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 emailsOscar Pistorius was released from prison in South Africa more than a decade after murdering his model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. The former Paralympic runner was convicted of murder after shooting Steenkamp multiple times through a locked door on Valentine’s Day. He has repeatedly said he mistook Steenkamp for an intruder when he fired four shots into the bathroom at his Pretoria home, and he launched multiple appeals against his conviction on that basis.“The Department of…

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 New and ambitious plans to revolutionise European football have sparked a flurry of questions among Independent readers.The Super League returned as a huge talking point on Thursday, following a landmark ruling by the European Court of Justice, which concluded Uefa had unlawfully blocked the original project.First launched in 2021, the European Super League proposed a breakaway competition involving some of Europe’s biggest teams in a “closed shop” format. The controversial plans were met with fierce opposition from…

Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inboxGet our free Inside Washington emailChris Christie has admitted that his endorsement of Donald Trump during the 2016 election cycle was a mistake.In a new campaign ad released on Thursday (4 January) titled “Christie: I have an admission to make”, the former governor of New Jersey speaks directly to the camera and admits that he regrets endorsing Mr Trump for president.Mr Christie has since become one of the former president’s biggest critics — though as recently as the 2020 election he worked with…

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 Arsenal will wear their all-white kit, which supports the club’s campaign against knife crime and youth violence, in a home match for the first time this weekend.The Gunners take on Liverpool in the FA Cup third round at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday afternoon and will be sporting an all-white kit for a home game for the very first time in their 138-year history.Arsenal’s normal home red-and-white kit will be “drained of red” as part of their…

The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekdayYour briefing on the latest headlines from across the USConvicted sex trafficker and Jeffrey Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell has reacted to the long-anticipated release of a trove of court documents naming several of the dead paedophile’s associates.Maxwell’s attorneys Arthur Aidala and Diana Fabi Samson released a statement on Wednesday night, after the filings began to be unsealed, in which she continued to insist her innocence and vowed to plough ahead with her appeal.“Ghislaine Maxwell took no position on the Court’s recent decision to unseal documents…

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 After the magic of FA Cup third-round weekend, the matches to take place in the fourth round proper will be decided as the lower-league teams remaining get another shot at drawing a Premier League giant.There will be 32 balls in the hat as English football’s most prestigious cup competition intensifies, with the road to Wembley heating up.Manchester City are the defending champions after beating cross-town rivals Manchester United in a historic derby final at Wembley last June…

Donald Trump doubles down on anti-immigrant rhetoric after Supreme Court decision Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inboxGet our free Inside Washington emailDonald Trump has asked the US Supreme Court to overturn a ruling by Colorado’s Supreme Court that he cannot run for elected office again because of his role in the January 6 Capitol riot under the terms of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which bars those seen to have “engaged in insurrection” from returning to power.As it stands, Mr Trump will not appear on the state’s…

The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekdayYour briefing on the latest headlines from across the USA father and son have been arrested in connection with the death of pregnant teenager Savanah Soto and her boyfriend who were found shot dead in San Antonio.Christopher Preciado, 19, was arrested and charged with capital murder, while his father, 53-year old Ramon Preciado was charged with abuse of a corpse for helping his son move the bodies after Ms Soto and her boyfriend Matthew Guerra were found dead inside a car on 26 December, police…

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 A derby defeat to Sunderland finished off a Newcastle United manager who had reached a cup final the previous season. His team were on a losing run, he compounded it with a disastrous team selection and a loss to local rivals. He left a few days later.Eddie Howe, it is safe to say, has rarely been compared to Ruud Gullit. He proved the first Newcastle manager since the Dutchman to take United to Wembley, and also lost…

Kyiv suffers largest ever drone attack by Russia leaving five woundedFor free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emailsSign up to our free breaking news emailsUkraine has launched a fresh salvo of missile strikes on the Russian border city of Belgorod as war in the sky between Kyiv and Vladimir Putin’s forces intensifies.The attacks are the latest in hundreds of drone and missile strikes traded by Russia and Ukraine in recent days, after Moscow fired one of its largest aerial assaults of the near two-year war late in December. On…