Osborne defends cuts despite credit rating threat

Chancellor George Osborne defended the Government's austerity package today after Britain was threatened with the loss of its AAA credit rating amid fears over weaker growth prospects and potential shocks from the eurozone crisis.

Rangers go into administration

Assad's forces attack opposition across Syria

Tim Cook, Apple’s chief executive, at a media event to introduce the new iPhone 4s at the company’s headquarters in California last October

Apple admits it has a human rights problem

Stephen Foley: After years of complaints and workers' suicides in China the technology giant faces up to the human cost of its gadgets.

Inflation at lowest level for 14 months

Inflation expected to hit Government's 2% target by the end of the year in a further sign that the consumer spending squeeze is loosening.

Iranian man blamed for Thai blasts

An Iranian carrying explosives blew himself up and wounded four other people in two blasts in Bangkok today.

Abu Qatada deportation talks continue

Home Office Minister James Brokenshire arrived in Jordan today for talks with government officials in the capital Amman.
Latest News
i Editor's Letter: A day of mixed emotions
Man gets life for IRA drug gang slaying
Hamish McRae: Living standards will start to get better sooner than you think
Aaron Ramsey scores – and the music stops
Market Report: WPP gets a boost from US – and the City is lovin' it
Allan Segal: Bafta-winning film-maker who worked on 'Horizon' and 'World in Action'
Thai disaster costs Lloyd's $2.2bn
Murdoch sends in his top lawyer to stop Sun scandal spreading to US
Mark Cavendish: Is Olympic gold at end of the rainbow?
Sea lions: not big Shakira fans
Fiji carrier chooses Rolls-Royce engines for aircraft
Perjury inquiry over Lawrence trial
Arts & Entertainment
500th The Simpsons episode
Latest in Sport
Hooiveld makes a point at 10-man Hammers
James Lawton: This prodigal son deserves no forgiveness
McSheffrey is spot on to sink Leeds
How Koscielny became prince of the Emirates
Dobson back in four weeks
UK RSS Feed - click to grab the feed
62% of the population never attend any form of religious service

No secularism please, we're British

Arguments about the role of religion in national life have recently acquired a new urgency. Peter Popham reports on a modern version of an old debate
Clegg's hope of tax cut for poor hit by bleak news on economy
Murdoch sends in his top lawyer to stop Sun scandal spreading to US
Union threatens to turn off the taps for Miliband
Battle of Britons: who will reign as the jubilee heroes?
Jordan insists it will not use torture evidence for Qatada
Police confiscate passport from Brooks' assistant
No 10 backs calls for 'drunk tanks'
World RSS Feed - click to grab the feed
300 children die every hour of every day because of malnutrition

Special report: The hungry generation

More than half of the world's children are too malnourished to grow properly, a major new investigation reveals
Caught in his own blast: an Iranian targeting Israel
A year on, violence erupts again at Bahrain flashpoint
Eurozone leaders call off Greece talks as crisis deepens
US biotech giant guilty of poisoning French farmer
US politicians refuse to hand back Stanford campaign cash
Working as a jail torturer ruined my life
Syria keeps up assault on rebels despite Arab threat
The Independent
 
TheIndyNews
Google+
i Newspaper
 
TheIPaper
The Independent around the web
E-break Time
Independent Crossword
Profiles RSS Feed - click to grab the feed
British Fashion Council chairman Harold Tillman is also the owner of Aquascutum and Jaeger

Harold Tillman: 'Chinese tourists can save the high street – if we let them'

Fashion Council chairman tells Harriet Walker that visa rules should be relaxed
Mark Elborne: For engineers, it's a question of respect
Mark Cavendish: Is Olympic gold at end of the rainbow?
Peter Moore: 'I feel guilty I'm the only one alive'
Sport RSS Feed - click to grab the feed
Wenger believes his side can win anywhere

Wenger: We can become the kings of Europe

Arsenal manager in confident mood ahead of tonight's Champions League match in Milan
James Lawton: This prodigal son deserves no forgiveness
Inter link deepens AVB intrigue
Irish irate as Six Nations opt for Sunday rematch
Mark Cavendish: Is Olympic gold at end of the rainbow?
The Daily Cartoon
Opinion RSS Feed - click to grab the feed

Christina Patterson: The struggle against police racism has just got a lot harder

It was all the more serious, said the judge, because Ali Dizaei had been a 'role model'
Hamish McRae: Living standards will start to get better sooner than you think
Matthew Norman: There's always the Human Rights Act, Trevor
Mark Steel: If religion is 'marginal', I'm the Pope
Kate Allen: It's time for America to put an end to this shameful scandal
Environment RSS Feed - click to grab the feed

Planning reforms would not promote growth, says report

Proposals to reform Britain's planning system would have little or no impact in promoting economic growth and could undermine public well-being, a report commissioned by conservation charities claims today.
Drought alerts remain despite rain and snow
UK to press for global green accounting system
Nature Studies by Michael McCarthy: For the first time, we can see spring coming from 4,000 miles away
Billions of tons of water lost from world's glaciers, satellite reveals
Blogs

Bahrain: One year on

I am used to endless lies and criticism from the BNP and its favourite blogster, as well as Islamist...

HIV orphans in Thailand prepare for the future

In Baan Gerda, a community for HIV infected or affected youngsters in Northern Thailand, a group of ...

Online House Hunter: England’s most romantic places

Our Online House Hunter goes in search of romance this Valentine's Day...

Roy Hodgson for England: A club of one

To argue against Harry Redknapp for England is akin to arguing in favour of bankers bonuses. While s...

Science RSS Feed - click to grab the feed
Sellafield nuclear plant

Sellafield faces nuclear option as overspending threatens plant's future

Britain’s biggest single nuclear project has run into serious trouble with missed deadlines and cost overruns threatening the future of the entire nuclear reprocessing operation at Sellafield in Cumbria.
Nasa plans to scale back missions to Mars to save money, claim scientists
Swimsuit is 'not like shark skin'
Billions of tons of water lost from world's glaciers, satellite reveals
No way of stopping leak of deadly new flu, says terror chief
Government 'may sanction nerve-agent use on rioters', scientists fear
New genetic discovery could boost treatment for stroke patients
Science behind the big freeze: is climate change bringing the Arctic to Europe?
Electronic telepathy breakthrough hailed
Research into mutant flu 'must go on'
Arts & Entertainment RSS Feed - click to grab the feed
Oar struck: an artist's impression of royal row barge 'Gloriana' which will take part in the Diamond Jubilee Pageant on the Thames

Music to snooze by for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee

The plans for the river pageant are an embarrassment
The fuzzy, felty, fabulous return of the Muppets
How Picasso won over (some of) the British
Best served cold: BBC canteen has the last laugh on Twitter
Ian Burrell: There aren't enough female comics on TV – and the BBC knows it's not funny
The Muppets, James Bobin, 109 mins (U)
The Woman in Black, James Watkins, 95 mins (12A)
When Little England climbed the stairway to Modernist heaven
Sophie Hannah: 'I want you to question my motives...'
Meet the mini-mice: What does it take to make a Miley Cyrus?
Suits you sir: Bill Nighy talks politics and sartorial style
Business Comment RSS Feed - click to grab the feed

Margareta Pagano: Banks reluctant to lend but new firms are getting out of this jam

Midweek View: If there's a right time to be lending to SMEs, it's now. Ironically, recessions are always a fertile time for enterprises to get going
James Moore: Should we really care what Paris Hilton thinks about our party?
James Moore: 'Comply or explain' shouldn't be optional
James Moore: Finance, not stamp duty, is the biggest hurdle
James Moore: Expect some hard talkat easyJet's meeting
James Moore: Smoke and mirrors, but no magical ending
James Moore: What's in this deal for Voders? Perhaps the taxman could explain over lunch at the Ivy
Jim Leaviss: Jobless youth is secret new worry for the West's central bankers
Health & Families RSS Feed - click to grab the feed
300 children die every hour of every day because of malnutrition

Special report: The hungry generation

More than half of the world's children are too malnourished to grow properly, a major new investigation reveals
Do you like your doctor? It could be the death of you
Do you live in Wokingham? Get ready for a long life...
74 deaths in NHS 'were avoidable'
Regenerative heart therapy 'closer' study claims
The 10 Best sledges
Opt-out on organ donation planned
Progressive blindness cases to rise by a third in a decade
SPONSORED FEATURES

Free trial of new Independent iPad app

Get your daily dose of the best of British journalism, sponsored by American Airlines

Atlantic Canada Posh Nosh Prizes & offers
Business videos

Win a three-week coastal jaunt

Spend three weeks exploring every nook and cranny of gorgeous Atlantic Canada.

iPad app Posh Nosh Prizes & offers
Business videos

Amazing restaurant offers

Three glasses of free champagne and a special menu at 46 top London restaurants.

iPad app Atlantic Canada Prizes & offers
Business videos

Latest Independent competitions

Win anything from gadgets to five-star holidays on our competitions and offers page.

iPad app Atlantic Canada Posh Nosh
Business videos

Commercial thought leaders

Watch the best in the business world give their insights into the world of business.

iPad app Atlantic Canada Posh Nosh
Prizes & offers
Career Services

Day In a Page

No secularism please, we're British

No secularism please, we're British

Arguments about the role of religion in national life have recently acquired a new urgency
Harold Tillman: 'Chinese tourists can save the high street – if we let them'

Harold Tillman interview

'Chinese tourists can save the high street – if we let them'
Working as a jail torturer ruined my life

Working as a jail torturer ruined my life

Meet the former soldier who has joined the political prisoners he tortured in Turkey's Mamak prison by suing the generals who led a regime of terror
The local high street jet shop

The local high street jet shop

Got a spare $50m and can't stand the queues at Heathrow? Get yourself down to London's first private plane dealership
Do you like your doctor? It could be the death of you

Do you like your doctor?

It could be the death of you...
The mysterious affair of how Agatha Christie is teaching foreigners English

How Agatha Christie is teaching foreigners English

Twenty of the author's novels have been adapted and presented with learning notes and a CD
Six Grammys, five years off: Adele puts love before career

Six Grammys, five years off

Adele puts love before career
The 10 Best binoculars

The 10 Best binoculars

From no-frills to bins with digital cameras
Milan for £300

Milan for £300?

A cultural family holiday - on a budget - to Italy's most stylish city
'Black-hole' resorts: Turn up, tune out, log off

'Black-hole' resorts

Turn up, tune out, log off
New Arsenal face an old question of credibility in San Siro

New Arsenal face an old question of credibility in San Siro

Remodelled since winning in Milan in 2008, for all their consistency – and prize-money – Wenger's side are yet to claim a European title
James Lawton: This prodigal son deserves no forgiveness

James Lawton: This prodigal son deserves no forgiveness

City would be putting their desire to win title ahead of morals if Tevez plays for them
Mark Cavendish: Is Olympic gold at end of the rainbow?

Mark Cavendish interview

Is Olympic gold at end of the rainbow?
Apple admits it has a human rights problem

Apple admits it has a human rights problem

After years of complaints and workers' suicides in China the technology giant faces up to the human cost of its gadgets
Peter Moore: 'I feel guilty I'm the only one alive'

Peter Moore interview

'I feel guilty I'm the only one alive'