Insults and spin: the election battle starts

Andrew Grice: The Conservatives accused Labour of telling "lies" about their policies during the first skirmishes in the general election campaign.

Galaxy Quest: The search for Britain’s darkest skies

Light pollution is a modern scourge. Simon Usborne discovers where can we go to enjoy the sky at night.

More Environment News

Thomas Cook? Just don't book it, tourists told

Simon Calder: Travel agent among operators criticised in damning new Which? report.

More Travel News

Conduit, a multimillion-pound winning flat-racer trained by Sir Michael Stoute is owned by Ballymacoll Stud Farm in Ireland

Gambler threatened to kill champion racehorse

Mark Hughes: Middleman faced £55,000 bill if punters' tip came in – so he took desperate action.

Turf has a punt on ways to win younger fans

Confusion reigns as US security is stepped up

Black-listed nations accuse US of knee-jerk racism.

Don't miss...

Fashion police
GQ chooses the best and worst-dressed men of the year
Who Are You?
In pictures: The Big Brother Celebs

Transfer winners
The best January transfer signings
FA Cup shocks
Some memorable giant killings in the Cup

Cheap and Chic
The freshest looks for the new season
Sky Scraping
The tallest towers in the world

England on tour
Latest images from South Africa
Polar beauty
Celine Clanet's stunning images of Norway's Maze settlement

Five Star
The 50 best British hotels
Sports quotes
The most scandalous words of the year

British Muslims at the East London Mosque.

MI5 'still using threats to recruit Muslim spies'

Security Service used blackmail to turn us into informers, immigrants say

Army saves Afghan boy stricken with tetanus

Father praises 'fantastic' efforts of military doctors and nurses at Camp Bastion

Darts: The Power and the glory

Phil Taylor is set to make £2m this year after winning his 15th world title. Paul Newman on how he's taking darts to the big time

1f18ba48-98bd-48c1-b14a-9a08dff37add

Warren Beatty has been married to Annette Bening for 17 years

There's no way I have slept with 12,775 women, claims Beatty

How many women has Warren Beatty slept with? The actor and legendary Hollywood lothario could be forgiven for having lost count. But he nonetheless takes exception to the extraordinary claim, in a new biography, that there are close to 13,000 notches on his bed post.

Camus: the decision on whether his body should be removed to the Pantheon rests with his family

Why Sarkozy won't let Camus rest in peace

France's leader accused over plan to move author's remains to the Panth�on.

Qing Dynasty: Art of stone
Arabian Nights, Courtyard Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon (Rated 3/ 5 )
Swanhunter, Quays Theatre, Lowry, Salford (Rated 3/ 5 )

Upbeat start to the year sparks hopes of recovery

Manufacturing confidence reaches two-year high / Mortgage approvals continue to rise, says BoE

Google vs Apple: the gadget showdown

Google's Nexus One smartphone is its first foray into hardware. Can the internet search giant challenge Apple's iPhone or the BlackBerry? Nick Clark reports

Jeremy Laurance: Tamed here, but still a fatal threat elsewhere

I once sat with a boy who had severe tetanus in a mission hospital in rural Africa. It was not a pretty sight. He was a couple of years older than Rahmadullah, and every few minutes his back would arch in a spasm and he would cry out. There was nothing I or anyone else could do except try to comfort him – and hope that help would soon arrive.

Golfer Tiger Woods is shown on the cover of the February 2010 edition of Vanity Fair magazine

Tiger strikes a pose

The shamed golfer Tiger Woods may have disappeared from the public eye for now, but he may not have escaped further humiliation after the February 2010 edition of Vanity Fair released pictures of him working out.

Independent Appeal: Different worlds, same solutions

A former child soldier is showing Londoners how to overcome conflict

'The children were burned and screaming'

IoS Christmas Appeal: A Taliban suicide bomb killed 93 in Pakistan on Friday. And air strikes aimed at the insurgents kill ordinary villagers, too.

Eruption menaces chimps' Congo home

Volcano adds to woes of animal population already depleted during civil wars

Man who captured whales at feeding time – from his kayak

'Why could nobody stop me drinking?'

Fifteen years of alcoholism cost Pem Charnley his home – and nearly killed him. Against all odds, he's finally beaten the bottle. But his cries for help went unheard

Balls opens door to primary school Mandarin lessons

Richard Garner: Schools Secretary also says every secondary school pupil should have the right to learn an “up and coming” language.

Learn Spanish with The Independent

The activities of the IRA 'are killing the souls of those involved in it or actively supporting it,' said Cardinal Daly, pictured in 1993

Cardinal Cahal Daly: Primate of All Ireland who spoke out strongly against republican violence during the Troubles

As bishop, archbishop and cardinal, Dr Cahal Daly played a vital role in the Irish Catholic church, acting simultaneously as its chief intellectual force and its most forthright voice against the IRA.