After 100 years of the new, modern dance is still fizzing

Blooms of Darkness by Aharon Appelfeld has won this year's Independent Foreign Fiction Prize. The Israeli author, who shares the £10,000 award with his translator Jeffrey M Green, is the first writer in Hebrew to take the leading British honour for fiction in translation and, 80 this year, he is also the oldest winner

What happens in the dark is not for gossiping or bragging about in the light

The barometer may be set fair for its most venerable prize, given a spectacular vote of confidence from the sponsors of the Derby yesterday, but otherwise the Turf seemed to lie in a soggy, midwinter time-warp. The steeplechases scheduled at Punchestown were abandoned, and the remaining hurdle and bumper races run in conditions bordering on the farcical. An inspection will be required this morning to pass the course for a card that features the outstanding mare, Quevega.

Exeter Chiefs have signed Australia international Dean Mumm on a two-year deal.

Your hunger and passion will only see you through the opening exchanges

It called for soul-searching and sacrifice but, after much impassioned debate, the shortlist for this year's Independent Foreign Fiction Prize took the shape that you see here. If anything, the panel of judges – Xiaolu Guo, Jon Cook, Nick Barley, Hephzibah Anderson and myself – had to contend with an embarrassment of riches. Whatever our perennial regrets about the limited quantity of fiction brought into English from other languages, the quality of translations felt as bold and bright as ever. In Britain, we owe so much of our view of global fiction to independent publishers of various shapes and sizes. Responsible for around two-thirds of all submissions for the Independent prize, they contribute five out of the six titles on this list – although I ought to stress that neither commercial nor geographical provenance ever sways the decision.

The British trio of Dani King, Laura Trott and Jo Rowsell produced the two fastest times in the history of women's pursuiting to win Britain's third gold of the World Track Championships here in Melbourne yesterday.

Former Scotland Yard counter-terrorism chief John Yates attended the wedding of the News of the World's ex-crime editor, the Leveson Inquiry heard today.

"After some exciting changes, we're setting off on a new adventure," says the new Oddbins. If hitting the rails and imploding could be called exciting, the 36 branches that survived the debt-ridden crash engineered last year by ex-Oddbins boss, Simon Baile, must be breathing a sigh of relief simply to be alive. Today's chain may look a bit under powered compared to the 150-odd high street branches of two years ago. Yet considering that we'd all said our fond farewells to the once-popular high street institution, it's miraculous to see the phoenix rising once more from the ashes.

A star of the Harry Potter films was yesterday sentenced to two years in prison for being part of a violent mob which took to the streets during last summer's riots in London.

An actor in the Harry Potter films was jailed for two years yesterday for his part in the London riots.

A star of the Harry Potter films was today sentenced to two years in prison for being part of a violent mob which took to the streets during last summer's riots in London.

Terry Kirby on the bottles that'll make Mother's day