'Bedroom tax' forces huge leap in hardship handouts

Exclusive Extent of suffering inflicted by cut to the spare room subsidy can be revealed for the first time as figures show a 338% leap in the number of people applying for emergency handouts in the month since it was imposed

British child dies in hotel pool in Egypt's Sharm el-Sheikh resort

Sixty injured in US train crash

Five people were critically injured after the trains, serving New York City, collided in Connecticut
Pilots on flight deck

You thought Ryanair’s attendants had it bad? Wait ’til you hear about the pilots

Staff memo warns that signing letter airing safety fears would be ‘gross misconduct’
Wait problem: Customs and Border Protection officers in action at Miami airport

Welcome to the US: Now stand in line for three hours

Prepare for the longest ever immigration queues
3 May 2013: British Prime Minister David Cameron speaks with scientists before opening the 'Li Ka Shing Centre for Health Information and Discovery' at Oxford University. The Conservatives suffered a number of losses at the local elections.

David Cameron ally brands rebel Tory activists as 'mad swivel-eyed loons'

Senior figure in party says grassroots Tories are forcing MPS to oppose gay marriage and Europe
The image posted on Brek Shea's Instagram account

Stoke City launch investigation after 'pig head is found in player's locker'

UPDATED Training ground 'prank' leads to furious reaction from Kenwyne Jones, with reports he threw a brick through Glenn Whelan's car windscreen in revenge
Kira Izzard (left) and Laura Cull (right) were refused permission to rent accommodation in Ramsay due to their sexual orientation

Gay residents reminded of a troubled past in the Isle of Man

With no Equality Act, the island still allows discrimination
Alexander Litvinenko: The former KGB agent died from polonium-210 poisoning in 2006

Fair inquest into Litvinenko death deemed 'impossible'

Hearing in danger of collapse as British Government is accused of covering-up evidence by judge
The Lib-Lab coalition: Pleased to have given less ground than Cameron. The fact talks were held in his office will not harm Ed Miliband’s leadership credentials. He says the deal will protect ‘future victims’ of press intrusion, while Nick Clegg says it is ‘everything I had hoped for’.

Another coalition? Why Miliband may need Clegg's number

Former minister Peter Hain says Labour must start making overtures to the Lib Dems
Anti-conscription demonstrators in New York, September 1941

'I realised that the war was wrong': The price of pacifism

Conscientious objectors are finally being respected for taking a stand
Painful history: The North Sea fortress known as 'Sealand'

A week in the world’s smallest nation

Is Sealand an independent 'micronation' or an illegal fortress?

Liberte, Inegalite, Fraternite: Is French elitism holding the country back?

Educational bias blamed for country's economic black hole

Gawker launches crowdsourcing campaign to buy video 'showing Toronto Mayor smoking crack'

Online gossip site asks readers to fund purchase of footage as controversial politician describes claims as 'ridiculous'

First he hits back, then he hangs up: Farage ruffled after crowd turns on him

Ukip leader accused of 'losing the plot' for breaking off radio interview after describing Edinburgh crowds as 'fascist'
George Michael has returned home to the UK after leaving hospital in Vienna

George Michael airlifted to hospital 'with head injuries' after car crash on M1

Air ambulance called to junction 6A in Hertfordshire

Nascar legend Dick Trickle kills himself after calling police to warn about body

Shortly before he was found dead, Trickle called police to tell them 'there would be a dead body and it would be his'

Census figures show Christianity is in a sharp decline, but Islam sees a dramatic increase

Mark Lewis was solicitor of the Dowler family

Lawyer who took News International to court over hacking complains of 'bully boy tactics'

Mark Lewis talks of 'pay back' exercise after learning UK division of Murdoch empire may seek 'wasted costs'
David Cameron will meet Google's executive chairman at the Prime Minister's Business Advisory Group on Monday

Will tax talk be on the agenda? Google chief to meet PM

Eric Schmidt joins David Cameron just days after MPs mauled the tech giant over its tax affairs
Madeleine McCann, who disappeared in the Praia de Lux resort in Portugal

Madeleine McCann case: Police review identifies new leads and 'people of interest'

Comment. Campaigns. Community.

Howard Jacobson "It’s official: Anti-Semitism is no more" (Top row) Akhtar Dogar, Anjum Dogar, Kamar Jamil; (Bottom row) Assad Hussain, Bassam Karrar, Mohammed Karrar and Zeeshan Ahmed Philip Hensher "Oxford is a tragedy of sexual culture, not race"
David Beckham

'One of Premier League greats? Beckham is not even in top 1,000'

Ex-England player Chris Waddle counters retirement plaudits
Will Coldwell measures out all his ingredients

Not quite the real thing: Can the Coca-Cola flavour be recreated?

Since 1886, the formula has been the subject of fevered speculation
Cara Delevingne wearing chopard jewels on the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival

Jewels worth more than €300,000 stolen from Cannes hotel room

Items were loaned to celebrities in Cannes for the annual film festival
Jason Isaacs (centre) as Lucius Malfoy in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt 1

Jason Isaacs: Life after Harry Potter

Potter’s arch enemy talks stalkers, snogging Bond, and another stint of Case Histories
William Pryor in his warehouse

Bookbarn: How a barn full of old books became a web wonder

A descendant of Darwin explains why his online second-hand book business is booming
Shiny happy people: Thomas Bangalter (left) and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo of Daft Punk

Daft Punk on what it’s like to work on the year’s biggest album

Interview Collaborators on the huge new album tell all

Everything you need to know for the Eurovision Song Contest 2013

Gallery Get the lowdown on the 26 countries competing in Malmö
Interview with the vampire: Saoirse Ronan

Saoirse Ronan: Teenage star on growing up

Interview The 19-year-old star talks about playing a vampire
The Russians are strumming: a scene from Mike Lerner and Maxim Pozdorovkin’s ‘Pussy Riot – a Punk Prayer’

Pussy Riot: Punk rock, Putin-bashing and politics on film

A British documentary about the Russian dissidents is set to make waves next month

From romantic city boltholes to isolation in remote farmhouses

The 50 Best holiday cottages
'The Other Room' by Nicole which one the recent interpretation contest at the Museum of Bad Art

Nature calls at the Museum Of Bad Art

Gallery Latest exhibition to feature images of realistic wildlife realistic, imaginary (and unidentifiable)
Actress Emma Watson attends 'The Bling Ring' premiere during The 66th Annual Cannes Film Festival at the Palais des Festivals on May 16, 2013 in Cannes, France.

From broomsticks to bling: Emma Watson sparkles in Cannes

Sophia Coppola's film about celebrity The Bling Ring premieres in the south of France
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Revealed: Devastating impact of 'bedroom tax' which forces
huge leap in hardship handouts for tenants

Exclusive: Demand for emergency handouts increases by 338 per cent
Explosive device removed by Northern Ireland police investigating attempted murders
Philip Hammond breaks ranks on gay marriage
Notes from a small island: Is Sealand an independent 'micronation' or an illegal fortress?
David Cameron ally brands anti-Europe anti-gay marriage Tory activists as 'mad swivel-eyed loons'
Fair inquest for Litvinenko impossible, judge warns
The next coalition? Why Ed Miliband needs to get Nick Clegg's number
Elena Ambrosiadou wins legal battle with ex-husband Martin Coward over software: They might be rich – but judge
isn’t buying it in ‘toxic’ divorce
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Six-year-old British girl dies in a pool at Coral Sea Waterworld Hotel in Egypt's Sharm el-Sheikh resort

A six-year-old British girl has died in a pool at a hotel in Egypt, travel company First Choice has said.
Unmasked at last: mother comes face to face with men accused of raping and killing her daughter in India
Five people critically injured and sixty hospitalized after two New York commuter trains collide in Connecticut
The price of pacifism: Refusing to go to war is finally being recognised as a brave act
Postcard from... Beijing
US news website Gawker launches crowdsourcing campaign in attempt to buy video allegedly showing Toronto Mayor Rob Ford smoking crack
Not quite the real thing: Coca-Cola's 'secret formula' is out of the bottle but can the famous flavour be recreated at home?
Barack Obama accused of cover-up over tax-targeting scandal
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Here is the perfect illustration of how a picture can change a book for you

Plus: TV's obsession with Gershwin and New York gives me the blues and there's been a nervous breakdown at Charlie's Chocolate factory
Arts funding is going, going – and if we don't think of alternatives, it will soon be gone
Tim Key: 'We couldn't call mountain rescue or justifiably perish, so we pressed on'
i Assistant Editor's Letter: The referendum we've all been waiting for...
If gay couples can have civil partnerships, so must straight couples
Editorial: €300,000 worth of jewellery swiped, so many explanations
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Arsène Wenger will become the longest-serving Premier League manager after Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement

Groundhog day looms for Arsène Wenger as Arsenal battle for a place in the Champions League on final day

Arsenal’s trophy cabinet has been barren for years but, with his future unclear, the French manager will not change his ways
James Anderson claims 300th wicket but England labour against New Zealand
One last swipe at Manchester City and then Sir Alex Ferguson was gone...
The Last Word: If game fully embraced corporate principles managers would get a bonus for relegation
Frankie Dettori at the crossroads as he returns
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A demonstrator stands firm outside a government building in China’s Yunnan province

Campaigners in China challenge authorities over environmental impact of planned petrochemical plant

Fears over proposed refinery in southern city of Kunming attracts thousands of protesters
What a pong! After a seven year wait, the world's smelliest 'flower' blooms in Cornwall
Nature Studies: Cross the Atlantic in a ship? The beautiful Monarch can do better than that
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The Conversation: Tracey Cox, sex expert

How does one become a 'sexpert'?
'It was mass hysteria': Jason Isaacs on groupies, theatre bores and snogging James Bond
Graham Norton: The go-to guy for anything from the Baftas to becoming 'the new Terry Wogan' and hosting the Eurovision Song Contest
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Dish of the Day: Short & Sweet

I know Dan Lepard nabbed it first for his wonderful book on baking but I’m eternally jealous, as it ...

Friday Book Design Blog: Blurb special

Let's talk book blurbs, those quotes you get, usually from other writers, that are meant to entice y...

Syria’s cannibal rebel defends himself

Much has been written this past week about a Syrian rebel named Khalid al-Hamad, who goes by the nom...

Enslaved to maize: Why we need to re-think Malawi’s agricultural future

Maize is a political crop that has essentially enslaved Malawi as a nation. Despite being the staple...

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Wanted: Polar bear spotter to protect Norwegian scientists - must be loud and good with guns

Adventurers with a keen eye sight and loud vocal chords are being offered the chance to explore the Arctic with scientists, in a three week job contract as polar bear spotter.
'Most exciting breakthrough in IVF treatment in 30 years' could triple number of births
Breakthrough in human cloning raises hopes for treatment of Parkinson's and heart disease
Ancient underground lake isolated from the rest of the world for 2.7 billion years discovered in Canadian mine - but does it contain life?
Nasa releases video and images showing solar flares and coronal mass ejections shooting from the Sun
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William Pryor in his warehouse

Bookbarn International: How a barn full of old books became a web wonder

William Pryor, a descendant of Darwin, reminisces about skinny-dipping with Syd Barrett and explains why his online second-hand book business is booming
The Saturday miscellany: Feminist classics; Anna Wintour; Clerkenwell Design Week; Curiosity: Art and the Pleasures of Knowing; Louis Vuitton
Five-minute memoir: Russ Litten recalls the day he saw his double in Prague
'It was mass hysteria': Jason Isaacs on groupies, theatre bores and snogging James Bond
Crash course: Summer blockbusters
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Anthony Hilton: Celebrating tradition

Arbuthnot Latham, one of the City’s oldest still independent banks, was founded by a Mr Arbuthnot and a Mr Latham in 1833 to trade and subsequently to finance trade with India.

Anthony Hilton: Cutting back too quickly on the cleaners makes a real mess of everything
Anthony Hilton: Google's new business Lending Club borrowing from the past
Jim Armitage: Doan Nguyen Duc, the Vietnamese Arsenal fan and the land grab claims
James Ashton: Shaken and stirred, Sir John Bond is ousted after digging himself into a hole at miner
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The fifth Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders was published by the American Psychiatric Association this week

Doctors in dispute: What exactly is normal human behaviour?

The fifth edition of the psychiatrists’ bible, DSM V, reignites the row over the massive growth in mental disorders
'Most exciting breakthrough in IVF treatment in 30 years' could triple number of births
'Death contracts' could give terminally ill the right to die
180,000 children work as unpaid carers for relatives
Benefit cuts risk rise in child poverty, doctors warn
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The price of pacifism: Refusing to go to war is finally being recognised as a brave act

The price of pacifism

From the Second World War refusenik to the 19-year-old Israeli, Holly Williams talks to five people who risked shame and suffering to take a stand as conscientious objector.
'It was mass hysteria': Jason Isaacs on groupies, theatre bores and snogging James Bond

Jason Isaacs: Groupies, theatre bores and James Bond

To millions, Jason Isaacs is one of Harry Potter's arch enemies – but his wife prefers him as a Scottish TV detective.
Notes from a small island: Is Sealand an independent 'micronation' or an illegal fortress?

Sealand: 'Micronation' or illegal fortress?

Thomas Hodgkinson spent a week at the tiny platform off the Suffolk coast to find out.
Not a bad bone: Mark Hix cooks with cutlets and ribs

Mark Hix cooks with cutlets and ribs

If you ignore cutlets and ribs, you'll risk missing out on some delicious and easy meals, says our chef.
Sir James Dyson’s latest project: Cleaning up hospitals

Sir James Dyson’s latest project: Cleaning up hospitals

Doctors are hailing the revamp of a Bath neonatal unit, where babies sleep more and feed better, as the model for patient care
One man returns to Argentina's town that drowned

One man returns to Argentina's town that drowned

Epecuen was submerged under 10 metres of water in 1985. Now the floods have gone – and 83-year-old Pablo Novak has moved back in
The real thing? Historian publishes Coca Cola's 'secret formula'

The real thing?

Historian publishes Coca Cola's 'secret formula'
Gordon Ramsey's worst nightmare: A restaurant he cannot save

Gordon Ramsay's worst nightmare: A restaurant he cannot save

The pugnacious chef finally met a shambolic restaurant he couldn't save. John Walsh on when TV makover refuseniks fight back
Join Ryanair! See the world! But we're only paying you for nine months a year

Join Ryanair! See the world! But we're only paying you for nine months a year

Glamorous myth of the flight attendant lifestyle undermined by angry employee's claims of 'exploitation'
Braising saddles: Did the recent furore scupper sales of horse meat? Neigh, far from it!

Braising saddles: How to cook horse meat

Did the recent furore scupper sales of horse meat? Neigh, far from it! Will Coldwell hoofs it to the kitchen.
Why bitters are back on the bar: A few little drops pack a big punch in cocktails

Why bitters are back on the bar

A few little drops pack a big punch in cocktails. No wonder we're learning to love them again...
The 10 Best barbecues

The 10 Best barbecues

Whether you're cooking on gas or are a convert to charcoal we've got the perfect way to cook when the sun is out.
Style icon David Beckham calls time on his long retirement

Style icon calls time on his long retirement

David Beckham never disgraced himself but former England captain ceased to be a major player years ago. Remember him at his United peak
Steve Harper: My darkest times

Steve Harper: My darkest times

As the popular Newcastle goalkeeper bows out after 20 years at the club, he tells Martin Hardy about the private battle with depression that threatened his career
Sir Torquil Norman has designed a flat-pack OX truck for the developing world

The flat-pack truck with big ambitions

After making a fortune from Polly Pocket and a doll's house shaped like a teapot, the entrepreneur has turned his creativity to a transporter truck for the developing world. Simon Usborne meets him.