i Newspaper
 
TheIPaper
The Independent around the web
E-break Time
Independent Crossword
Gemma Arterton appears on tights Graham Norton show

Gemma Arterton: I punched a tramp in the face

Hansel And Gretal actress Gemma Arterton has revealed that some of the combat training she underwent for the role paid off when she punched a homeless man in the face for squeezing her bottom.

Why do people listen to such terrible music at funerals?

Robbie Williams, 'Angels'? Really? That's really the last song you'd want your friends and family to remember you by? The song you'd want to sum up everything you've every thought and everything you've ever done?

Music & Me: Missing Andy

Essex five-piece Missing Andy finished as runners-up in the Sky1 talent competition Must Be The Music. Comprising Alex Greaves (vocals), Rob Jones (bass), Jon Sharpe (keyboards), Steve Rolls (guitar) and Elliot Richardson (drums), they released their debut album The Greatest Show On Earth – Act I in October 2010. The band’s single “The Way We’re Made (Made In England)” reached no.38 in the UK singles chart.

Diary: Keep your eyes off me, says Celine Dion

The Mail has added to the annals of the bleeding obvious by reporting on a study which finds that some women "hate" looking at photographs of themselves. Still, on cue comes along one such woman to confirm the accuracy of the research. Wealthy Canadian singer Céline Dion was recently informed of the existence of a blog by one of the world's little people, self-explanatorily entitled "Ridiculous Pictures Of Céline Dion". Ms Dion was not amused, and Duckumu (also known as Nick, 26, from Brooklyn), the humble blogger responsible, claims he received a letter from her lawyers demanding he shut the site down. "Though this blog is well within the realm of 'fair use'," he insists, "I don't have the money or time to get a lawyer to respond. The dream is over." In honour of his site's demise, however, this column would like to contribute one more ridiculous picture.

Matthew Norman: And who knows better about social mobility?

The Government's hiring of Alan Milburn as its "social mobility tsar" provides the most seismic event of its kind for a very long time ... possibly as long ago as the appointment of puritan £5m birthday-party man Philip Green as our anti-profligate spending tsar.

Next time Angelina, do check the label

She is one of the most glamorous women on the planet, whose every red-carpet appearance is scrutinised by an army of photographers and tooth-sucking style commentators. But Angelina Jolie stands accused of an extraordinary fashion faux pas.

Kylie Minogue, SECC, Glasgow

The queen of pop subdivides and rules

For those about to rock, steer clear of Celine Dion

She may have only played it once but to those who like their rock unadulterated it was nothing short of sacrilege. Celine Dion's cover of AC/DC's "You Shook Me All Night Long" has officially been voted the worst cover song of all time by a panel of experts from Total Guitar magazine.

Celine Dion, O2 Arena, London

Many singers perform in their second language and manage to sound convincing. Despite selling a reported 200 million albums – including 27 million copies of that Titanic soundtrack – Céline Dion is not one of them. Time and again, during a 105 minute-long set, the Canadian superstar warbles, mangles English syllables until they're unrecognisable and inserts unnatural pauses into lyrics like "I hold... on... to your body" in "The Power of Love".

Bliss, Royal Court, London

Before the Quebecois Olivier Choinière's play begins, we're left in no doubt about its take on society's obsession with celebrities. Each member of the audience at Joe Hill-Gibbins' production is issued with a blue Wal-Mart vest, before entering a barn-like space and looking through a frame at a public toilet where the graffiti is in mirror writing. Before the cubicles are a Wal-Mart manager and three employees, the lettering on their badges also written from right to left. We will be told, more than once, "I'm looking at you. You're looking at me," but, by then, most of us will have got the idea: I am you and you are me and we are all guilty.

Motor insurance premiums to soar

Norwich Union lifts rates by up to 40 per cent and urges other car insurers to follow suit

Racing: Rob Roy fighting fit to reward legions of loyal followers

The vernacular of the Turf gives uncommon meaning to everyday words. "A good thing", for instance, specifically denotes a horse that cannot be beaten in a particular race. As Wordsworth said, however: "Of good things none are good enough."

Career Services

Day In a Page

Independent Travel Shop See all offers »
Berlin - East meets West
Three nights from only £399pp Find out more
Europe’s finest river cruises
Four nights from £669pp, seven nights from £999pp or 13 nights from £2,199pp Find out more
Historic Sicily
Seven nights half-board from only £799pp Find out more
Lake Como and the Bernina Express
Seven nights half-board from only £749pp Find out more
Pompeii, Capri and the Bay of Naples
Seven nights half-board from only £719pp Find out more
Special report: How my father's face turned up in Robert Capa's lost suitcase

Special report: How my father's face turned up in Robert Capa's lost suitcase

The great war photographer was not one person but two. Their pictures of Spain's civil war, lost for decades, tell a heroic tale
The unmade speech: An alternative draft of history

The unmade speech: An alternative draft of history

Someone, somewhere has to write speeches for world leaders to deliver in the event of disaster. They offer a chilling hint at what could have been
Funny business: Meet the women running comedy

Funny business: Meet the women running comedy

Think comedy’s a man's world? You must be stuck in the 1980s, says Holly Williams
Wilko Johnson: 'You have to live for the minute you're in'

Wilko Johnson: 'You have to live for the minute you're in'

The Dr Feelgood guitarist talks frankly about his terminal illness
Lure of the jingle: Entrepreneurs are giving vintage ice-cream vans a new lease of life

Lure of the jingle

Entrepreneurs are giving vintage ice-cream vans a new lease of life
Who stole the people's own culture?

DJ Taylor: Who stole the people's own culture?

True popular art drives up from the streets, but the commercial world wastes no time in cashing in
Guest List: The IoS Literary Editor suggests some books for your summer holiday

Guest List: IoS Literary Editor suggests some books for your summer holiday

Before you stuff your luggage with this year's Man Booker longlist titles, the case for some varied poolside reading alternatives
What if Edward Snowden had stayed to fight his corner?

Rupert Cornwell: What if Edward Snowden had stayed to fight his corner?

The CIA whistleblower struck a blow for us all, but his 1970s predecessor showed how to win
'A man walks into a bar': Comedian Seann Walsh on the dangers of mixing alcohol and stand-up

Comedian Seann Walsh on alcohol and stand-up

Comedy and booze go together, says Walsh. The trouble is stopping at just the one. So when do the hangovers stop being funny?
From Edinburgh to Hollywood (via the Home Counties): 10 comedic talents blowing up big

Edinburgh to Hollywood: 10 comedic talents blowing up big

Hugh Montgomery profiles the faces to watch, from the sitcom star to the surrealist
'Hello. I have cancer': When comedian Tig Notaro discovered she had a tumour she decided the show must go on

Comedian Tig Notaro: 'Hello. I have cancer'

When Notaro discovered she had a tumour she decided the show must go on
They think it's all ova: Bill Granger's Asia-influenced egg recipes

Bill Granger's Asia-influenced egg recipes

Our chef made his name cooking eggs, but he’s never stopped looking for new ways to serve them
The world wakes up to golf's female big hitters

The world wakes up to golf's female big hitters

With its own Tiger Woods - South Korea's Inbee Park - the women's game has a growing audience
10 athletes ready to take the world by storm in Moscow next week

10 athletes ready to take the world by storm in Moscow next week

Here are the potential stars of the World Championships which begin on Saturday
The Last Word: Luis Suarez and Gareth Bale's art of manipulation

The Last Word: Luis Suarez and Gareth Bale's art of manipulation

Briefings are off the record leading to transfer speculation which is merely a means to an end