Author: INDEPENDENT

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emailsSign up to our free breaking news emailsAt midday on Sunday, on the last day of the Russian presidential vote, those opposing Vladimir Putin’s repression will answer the final call of Alexei Navalny, the late face of anti-Kremlin opposition.Russians cannot affect the result of what is a predetermined election, Mr Navalny said two weeks before he was announced dead – but if they turn up at polling stations all at the same time, the Kremlin may glimpse just how many people wish…

Sign up to Miguel Delaney’s Reading the Game newsletter sent straight to your inbox for freeSign up to Miguel’s Delaney’s free weekly newsletter Pep Guardiola hopes to have the Jack Grealish of last season back for the closing stages of Manchester City’s latest push for silverware.Grealish, a key part of City’s treble success last season, has endured a frustrating campaign this time around.He missed a month early in the season with a dead leg and a groin problem has limited him to just one appearance in City’s last seven games.The 28-year-old also had a spell out through illness and had…

Pence says he won’t endorse Trump for presidentSign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inboxGet our free Inside Washington emailThe stage has now been set for a 2020 presidential election rematch this November after Donald Trump and Joe Biden secured their party nominations.The former president won primaries in Georgia, Mississippi and Washington and the caucus in Hawaii on Tuesday night, taking him over the threshold of 1,215 delegates needed to secure the Republican party nomination.Mr Biden also secured the Democratic nomination for president after winning the primaries in Mississippi, Washington…

Sign up to Miguel Delaney’s Reading the Game newsletter sent straight to your inbox for freeSign up to Miguel’s Delaney’s free weekly newsletter Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk takes inspiration from world’s best sportsmen and tries to live by NBA great LeBron James’ ‘strive for greatness’ mantra.Last week the pair were pictured together in an advertising campaign for the Los Angeles Lakers – and Reds’ minority shareholder – star’s signature clothing collection for the club.It is the second collaboration from the NBA’s all-time leading points scorer and while Van Dijk has yet to meet or even speak to LeBron, they…

Russian gas pipeline explodes in huge fireball blast amid series of ‘Ukrainian strikes’For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emailsSign up to our free breaking news emailsVoters are heading to the polls in Russia today for a three-day presidential election that is all but certain to extend president Vladimir Putin’s rule by six more years after he stifled dissent.The election takes place against the backdrop of a ruthless crackdown that has crippled independent media and prominent rights groups and given Putin full control of the political system.In other developments,…

Jurgen Klopp backs Mohamed Salah to keep scoring after making Liverpool historyLiverpool will face Italian opposition in the Europa League quarter-finals in the form of Atalanta, while fellow Premier League side West Ham will take on one of the toughest teams remaining in the competition – Bayer Leverkusen – after the draw took place at Uefa’s headquarters in Nyon this afternoon.Jurgen Klopp’s Reds are the slight favourites to win the tournament after thrashing Sparta Prague 11-2 in the last 16 and will play Atalanta in the quarter-finals with the first leg at Anfield, while West Ham overturned a 1-0 first-leg…

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emailsSign up to our free breaking news emailsMichael Imperioli addressed a protesting audience member while still in character at a recent performance of a Broadway play.The Sopranos and The White Lotus actor is currently featuring in the New York City revival of Ibsen’s An Enemy of the People, alongside Succession actor Jeremy Strong.Thursday evening’s (14 March) performance was briefly disrupted when a group of climate protesters began to chant phrases such as “No Broadway on a dead planet” and “No theatre on…

Sign up to the Independent Climate email for the latest advice on saving the planetGet our free Climate emailAt least two people are dead in Ohio after tornadoes tore through Midwest states overnight.Logan County Sheriff Randall Dodds said that there were two deaths at the Geiger Mobile Home Park in Lakeview, north of Dayton, after a reported tornado hit the area.Police said that a possible tornado also ripped through the rural Indiana community of Winchester, leaving homes damaged and some buildings flattened. A number of people were left with “significant injuries”. “There have been many significant injuries, but I don’t…

Sign up to Miguel Delaney’s Reading the Game newsletter sent straight to your inbox for freeSign up to Miguel’s Delaney’s free weekly newsletter When Jurgen Klopp’s reign is over, when they remember the great European nights at Anfield in his tenure, a 4-0 scoreline will spring to mind. Barcelona remains the touchstone and, lacking the same sense of jeopardy, a second leg against Sparta Prague was never going to rival it. Yet there was nevertheless something remarkable in seeing Liverpool 4-0 up so soon: only one team had ever been four goals to the good after just 14 minutes of…

The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekdayYour briefing on the latest headlines from across the USUniversity of Missouri student Riley Strain was out with his fraternity brothers in Nashville, Tennessee, on Friday 8 March when he disappeared.He’d been asked to leave a bar the Delta Chi group were hanging out in, shortly before 9.45pm, and said he was going back to their hotel.He hasn’t been seen since.Here is everything we know so far.What happened to Riley Strain?Riley Strain was last seen wearing this shirt while on a night out in Nashville,…