to a new study which reveals attitudes towards saving.
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Rory McIlroy has rollercoaster round in WGC-Cadillac Championship at Doral

  05-03-2015 23:17
  
  • Northern Irishman recovers from poor first nine with three birdies and an eagle
  • Denmark’s Thomas Bjorn withdraws from tournament after only eight holes
  • McIlroy is happy to take Masters hype in his strideIt may not be a huge leap of faith to suggest Rory McIlroy endures something of a love-hate relationship with Doral’s Blue Monster course.A year ago, McIlroy was a smiling diplomat when asked if he would choose to play in this event were it not, as is the case, of the World Golf C
  
  Read more

• Frank Warren column: Amir Khan ready to meet winner of Floyd Mayweather v Manny Pacquiao

  05-03-2015 23:12
  
  Amir Khan can come in from the cold. Britain’s former world light-welterweight champion seemed to have been frozen out when twice jilted as an opponent by Floyd Mayweather Jnr. He will be back in business – big business – to meet the winner of the upcoming Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao mega-fight.
  
  Read more

• Ed Miliband pledges pensioners' perks will be safe under Labour

  05-03-2015 23:00
  
  Ed Miliband will today move to reassure Britain’s 11 million pensioners that Labour would not launch a further raid on their winter fuel payments and free bus passes and TV licences.
  
  Read more

• Labour proposes 10-year age limit on public service transport tyres

  05-03-2015 23:00
  
  The use of old tyres would be banned on buses and coaches by an incoming Labour government after they were blamed for a crash that killed three people.
  
  Read more

• Readers recommend: songs about control

  05-03-2015 23:00
  
  Whether losing, gaining, maintaining or fighting it, let the music take over and name songs about all emotional, physical or practical ways we take on turmoil
  Chaos. Where isn’t it? The world is a mess of entropy, energy, waste, injustice, and emotion. Chaos thrives equally in war, in corruption, in our hearts, in a pencil case, in ideas mangled or cables tangled. “I accept chaos, I’m not sure whether it accepts me,” said Bob Dylan, with a shrug. “Darling – in chaos there is fertilit
  
  Read more

• Juventus v Fiorentina: Coppa Italia semi-final first leg – as it happened

  05-03-2015 22:39
  
  Mo Salah scored twice to give Fiorentina a 2-1 lead to take back to Florence for the second leg of their Coppa Italia semi-final against Juventus 9.37pm GMT All hail Mo Salah! Juventus hadn’t lost at hme for two years and Fiorenitna have a precious lead to take back to Florence for the second leg. Thanks for reading. Bye. 9.37pm GMT 90 min+5: Pogba bounces a volley straight at Neto. That should be that. 9.33pm GMT 90 min+2: Tevez is booked. The clock is ticking. 9.32pm GMT 90 min+1: We’ll
  
  Read more

• Palestine Liberation Organisation calls for end to security co-ordination with Israel

  05-03-2015 22:16
  
  A top body in the Palestine Liberation Organisation on Thursday called for ending security coordination with Israel — a step that could further escalate tensions.
  
  Read more

• Hyena, film review: Gerard Johnson takes corruption and sleaziness to a truly epic level

  05-03-2015 22:15
  
  Long ago, in the glory days of Ealing Studios, when a young spiv played by Dirk Bogarde shot dead policeman PC Dixon (Jack Warner) in The Blue Lamp (1950), all the ordinary, decent criminals were horrified. They helped flush out the killer. Back in the 1950s, or at least in British films of that era, the police were regarded with veneration. They were bobbies on the beat – friendly, hard-working types who appeared to be incorruptible.
  
  Read more

• International Women's Day 2015: Celebrating the whirlwind wit of Simone de Beauvoir

  05-03-2015 22:00
  
  It is probably fair to say that I approached Simone de Beauvoir the wrong way round: I visited her grave before I read a word she'd written. This was not particularly my intention. Many years ago I was in Paris, with a handsome man who liked Sartre (my youth was filled with such men, several of whom also played the guitar. I have nothing to offer in my defence). He liked Sartre so much that he wanted to visit the great man's grave.
  
  Read more

• The stage isn't set for TV debates

  05-03-2015 21:54
  
  Even by the robust standards of Alastair Campbell, a charge of “moral cowardice” against the Prime Minister is a serious one. He has a point. David Cameron has thrown any and every kind of flak into the discussions about the party leader television debates so as to confuse and confound the broadcasters. They were – almost – clever enough to keep up with his dodges, but in the end if the PM won’t show, then there won’t be a debate.
  
  Read more

• Donald Macintyre's Sketch: Blokeish Nigel Farage fails to charm the 'ladies'

  05-03-2015 21:23
  
  Nigel Farage tweeted after his appearance on ITV’s Loose Women: “Well, I didn’t do too badly on @loosewomen, did I? It was good fun!”
  
  Read more

• Paris Fashion Week 2015: The wit and wisdom of Manish Arora's exercise in high camp

  05-03-2015 21:17
  
  Christmas came early in Paris when Olivier Rousteing, head designer at Balmain, sent a collection down the catwalk that resembled nothing more than a box of Quality Street, the very British chocolates inextricably linked with the festive season.
  
  Read more

• Homeless Veterans campaign: Now we can change more lives for the better – thank you, everyone

  05-03-2015 21:15
  
  When we decided to make homeless veterans the subject of last year’s Christmas Appeal across The Independent and its sister titles, a thought crossed my mind. Wouldn’t it be wonderful, I thought, if we hit £1m. But I didn’t think we’d do it.
  
  Read more

• The big fresh food con: Alarming truth behind the chocolate muffin that won't decay

  05-03-2015 21:15
  
  More than a month ago, I bought a chocolate chip muffin from one of those would-be Italian chain coffee bars. In its homespun-looking paper wrapper, the muffin looked as though it had just come from the baker's oven. It bore no ingredients list – that's perfectly legal for food sold loose – but having a shrewd idea from my investigations into the processed food industry of the likely ingredients, I didn't eat it.
  
  Read more

• Purim 2015: Five things you didn't know about the Jewish festival

  05-03-2015 21:04
  
  Jewish people across the world are gathering today to mark the end of Purim, which celebrates an attempt by an ancient Persian King to wipe out the Jewish population 2,500 years ago.
  
  Read more

• Oxford whistleblower’s attempt to protect young victim of a sadistic gang went unheeded

  05-03-2015 20:52
  
  A council whistleblower silenced by managers after raising the alarm about child sexual abuse in Oxfordshire has told how he believes senior staff must have known what was going on.
  
  Read more

• The great TV debate debacle: ‘Unseemly squabble’ over debates ‘embarrasses British democracy’

  05-03-2015 20:50
  
  Plans for three live televised leaders debates during the general election descended into chaos, recrimination and legal threats after David Cameron suggested he would rather be “empty chaired” than join a head-to-head debate with Ed Miliband.
  
  Read more

• The great TV debate debacle

  05-03-2015 20:50
  
  Plans for three live televised leaders debates during the general election descended into chaos, recrimination and legal threats after David Cameron suggested he would rather be “empty chaired” than join a head-to-head debate with Ed Miliband.
  
  Read more

• Europol head: treat jihadi runaways like trafficking victims

  05-03-2015 20:43
  
  Young Muslims lured to Syria by extremist groups should not automatically be labelled terrorists but dealt with like victims of trafficking, the head of Europol has said.
  
  Read more

• App to aid blind on Tube trialled

  05-03-2015 20:43
  
  A "ground-breaking" trial has been launched to help blind and partially sighted people travel independently on London Underground.
  
  Read more

• Russia's gulag museum 'makes no mention' of Stalin's atrocities

  05-03-2015 20:36
  
  During the height of the Soviet Union, Russia was home to thousands of gulags – forced labour camps where political dissidents and criminals were locked up. Many of sites are still used as prisons today, while others have long been abandoned.
  
  Read more

• Jodi Arias trial: Murderer spared death penalty after jury unable to agree on punishment

  05-03-2015 20:34
  
  A young woman found guilty of murdering her boyfriend in a case marked by tawdry details and cable television obsession, has been spared the death after a jury could not agree on her punishment.
  
  Read more

• Nigel Farage: Six hours in the pub - Belfast Telegraph

  05-03-2015 20:31 via belfasttelegraph.co.uk
  
  Belfast Telegraph
  Nigel Farage: Six hours in the pub
  Belfast Telegraph
  UKIP leader Nigel Farage smiles as he campaigns ahead of the general election on February 12, 2015 in Benfleet, England. (Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images). 05 March 2015. Nigel Farage has said his political career does not give him time for a ...
  UKIP's Nigel Farage: 'Call Mr Cameron's bluff'BBC News
  Ukip migration cap axed just 24 hours before immigration policy announcement ...mirror.co.uk
  Nigel
  
  Read more

• Flight MH370 a year on: Lost without a trace – but the search goes on

  05-03-2015 20:30
  
  “A harrowing 12 months of uncertainty and sorrow” – that is how Australia’s Prime Minister yesterday described the suffering of the families of passengers and crew lost aboard flight MH370.
  
  Read more

• Confessions of a planespotter: With three Britons under arrest in the UAE, the perils have never been more apparent

  05-03-2015 20:30
  We're the most unlikely of spies, us. The wind is biting, the March sky clear and, standing next to a ploughed field in Norfolk, we have mud on our shoes. A few more cars arrive along a bumpy track. Conversation between the men who have come here is kept to a minimum.
  
  Read more

• Porsche Thief Jailed Over 100mph Police Chase

  05-03-2015 20:23
  
  A man has been jailed for two years for stealing a Porsche while its owner was on a skiing trip and leading police on a 100mph motorway chase. Lewis Lowe stole the vehicle from a house in Dobcross, Oldham, in January. Detective Constable Adam Frank said: "It is a miracle that Lowe did not kill either himself or someone else.
  
  Read more

• Disabled people have a host of extra things to buy, so why are so few businesses selling?

  05-03-2015 20:22
  
  Businesses are losing £1.8bn a month by failing to consider the needs of their disabled customers, according to research carried out for a commission investigating financial burdens placed on the disabled.
  
  Read more

• Revolutionary new self-clean coating could spell the end of washdays

  05-03-2015 20:17
  
  Cars that never need washing, clothes that repel stains and windows that clean themselves are just three potential applications for a revolutionary new “paint” that never gets dirty, scientists have said.
  
  Read more

• Hubble Telescope confirms Einstein theory of relativity

  05-03-2015 20:17
  
  Stunning visual confirmation of Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity has been provided by the Hubble Space Telescope, after astronomers captured the first images of light from an exploding star being distorted by a cluster of galaxies.
  
  Read more

• Andy McSmith's Diary: Sir Malcolm Rifkind's exit clears path for Kensington's first female MP

  05-03-2015 20:16
  
  Kensington Conservative Association, which has suddenly lost its sitting MP, Sir Malcolm Rifkind, will be choosing a new candidate on Friday the 13th, and whoever they choose is as near as guaranteed to be the next MP. Party headquarters have received an avalanche of applicants, from which they will pick six names, which the local party will whittle down to three.
  
  Read more

• Virginia Ironside was my landlady: What is it like to live with an agony aunt on call 24/7?

  05-03-2015 20:15
  In late 2012, I was between proper homes, working in London, and Virginia Ironside had a room to let: the top (third) floor of her house in Shepherds Bush, plus a kitchenette and bathroom shared with another lodger downstairs. I'd heard of it from a journalist friend and I knew a little about her – The Independent's famous agony aunt with the stern spectacles and a surname to match – but I thought it best to do some preparatory research.
  
  Read more

• Harvey Proctor: Former MP denies sex allegations as his house is searched

  05-03-2015 20:14
  
  The former Conservative MP Harvey Proctor has denied being part of a VIP child sex ring after his home was searched by police investigating historical allegations of sex abuse and the murders of three boys.
  
  Read more

• Boston Marathon bombing trial: Victim reveals how he 'locked eyes' with suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev

  05-03-2015 20:14
  
  A victim who lost his legs in the Boston marathon bombing said today that he locked eyes briefly with the elder brother of the suspect now on trial for the attack and thought something about him was “odd”.
  
  Read more

• Lawyers 'are using threats to stop negative client reviews'

  05-03-2015 20:02
  
  Thin-skinned lawyers are abusing their legal standing by threatening defamation action against members of the public who post negative reviews of their services on TripAdvisor-style websites.
  
  Read more

• Bali Nine: Australian government condemns pictures of grinning Indonesian police chief posing with prisoners as they prepare to face firing squad

  05-03-2015 20:02
  Widely shared photographs of Bali’s top police officer posing with two Australians on their way to face a firing squad have been condemned by the Australian government, as Indonesia prepared to execute 10 convicted drug smugglers, including nine foreign nationals, within days.
  
  Read more

• Secrets of Martian ocean revealed

  05-03-2015 20:00
  
  An ancient Martian ocean held more water than the Arctic Ocean on Earth, scientists believe.
  
  Read more

• Exploding star tests famous theory

  05-03-2015 20:00
  
  Astronomers have captured the moment a far off star exploded - not once but four times.
  
  Read more

• Sprakab agency misled Home Office over checks on asylum-seekers

  05-03-2015 19:59
  
  A controversial Swedish company paid by the Government to assess whether or not asylum-seekers are telling the truth misled the Home Office about the reliability of one of its analysts, The Independent has learnt.
  
  Read more

• Ram raiders steal vintage race car

  05-03-2015 19:54
  
  Dramatic CCTV footage has been released of ram-raiders stealing a £120,000 vintage racing car using a 4x4 - in the space of 60 seconds.
  
  Read more

• Flight MH370: Endless agony of the woman who lost her husband

  05-03-2015 19:50
  
  When she wakes up each morning, she reaches first for the smartphone on her bedside table, searching for the same combination of letters and numbers that has consumed her life for a year: MH370.
  
  Read more

• Food firm in 'nuts-for-spices' row blames false test results

  05-03-2015 19:48
  
  The nuts-for-spices row took a new twist today after one of the suppliers under investigation for alleged almond contamination challenged the accuracy of tests conducted by the official food regulator.
  
  Read more

• Recruit spies from Mumsnet, Parliament tells MI5 – but give them a 24-hour childcare service

  05-03-2015 19:45
  
  It has long been known that every mother needs patience, guile and a knack of knowing when they’re being lied to.
  
  Read more

Follow @GeneralnewsUK on Twitter!