The Independent - World News

UK vow on military ties with France

10 hours 34 min ago

Defence Secretary Liam Fox promised "closer co-operation" with the French today as military budgets face being squeezed on both sides of the Channel.



Israeli and Palestinian leaders face critics of talks

11 hours 28 min ago

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned Friday from the resumption of Mideast negotiations in Washington to confront internal opposition to his peace moves, just as his Palestinian counterpart faced harsh criticism for agreeing to the talks at all.



Crowds attack home of Iranian opposition leader

13 hours 53 min ago

Pro-government militiamen attacked the home of an Iranian opposition leader with homemade bombs and beat one of his bodyguards unconscious, an opposition website reported, in an apparent attempt to keep him from attending a key rally today.



As Sarah Palin's star rises, critics expose her dark side

14 hours 43 min ago

She tells lies. She's a lousy tipper. She billed the Republican Party more than $3,000 for the underwear she bought during the last Presidential election, including dozens of Spanx girdles. Oh, and for all the cutesy charm that Sarah Palin projects in public, she's got a nasty habit of bullying staff, losing her temper with friends and family, and, when particularly upset, throwing tin cans at her husband, Todd.

As Palin's star rises, critics expose her dark side

14 hours 43 min ago

She tells lies. She's a lousy tipper. She billed the Republican Party more than $3,000 for the underwear she bought during the last Presidential election, including dozens of Spanx girdles. Oh, and for all the cutesy charm that Sarah Palin projects in public, she's got a nasty habit of bullying staff, losing her temper with friends and family, and, when particularly upset, throwing tin cans at her husband, Todd.



Schnabel's true romance inspires tale of love across cultural divide

15 hours 37 min ago

The real-life romance behind the film could not have better advertised its subject matter: a Jewish American film director and son of a Zionist mother meets a Palestinian woman at an art exhibition, falls in love, reads about her traumatic childhood under Israeli occupation and brings her moving story to the screen.



Depardieu vs Binoche: feud that's got France flummoxed

15 hours 37 min ago

The French actress Juliette Binoche, known for her sweetness on and off screen, has gently savaged the actor Gérard Depardieu for publicly questioning her talent. In an interview with an Austrian magazine, Mr Depardieu last week attacked the Oscar-winning Ms Binoche as "an absolute nothing".



Settlers reveal deep disdain for events in Washington

Thu, 02/09/2010 - 23:00

Yaniv Mor, 30-year-old father of a one-month-old baby girl, and a settler was blunt: "We don't care about Washington. Nothing will come out of it, like always. This is a war of religions – we want everything, they want everything. There is no way there will ever be agreement. That is the reality."



Democrats face loss of both House and Senate in 'midterm meltdown'

Thu, 02/09/2010 - 23:00

Democrats are heading towards an even heavier defeat than previously forecast in November's midterm elections for Congress, political analysts say. Such an outcome promises big trouble not just for President Obama, but also for Republican leaders as they struggle to run what is likely to be an unruly majority on Capitol Hill.



Bundesbank sacks 'racist' board member

Thu, 02/09/2010 - 23:00

Germany's central bank agreed to dismiss a controversial board member yesterday amid a growing public outcry over his vitriolic criticism of Muslims and Jews in a new bestselling book that has been widely condemned as racist.



Thousands left penniless after collapse of Ponzi scheme

Thu, 02/09/2010 - 23:00

The savings of more than 100,000 people in Benin have been lost in a pyramid scheme, prompting calls for the President of the tiny West African country to be impeached after he appeared to endorse the investment scam.



Forest fires in Madeira put future of Europe's rarest seabird under threat

Thu, 02/09/2010 - 23:00

Europe's rarest seabird, the Zino's Petrel, found only in Madeira, has suffered potentially devastating losses from a forest fire which struck the birds' breeding area on the Atlantic island.



'Alive' air crash survivors to help miners' families

Thu, 02/09/2010 - 23:00

Survivors of a 1972 plane crash featured in the movie Alive will travel to Chile to comfort the families of 33 trapped miners as a way of repaying the country for help in their rescue.



Pakistan's rich 'diverted floods to save their land'

Thu, 02/09/2010 - 23:00

A senior Pakistan diplomat has accused "powerful" figures of diverting floodwaters into unprotected areas to save their own land.



Stars mourn passing of 'Death in Venice' hotel

Thu, 02/09/2010 - 23:00

For more than a century, the Hotel Des Bains has loomed over Venice's seafront like an opulent ivory fortress, proudly housing the array of glittering international guests arriving at the city's annual film festival.



New rig explosion raises spectre of second Gulf of Mexico oil spill

Thu, 02/09/2010 - 23:00

A mile-long oil sheen has spread from an offshore petroleum platform burning in the Gulf of Mexico off Louisiana, west of the site of BP's massive spill.



Familiar themes dominate first day of peace talks

Thu, 02/09/2010 - 23:00

Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian President, yesterday opened the first face-to-face Middle East peace talks in two years by demanding an end to Jewish settlements in the West Bank. In response, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted that any agreement must assure Israel's security as a Jewish state.



US jobless figures set to raise fears of double dip

Thu, 02/09/2010 - 23:00

Investors are bracing themselves for another grim snapshot of the US labour market today, when the government is expected to confirm that unemployment is again on the rise.



Spanish patrol officers issue fewer fines

Thu, 02/09/2010 - 23:00

Spanish highway patrol officers who are issuing fewer speeding fines to protest a pay cut have been asked by their boss to "please, enforce the law".



Zimbabweans face end of South African amnesty

Thu, 02/09/2010 - 23:00

South Africa's government is withdrawing the special status granted to illegal Zimbabwean immigrants who fled their country's economic meltdown and political violence, a spokesman said yesterday.